HTC P3300

I then heard that HTC, the company that supplies Pocket PC and SmartPhone OEM units to most companies, including I-Mate, was coming out with a PDA form factor unit with GPS, EDGE, and Windows Mobile 5. I'm glad I waited. The one to which I'm referring is the HTC P3300.

In the pictures, with nothing to compare it with size-wise, I had the impression it would be about the size of the PDA2K. When I recieved the P3300, I found it was measureably smaller. At first thought, it could be a bad thing. Now that I've used it for a few days, it is a good thing. A female friend indicated that the PDA2K was a bit big. I think she'll appreciate the smaller size of the P3300. I believe the screen has the same resolution, but in a smaller form factor. I think I'll have to form my fingernail a bit better so I can use it rather than the stylus.

Windows Mobile 5 has some better features. One that stands out is the Today Screen that accepts plugins. Some of the GPS software vendors have a plugin to allow current coordinates to be displayed. A Pocket PC Music Player puts the play buttons as a plugin. I'm sure the list goes on and on.

The unit also has Bluetooth. For some reason, Bluetooth on mine would not turn on. That was annoying. Today, I installed WiFiFo, which required a reboot. Upon reboot, Bluetooth started working. I havn't figured out the magic factor in that one yet. My Bluetooth headset, which I ordered from a different vendor, has yet to arrive, so I can't try them out yet. I did attempt to get a Sonorix OBH-0100 to function, but I think there is a Sonorix hardware incompatibillity. I'll have to give the Motorola HT820 or the Plantronics 590E a try.

If you want to use a wired headset other than the one supplied with the unit, you'll need an Audio Jack Convertor. I wish they would have simply included one in the kit. I have a set of Shure E500 In Ear Monitors that I would dearly love to use with the PDA. I previously used the E500's with the PDA2K. They did a great job of cutting out noise and delivering excellent sound quality. They are great when riding airplanes.

Anyway, back to the P3300. As it has a built in GPS unit, TomTom is bundled. Upon startup it takes you to a web site to download one free map. Nothing is available for Canada from that link. There are a good number of US maps however. Investing in TomTom's DVD might be a good thing (which isn't available yet, not from Amazon anyway). On the other hand there are a bunch of good stand-alone GPS applications available for the Pocket PC. An interesting add-on is the A2B website for finding georeferenced websites based upon your position.

Some specs I found somewhere indicate that one can run the GPS for 4 or 5 hours before recharging is required. I'm interested in finding out how long the battery will last will last when in EDGE mode for a full day of Exchange Pushing. Which is another reason for migrating to Windows Mobile 5.

The unit has some 'hesitancy' in responsiveness. It isn't too nerve wracking, it is barely noticeable. We'll see how it does with music and with live map updates with GPS, once I get the headset and maps. I would like it to be faster. But I think that is an engineering trade-off: small form factor, small battery size, smaller battery capacity, and a bunch of memory hungry hardware (GPS, Bluetooth, Wireless, EDGE), one can't have everything.

I use two programs from Ilium Software: eWallet (for password management) and DockWare (Clock/Calendar when the unit is docked). I resorted to making a quick and dirty docking station out of cardboard so the unit would stand up-right so it could be seeable from across the room as a clock/calendar unit. The PDA2K had a docking stand come with the unit.

It's low built-in memory is a real problem. I havn't loaded to many applications or data into it and it is already complaining about being out of memory. I hope my MicroSDRAM shows up soon.

I'm still getting used to the built-in thumb-wheel scroll mechanism. Most of the time I forget it is there and tap entries directly. I think over the long term it could be a handy tool.

In summary, the HTC P3300 is a nice little unity with pretty much everthing in it. The lack of a thumb keypad or slideout keyboard will deter some, but I think I can live without them.