PC Companion
The HP Jornada 540
Specs: http://www.hp.com/jornada/
Everything about the Jornada PC companion says "deluxe." The case is stylish, the manufacturing solid and the colour display is definitely a lot nicer to look at than a grayscale screen. It's also a highly functional unit, with a built-in audio recorder, headphone jack (stereo, of course!), infrared communications port, MP3 player and a CompactFlash slot for adding memory cards or third-party expansion features such as wireless networking cards, modems, etc.
Our test unit, a 540 series model, came with 16 MB of memory. Models with up to 32MB are available from HP -- and, if you're super-rich, you can spring for CompactFlash RAM cards up to 440MB in size from third-party vendors.
The HP Jornada 540 provides thousands of colours at a resolution of 320x240. We found its display less bright and somewhat more bluish than that of the Casio E-series unit discussed elsewhere in this section. We'd rate its display quality slightly inferior to that of the Casio handhelds, but still excellent compared with any earlier models we've seen. (HP admitted in May that a glitch in a memory chip caused its Jornada 540, 430 and 420 series of handheld units to display fewer colours than promised. The company says it will provide a full refund to any customer unhappy with only 4096 colours instead of the 65,536 colours claimed on the product's package.)
The software provides optional display settings for indoors, outdoors, low-power or user-definable settings. As you might expect, brighter displays draw battery power more quickly.
The Jornada comes with the usual complement of Windows CE 3.0 software -- Pocket Word, Pocket Excel, Pocket Internet Explorer, Microsoft Money, calculator, address book, to-do list, calendar, etc., plus a few HP extras -- most notably, an enhanced calculator with scientific notation.
Another pre-installed extra on the Jornada is a program called PeaceMaker. This program allows the Pocket PC to seamlessly transmit contact information with users of other handheld computers -- even those running the Palm OS. We successfully transmitted contact list items to a Palm IIIc using the infrared send and receive features built into both units. This is a great feature! (Find out more about PeaceMaker and download the business card beaming version for free for any Pocket PC or other Windows CE 2.11 or newer device at at www.conduits.com.)
Speaking of seamless, we have to say: people who stubbornly maintain that Palms are much easier to synchronize with a desktop computer are just plain wrong at this point. Microsoft's latest ActiveSync 3.1 is a vast improvement over early versions. Combined with the plug-and-play convenience of the Jornada's USB interface, the whole experience is as complicated as dropping the unit into the charger, waiting a moment for the system to automatically transfer and synchronize files, and that's it -- off you go. There's also a "guest mode" that can be handy for use with computers you use occasionally, but do not want to maintain a full synchronization with. Even in guest mode, it's easy to move files to and from the unit, via a Mobile Device icon in your Windows Explorer, or an Explorer icon in the panel that pops up when you click the ActiveSync status icon in the taskbar of your Windows desktop.
There are a few dialogs and settings in the Jornada that are somewhat less obvious, but allow for some sophisticated capabilities. A "Socket LP-E Settings" dialog brings up a dialog box of TCP/IP settings (IP address, Subnet mask, Default Gateway, DNS, etc.). This could be very useful on a corporate network, where IP addresses are not dynamically assigned. As well, HP has enhanced the password dialog over that provided as a standard part of Windows CE -- again, potentially useful for corporate intranet logins with specific, non-numeric requirements. Both of these features are missing from the Casio unit. (The Casio does, however, allow static IP addresses and DNS entries, via a different series of dialogs.)
HP also provides some custom settings for the unit's audio recorder not found in competing units. The "HP Dynamic Voice" setting on the Jornada manages 8,000 Hz or 16,000 Hz mono recording in just 1KB/sec of memory; Casio's unit focuses more on higher quality audio settings, with IMA ADPCM (4KB and 5KB/sec; the latter is suitable for music or speech) and TrueSpeech (8,000 Hz, 1KB/sec) settings. Both units also provide memory hungry PCM audio recording, which can consume up to 43KB/sec for what one might term "medium fidelity" music recording or transfer to PC-based audio programs for further editing. Through the Casio's speaker, the audio fidelity of the 5KB/sec settings sounds as good as the 43K/sec setting; the HP's speaker reveals the extra "top end" of the higher-quality recording somewhat better. It's hard to compare the two units; even with the same recording settings, their internal speakers sound radically different, with the Casio going for a somewhat "bassy" sound, and the HP sounding rather more crisp on the high end. The standout setting on the HP is the 16,000 Hz "HP Dynamic Voice" -- it sounds much better than any of the Casio's low bit-rate settings.
Overall, we'd rate the collection of software bundled with Casio's E-series more consumer-oriented and the HP's more useful in an enterprise environment -- undoubtedly as HP intended. But, there's still fun to be had. In a nod to the game-playing capabilities lurking within the unit, HP has included an extra item in the system settings dialog -- a "gamepad" control panel that lets you define the buttons and rocker button positions on the unit as up/down/left/right controllers, fire buttons and so on.
We tested this feature using beta 3 of Leo's Flight Sim, an excellent free flight simulator (with no less than 17 different 3D planes to choose from!) that is essentially a stripped down lookalike of Microsoft's Flight Simulator for Windows PCs. With the gamepad function turned on, you can fly higher or lower by manipulating the Jog wheel on the side of the Jornada; pressing the buttons on the front of the unit's case causes the plane to turn left or right as you fly over New York, San Francisco or other scenery.
If you prefer to use the stylus for controlling the action, an on-screen menu pops up when the touch-sensitive screen is tapped, allowing various functions to be chosen. Or, if you elect to purchase the Targus Stowaway keyboard for the Jornada 540, you can use its cursor keys instead.
Fold-up Keyboard
We quickly became fond of the Stowaway keyboard, an optional accessory for the Jornada that is one of the most ingenious designs we've seen. It's a tiny case about 5"x4"x1" in size-- not much thicker or larger than the Jornada 540 itself. But when you press a button on the side, the unit pops open and unfolds like a "W" to reveal a full-size keyboard! After loading a tiny 28K driver into the Jornada's memory, you snap a couple of fold-out pieces into place on the keyboard, pop the Jornada into the connector in the center and you have a fully functional keyboard for use with any of the Jornada's built-in or downloadable applications.
We found the addition of this keyboard transformed the Jornada from merely a information-retrieval device into one perfectly suitable for entering notes, taking messages, and entering other forms of data. There's a handy power connector on the back, plus wells on the left and the right side of the keyboard for holding your stylus for easier access than that afforded by HP's somewhat idiosyncratic under-the-hood receptacle. Our complaints with the keyboard are minimal. Obviously, it feels a little flimsy compared to some keyboards you may have used, but its key travel is fairly close to standard and not that different than that of most laptop portables. You have to remove the Jornada from the keyboard to sync your data with a desktop computer, but other than that, the Stowaway's the kind of addition you'll probably want to use -- and take with you -- everywhere you go.
The Jornada 540 uses a rechargeable Li-Ion battery cell that, in our tests, provided about 8 - 15 hours of normal use between charges. The unit recharges automatically when inserted into the docking cradle. The Jornada's cradle is built with a hefty metal base, making it sturdy and slip-resistant. It provides a USB jack, for connection to computers running Windows 98 or Windows 2000. The Jornada is also capable of connection to your computer via a cable (a serial cable was also included with our test unit), with or without the use of a cradle, making it potentially more convenient than a serial-only unit. If you prefer, you can also charge it without the use of the cradle. Considering the weight of the base, this is a good thing for travelers.
The Jornada is 9.1 oz. in weight and 0.6 inches thick. The reason it's so much heavier than Compaq's 6 oz. iPAQ is the inclusion of a metal cover that flips down to protect the screen when the unit is not in use. We really like this feature, but if you prefer, you can remove it.
The unit also includes a flashing light on the top that alerts you of appointments and other events requiring your input. Pressing the light (or clicking an on-screen dialog) acknowledges the event.
Although the Jornada does not come bundled with software to play videos, as does the Casio E-115, there are several video players available for it. We tried three: Microsoft's Windows Media Player 7 for Pocket PC, a downloadable Media Player from ActiveSky and our favorite: PocketTV, an MPEG player that displayed surprisingly smooth video and compatibility with standard MPEG-1 video files, either downloaded or streamed. (See our Jornada 720 report for additional details.)
We also tested several other intriguing software titles, including ParallelGraphics' Cortona VRML viewer for PocketPC, With it, the Jornada can view, manipulate and interact with startlingly lifelike, fully animated 3D models. Try that on a Palm sometime.
Summary
Initially, we lamented the HP unit's non-Active Matrix screen and reduced contrast, in side-by-side comparisons with units from Compaq and Casio. However, the reduced power requirements of the Jornada's screen and the unit's superior performance in Microsoft Reader (in which text on the Casio unit is surprisingly hard to read, particularly when the unit is angled slightly away from the viewer), when comparing its "ClearType" legibility with that of the Casio, raised our opinion of the Jornada as testing proceeded.
Although Compaq's iPAQ, based on Intel's StrongARM processor, is probably the best of the 2000-2001 crop of PocketPC machines, the hardshell screen cover of the Jornada 540, useful hardware options such as the Stowaway keyboard and excellent selection of software titles compatible with its SH3 processor make the Jornada a highly recommended alternative. We're sure there will be plenty of people who would still prefer a Palm Pilot, but after you show them Leo's Flight Sim, you might get them thinking....
Hidden Jornada Feature:
Pressing the Action dial while clicking and holding on the clock reveals a hidden "run" command, allowing you to run any application on the system. There's a hidden "landscape mode" command worth trying. Type "rotate r" (without the quotes) and then reset the Jornada using the red button on the back. Then, press and hold the power button for a few seconds to realign the stylus. See http://www.pocketgear.com/tip_detail.asp?id=30 for details, or download a utility such as ChangeOrientation or Rotator to automate the procedure.
For further reading:
Windows CE Resources:
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