Reviews
Asus
A730/A730W
The "forgotten" VGA Pocket PC from Asus has lots to offer,
and deserves more attention
Right
upfront I have to say that it isn't easy to place the Asus A730
Pocket PC. On the one hand, the techno wizards at Asus in Taiwan
are among our very most favorite people in the world for their
ability to crank out amazing, high quality stuff in so many fields.
On the other hand, they never seem to forget that motherboards
are really their bread and butter, and whatever else they make
has a tendency to sort of be available, but not quite.
The
MyPal A730, for example, should by all practical standards be
a megahit. After the enigmatic Toshiba e800, it was the second
Pocket PC with a full VGA display to (kind of) hit the streets
well over a year ago. And unlike the big Toshiba, which was a
bit of a one-trick pony, the A730 was, and is, a thoroughly exciting
design. So why, over a year later, it still languishes on the
sidelines as a marginally available product is beyond us. Heck,
the thing is so good that Fujitsu resells it as the Pocket Loox
v70 in Japan, for crying out loud.
So
at the danger of whetting your appetite for a product that you
may never be able to get, here's a description of the Asus A730
and the more powerful A730W model.
The
730 is an amazingly small and compact Pocket PC with a full 480x640
LCD. That alone would place it at the head of the pack and in
such lofty company as the iPAQ hx4700 and the Dell Axim X50v,
both of which the A730 predates. However, that's not all. Asus
also gave this device a rather decent 1.3 megapixel digital camera,
and that in a body that's no larger than the very compact Dell
and quite a bit smaller than the big iPAQ. We're talking a little
box measuring 4.6 x 2.9 x 0.67 inches, and weighing just six ounces.
The screen measures 3.7 inches diagonally÷the same as the one
Dell uses, but smaller than the HP's peerless 4-incher.
Unlike
earlier MyPals, the A730 has a state-of-the-art Intel PXA270 processor
running at 520MHz. That's a step behind the 624MHz versions used
by HP and Dell, but plenty fast enough. There are technical two
versions of the A730. They are largely identical, but the base
model has 64MB of RAM and just Bluetooth whereas the A730W has
128MB of RAM, Bluetooth and 802.1 lb WiFi, and even a USB host
port. MobilePlanet sells the base model for $499 and the A730W
for just $70 more, so picking this one is a no-brainer.
Despite
its small size, the multi-talented MyPal comes with both a Secure
Digital and a Compact Flash slot. About the only thing that's
underwhelming is the wimpy 1,100 mAH battery. Spring for the 1,800
mAH optional pack.
If
you're one of the few who has prior experience with older MyPals,
this one is different. It's as if Asus all of a sudden un the
secrets of good industrial design. Whereas older Asus PDAs looked
a bit heavy and clumsy, the A730 is sleek and elegant. The unit
has a clean design with fashionably rounded edges. All materials
feel just right to the touch. Even the back of the unit is all
nice and smooth and you initially wonder if the battery pack is
really user replaceable. Thankfully it is. But to get to it you
essentially take off the entire backside of the device.
The
A730W isn't without quirks. If you go looking for the stylus in
the place where every other PDA has its stylus, none there. Asus
decided to place the stylus garage at the bottom of the device.
You get used to it.
If
you didn't know the A730W had a built-in camera, you'd never find
it. All you can see is a tiny lens in the back and next to it
one of those tiny mirrors so you can take self portraits and such.
There's also a cam button on the left side, where earlier Pocket
PCs used to have those annoying ãrecordä buttons. As for the camera
itself, megapixels are a moving target and 1.3mp ain't what it
used to be. However, it is nice to be able to take 1280x960 pictures,
espe since the picture quality is several notches above that of
your typical smartphone camera. We're not talking dedicated digital
camera quality here, but good enough for the occasional snapshot.
There's also a workable 352x288 movie mode. Four imaging apps
handle all aspects of the camera mode.
What
it all boils down to is that the VGA Asus deserves better than
being a wallflower. It has a terrific display, is powerful enough,
has an integrated camera, nice software support, both Blue-tooth
and WiFi, both SD and CF card slots and a good amount of RAM.
Sure, there are a couple of little glitches and battery life should
be better, but this is a terrific device that can more than hold
its own.
-- Kirk Linsky
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