HP Jornada 568 64MB Pocket PC

With the demise of my Series 5, and the imminent demise of all Psion handheld computers, I was forced to widen my horizons. I considered the Palm m515 - nice screen, easy user interface, but ultimately limited in its potential. I considered the Compaq Ipaq range - nice screen, good interface, good expansion potential, but large, heavy, and unwieldy.

So to HP: I have to confess that I am already an HP fan having used HP printers since about 1981. I have owned HP printers since 1992 - I am now using a G85 (one of the first to be released in the UK) and I have owned a HP CD-RW 9210e since about 1998. I have found all my purchases to be reliable and economical to own.

However, in choosing a HP Jornada 568, the killer blow to the opposition was the ability to swap batteries. The main benefit of the old Psion range was that the computers ran on two 'AA' batteries. As long as you carried a spare pair of batteries, you could access your information. Until the Jornada 56x appeared on the scene, with other PDAs if your batteries ran dry - tough! No names, no addresses, no telephone numbers, no agenda, no MP3 to while away hours spent in airport lounges!

Until the Jornada 56x I would not have considered buying a new handheld computer because they only ran on non-swappable rechargeable batteries. As far as I could see this was a recipe for disaster. Imagine being stranded in a foreign country without the correct mains adapter and a depleted battery and not being able to remember the telephone number of your contact who hasn't arrived to collect you. What are you going to do? Probably panic - unless you had the foresight to write the critical information down on paper, which rather defeats the idea of having a handheld computer!

As well as having swappable batteries, the Jornada 56x range runs the standard Pocket PC 2002 software and comes with a good range of additional software. The ability to save a system backup to the 'HP Safe Store' is a particularly good idea. The quality of the design and construction is high and the built-in flip cover is appealing (I like clamshells - I have a Motorola V50!) The screen is bright and clear and the ambient light detector helps battery conservation. I have not experienced any of the problems with dust that have been mentioned by other owners, but I am alert to this possibility.

In summary: well done HP - the master stroke of swappable batteries has converted me and I can heartily recommend the Jornada Series 56x to anyone.

The day I received the device was something of an anticlimax. I took it out of the box fitted the batteries and switched the unit on, it worked fine. After a couple of hours to charge the battery I loaded the software onto my Desktop and connected up the 568 through the cradle and followed the set up instructions, all without drama.

My impression of the 568 is that it comes fully loaded with most of the software I am ever likely to need with some useful additional software on the accompanying CD. It would be nice to have a cut down version of Microsoft Project so that I could view GANNT charts but other than that it does most of what I want to do. Add ons and peripherals seem readily available, although you have to look a little harder than you would for the Compaq, and the prices seem reasonable.

It took a few days to start to sort out how to operate certain functions as the user interface is subtley but significantly differant from that of a desktop. For example it doesn't seem to be possible to delete files when you are in file explorer and it took a couple of days to realise that you delete files by opening them and selecting the options menu. It also took a little while to work out where certain files and documents were kept and the handbook, while quite detailed, was vague about certain points.

The inclusion of Microsft Reader and Media Player as well as the ability to record audio notes and embed them in documents provides a whole new dimension of possibilites.

One area of significant disappointment to me and the only reason I have not rated this product with 5 stars relates to the handwriting recoginition features of the device. The user is presented with a number of options for inputing data, three of them are based on handwriting recognition. What became clear to me very quickly was that being lefthanded I form the shapes of certain letters differantly from those of a right handed person, so that my G's are seen as 9's my a's are seen as o's etc (The software looks for the way you form a letter not it's shape)There seems to be no way around this, which seems surprising but there you are. You should note that the Compaq probably uses the same software. For right handers the recognition software seems very powerful and works quite well.

To be fair using the stylus on the virtual keyboard is faster and less fiddly than you might think as the PC 'suggests' words for you to select as you write and I certainly managed a couple of meetings without too much problem. In the end though I invested in a Targus Stowaway keyboard for the few times when I needed to do some serious inputing away from a desktop. The 568 comes preloaded with the software to support the keyboard and it is possible to get a wallet which will hold both the PC and the folded keyboard neatly in a package little thicker than a small organiser.

The unit can go a full day of being used and still have plenty of charge left even if you have the backlight on. Mine has seen some quite heavy days without being connected to the charger but has never come close to running out of power.

All in a all a good product if you don't need a full blown laptop but need something more than a PDA. Expect to spend at least £200 on other bits, like Compactflash cards, key board, additional cradles etc

It comes with all the necessary software - my favourites being Outlook, Word and of course Solitaire - and even MSN Messenger for IM junkies. I'm studying at University and the voice recorder feature is also really useful - a life saver if you like to sleep through lectures (or presentations, for that matter). The Graffiti hand-writing recognition app works flawlessly. It even recognizes MY handwriting!

Synchronizing the Outlook data between my laptop and the Jornada, via the IR port, was really exciting.

The device itself is quite light and small. It fits in cargo pants' pockets, at the least. I expected a slightly larger screen, though, and the backlight is a wee bit dull; your mileage may vary. But at a 240 x 320 resolution and 16-bit display, with a crystal clear image and easy-to-read text, you cannot ask for much more from a PDA.

The built-in speaker doesn't handle MP3s very well. HP could've thrown in some headphones into the box.

HP advertises a 14-hour battery life; I'd call this quite optimistic, especially if you're going to use a lot of the multimedia capabilities of this little toy.

All in all, if you're considering shelling out some money for a PDA and need more than just an electronic address book, you might as well opt for something which will last and include the Jornada 568 in your list of candidates.