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HP iPaq Data Messenger Windows Mobile smartphone

Fugly

HTC may have created its own interface to lie on top of the powerful but awkward and pernickety Windows Mobile, but there are no such fripperies here. This is meat and potatoes Windows Mobile 6.1 – not particularly intuitive, and you'll need the stylus - unless you've got very pointy fingers - to find your way around. It's not just the Windows menus either, the touchscreen wasn't as sensitive as we'd have liked, and we often found ourselves reaching for the stylus when we couldn't get it to respond to our thumb.

HP iPaq Data Messenger

Not a fast runner

To make matters worse, the 528MHz Qualcomm 7201A Processor didn't seem particularly adept at handling multiple applications and we found it tended to be a bit slow and clunky when switching between apps.

The keyboard slides out to the right, and the screen resolution automatically switches from portrait to landscape when it does. Given the chunky proportions of the handset, the keyboard seems surprisingly small, and while the keys are of a nicely tactile rubberised plastic, they're flush with each other and not particularly easy to find with your thumbs. It's not bad, it's just that there's better out there, not least HTC's S740 and even Sony Ericsson's flawed Xperia.

Four lines with 41 keys means you've got pretty much everything you need up front, including direction arrows, though the @ symbol takes two presses, and while there are $ and € symbols, you'll need to dig into the menus to find that quaint little British £ sign.

Email accounts, however, are easy to set up, and you'll only need your address and password for most platforms.

HP iPaq Data Messenger

Its browsing experience is rewarding

Fortunately, browsing on the Data Messenger is a rewarding experience. Opera is the default browser, although Internet Explorer is also available should you feel the need, and there's a fast HSDPA 3G connection of up to 7.2Mb/s if your network supports it – as fast as you can get nowadays, unless you use the Wi-Fi connection to hook up to broadband. You can zoom by double-tapping on the screen, and move around by dragging your thumb across the page.

The 3.1Mp camera may not be a major selling point for the Data Messenger, but it's actually not bad. It's not particularly quick to launch - it's ready to shoot in about four seconds from pressing the shutter button on the side - and the snapping speed isn't much less – not a good camera for capturing those blink-and-you'll-miss-'em moments.

Next page: Verdict

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