HP iPaq hw6515 Mobile Messenger review (AT&T)

HP's latest Windows Mobile-based smart phone, the HP iPaq hw6515 ($449.99) for Cingular Wireless, boasts many advanced features that are sure to please the well-seasoned road warrior. The EDGE-capable world phone comes equipped with a full QWERTY keyboard, a plethora of messaging options, integrated Bluetooth, and a 1.3-megapixel camera. It also has something the competition doesn't: a built-in GPS receiver for making the smart phone a handheld GPS device. That said, the iPaq hw6515 lacks integrated Wi-Fi and suffers from poky performance when multiple applications are in use. It certainly won't topple the Palm Treo 650 as the smart-phone king, but the hw6515 does offer a nice alternative to mobile professionals who favor Windows Mobile. Also, if you don't want a camera or your workplace doesn't allow it, you can opt for the HP iPaq hw6510, which includes all the same great features of the hw6515, with the exception of the camera. Essentially, the HP iPaq hw6515 is a slimmed-down Pocket PC organizer, and thankfully, it's a lot more compact than the company's first Pocket PC smart phone, the HP iPaq H6315. Measuring 4.7 by 2.8 by 0.7 inches and weighing 5.8 ounces, there's no arguing that the device is trim for a PDA. Yet, the hw6515 is wide, and it will appear bulky to those accustomed to the more pocketable Palm Treo devices. You may feel more comfortable clipping the hw6515 to your belt with the included case.

The HP iPaq hw6515 rocks a bright 3-inch, 320x240-pixel screen that displays text and images in 64,000 colors. To protect the TFT QVGA screen from scratches, HP throws in a plastic flip cover that's easily attachable. Just below the screen are two shortcut keys to your Contacts and Inbox, Talk and End keys, and a five-way joystick. And like the Palm Treo and the Samsung SCH-i730, the iPaq hw6515 boasts its own full QWERTY keyboard. The rounded backlit keys are tiny but well spaced and responsive, if a bit slippery.

On the right side of the smart phone, there's an SD expansion slot and a Mini SD card slot just below it. On the left spine, you'll find an infrared port, a volume rocker, and an image-capture/voice-record button. The HP iPaq hw6515 features a 1.3-megapixel camera--the hw6510 doesn't come equipped with a camera--and you can find the lens on the back of the device, along with a flash and a self-portrait mirror. The only thing missing is a camera lens cover.

Aside from the aforementioned belt case and flip cover, HP packages the hw6500 series with a desktop-synchronization cradle, a pair of earbud-style headsets, and an AC adapter. A variety of optional accessories are also available, such as HP's Bluetooth stereo headphones for $100 and a digital FM transmitter for $60.

Modestly equipped with a midrange 312MHz Intel PXA272 processor, the HP iPaq hw6515 has a total of 128MB of memory, but only 55MB of that is user-accessible. Fortunately, as mentioned earlier, the phone features both SD and Mini SD expansion slots for extra storage. As a Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition device, the iPaq hw6515 gives you the typical pocket versions of Outlook, Word, Excel, and Internet Explorer. We would have, however, liked to see the phone running Microsoft's latest Windows Mobile 5 operating system, which comes with an improved Mobile Office Suite, including PowerPoint Mobile. That said, you get a couple of extra utilities with the hw6515, such as iPaq Backup and Pocket Panel Lite for one-touch access to device status--battery memory, backlight settings, and so forth.