HP iPAQ H1910 Pocket PC

The iPAQ 1910 is billed as small, light and low cost. It certainly meets the first of these two criteria, and if your PDA budget excludes ultra low-end choices like Palm's Zire then it goes a good way to meeting the third too.

The size of the iPAQ 1910 is very impressive. At just 113 mm tall, 70 mm wide and 13 mm deep it is easily pocket-sized. The screen is a standard 3.5 inches measured diagonally and is pin-sharp and bright. Just as good, the battery is removable--if you really want to spend more money buy a second and boost the four hours Hewlett Packard says the supplied cell will run for.

This being a budget model, compromises have had to be made, but they are sensible ones. There is 64 MB of RAM for your own applications and data, but only 46 MB of this is actually available, the remainder being occupied by some of the Pocket PC software. You can, however, boost this amount with SD cards if you feel the need. The processor is an Intel PXA 250 that runs at 200 MHz. There are faster versions of this chip available, but if you don't need the fastest PDA in town this processor should do nicely.

There is a piece of bad news if you already own an iPAQ and are looking to upgrade. The small overall size of the hardware means it isn't compatible with existing jackets. That aside, if you are looking out for a very neat, very small pocket PC with superb build quality and a removable battery, the iPAQ 1910 could be right up your street. --Sandra Vogel