HP iPaq rx5900 Travel Companion

Whether for business, for pleasure, or a little of both, the GPS Nav HP iPAQ Travel Companion helps you make the most of your travels whether they take you around town or around the world. The premier GPS navigation system guides you to virtually anywhere with ease. Everything is pre-installed and ready to use. Just turn it on and go. The thin, stylish design fits simply in the car and is easy to take with you wherever you travel. Plus, your HP iPAQ Travel Companion is full-function Windows Mobile 5.0 handheld.

Take your office with you and stay connected with integrated 802.11b/g wireless LAN and Bluetooth wireless technologies to the people and information that is important to you. When you want to relax you can listen to your favorite music, view your photos and videos, surf the web, or play games. Navigate, stay connected, and be entertained wherever you travel with the HP iPAQ Travel Companion.

The sleek and travel-friendly HP iPaq rx5900 Travel Companion offers integrated GPS, TomTom Navigator software, and useful travel tools. The Windows Mobile handheld also has Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.

Review:

• A complete navigation system

The handheld is equipped with a SiRFstarIII GPS receiver and comes loaded with maps of North America and TomTom Navigator 6 software. t supports text- and voice-guided driving directions (no text-to-speech functionality), automatic route recalculation, and a points-of-interest database. To get started, you enter your destination by address, city center, or intersection, then instruct the device to calculate directions based on a number of criteria, such as the quickest or shortest route, by avoiding toll roads, the required arrival time, and more. There's also an option to plan a walking route, which is great since the rx5900 is so portable.

• Thin, stylish design

The GPS HP iPaq rx5900 Travel Companion is a sleek device, both as a portable nav system and a PDA. The travel-friendly handheld measures just 4.7 by 3 by 0.6 inches and weighs 5.9 ounces, making it easily portable between your car and for use on foot. We really like its streamlined look and attractive silver casing and burnt-orange accents. In general, the device had a solid construction, but the glossy coating made it quite slippery in the hand.

• Full Windows Mobile 5.0 handheld

Stay productive with full Windows Mobile 5 technology. Synchronize your Outlook calendar, contacts, and email so you can take them with you. Includes pocket versions of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

• Stay Connected

Access the Internet, email and corporate data and stay connected on the go, at the airport, hotel, or coffee shop with this handheld GPS. Integrated 802.11 b/g wireless LAN (rx5900 models only), and Bluetooth v2.0 wireless technologies.

• More than GPS, your Travel Companion

The GPS iPaq rx5900 handled its PDA and entertainment duties well. As we mentioned before, we had no problems transferring or opening Office documents. The device also detected our test Wi-Fi access point immediately, and we were able to connect to the Web without a problem with relatively quick download times. Music and video playback were excellent with clear sound and fairly good picture quality. However, if you're listening to your tunes via the built-in speakers, take care not to place the device with the speaker side down. We also plugged in a pair of Shure E3 earbuds, and sound was even better. Enjoy your music, view and share your pictures, videos, and play games. We did, however, notice a slight lag in performance when we had numerous apps open.



Clearly, battery life is a key factor for a mobile device like the rx5900. In CNET Labs performance tests, where we looped a video clip with all wireless radios off and backlight set to midlevel, the HP iPaq rx5900 1,700 mAh lithium-ion battery lasted for 4 hours of constant use, falling behind the Asus MyPal A636, the Garmin Nuvi 350, and the Pharos Traveler GPS 525. We also noticed that using any of the wireless options really took a toll on the cell; after a day and a half of use, we were running for the nearest electrical outlet. That said, if you're using as an in-car GPS device, battery life is less of an issue, since you can keep the unit juiced with the included car charger.

source : reviews.cnet.com, hp.com