Reviews
HP iPAQ 310 Travel Companion - GPS navigation (and more) on a large hi-res display
(by Conrad H. Blickenstorfer)
September 5, 2007 -- The new iPAQ 310 Travel Companion is for those who liked HP's original Travel Companion, the iPAQ 5900, but felt that device was perhaps not quite focused enough. See, the rx5900 sort of tried to be both a Pocket PC in landscape format and also a media player and navigation system with Tom Tom software. We liked it a lot, but a little 3.5-inch display with 320 x 240 pixel resolution will never be optimal as a mapping device.
Travel Companion, not Pocket PC
Enter the new iPAQ 310. Take one look at it and you will have no doubt that this is a navigation device, first and foremost. Almost the entire frontside is taken up by the display which is huge for such a small machine. Somehow, HP managed to shoehorn a 4.3-inch display into a package with a footprint of just 4.3 x 3.4 inches! Unlike some GPS systems, the 310 isn't bulky either. It's just 0.7 inches thick and weighs a negligible 6.6 ounces.
Awesome display!
And the resolution that was such an issue with the older 5900? That would be an eye-popping 800 x 480 pixels. Talk about razor-sharp, and HP proudly proclaims that the iPAQ 310 provides resolution equivalent to full DVD-quality video. That's certainly enough to zoom from 10,000 feet to street level and everything is always sharp, and it's also perfect for the 310's advanced 3D navigation display. Okay, you may say, high resolution is one thing, but what about speed? We've seen enough mapping systems that were essentially useless because zooming and panning was so slow. Well, HP thought about that as well and took a different route in the form of a processor specifically designed for GPS.
Titan navigation processor
Yes, the iPAQ 310 Travel Companion is the first iPAQ in recent history that does not use an Intel/Marvell PXA processor. Instead, it is based on a Centrality/SiRF Titan navigation processor. The Titan is a CPU designed specifically for navigation applications. It uses an ARM11 RISC core, a high-speed DSP (digital signal processor) core, and hardware GPS accelerators. It runs at a clock speed of 600MHz. As a result, the iPAQ 310 moves! We had the chance to play with a preproduction model, and everything was lightening quick, with smooth panning and zooming, the way it should be.
Lots of memory and Bluetooth
Maps take a lot of space, and so the 310 has up to 2GB of FLASH in addition to its 128MB of RAM. There is also a High-Capacity SD Card slot, a Mini-USB 2.0 connector, and integrated Bluetooth.
Handy custom interface
And since the iPAQ 310 is built on Windows Mobile (it's Windows CE 5.0 with a custom HP interface), you get applications other than just mapping. The 310 is also a digital media player, a game machine, a vido playback system (where its awesome resolution comes in handy), and even a hands-free answering system for a Bluetooth phone.
The 310's user interface may be a custom HP design unfamiliar to those used to Windows Mobile, but it certainly offers quick and simple navigation. Acoording to HP, an online trip planning web portal will debut later this fall to assist in tailoring travel itineraries, researching destination information and uploading routes and content to the iPAQ.
Bottomline
With GPS becoming ever more important, yet general purpose handhelds not quite being up to snuff as GPS devices, HP's decision to offer a more or less dedicated and optimized GPS handheld makes sense. And offering one that uses a processor designed and optimized for GPS even more. And including a truly terrific 800 x 480 pixel 4.3-inch display certainly clenches the deal. Time will tell if the public wants a Windows Mobile based Travel Companion that also has digital media player capabilities. We like it.
-- Conrad H. Blickenstorfer
We like:
- Stunning 4.3-inch 800 x 480 pixel display
- GPS-optimized processor makes for superb performance
- Simple, logical custom interface on top of Windows Mobile
- Small and handy
- Media player capabilities
- Up to 2GB of Flash
Not so much:
- Uncharted waters for an iPAQ: is this enough?
- Not much info yet on web portal for trip planning
- No info yet on type and extent of maps
Home
