Instead with the 114 classic you get a large 3.5" transflective screen, dual Wi-Fi and a fast 624Mhz CPU to make up for its initial downfalls.

Box Content

Inside the box you get a respectable selection of goodies, but compared to previous iPAQ's you don't have a USB cradle. What you do get is a stylus pen, protective case, USB cable, mains charger, getting started guide/CD, with additional software available via their ipaqchoice website - for free.

Specs

• Processor: Marvell PXA310 Processor 624 MHz
• Memory: 64 MB SDRAM, 256 MB flash ROM
• Display: 3.5” transflective TFT QVGA, 65K colours, 320 x 240
• Wireless: Integrated WLAN 802.11b/g, Bluetooth 2.0 with EDR
• Expansion: SDIO high-capacity card slot
• I/O port: 1 mini-USB connector
• Multimedia: Integrated microphone, receiver, speaker and one 3.5 mm 4 pin stereo headphone jack. HP Photosmart Mobile Software, Windows Media Player 10 Mobile
• Battery: Removable/rechargeable 1200 mAh Lithium-Ion
• Weight: 114.6 g
• Dimensions: 6.89 x 1.36 x 11.67 cm
• 1Yr warranty

Design

When we first laid our eyes on the HP 114 we felt it lacked the initial build quality of the older 2490, but it still looks professional in its grey/silver finish. The device is pretty light as well - despite of its size - weighing in at just under 115g and the back is finished in a rubberised coating for extra durability.

The buttons at the base of the PDA are responsive to touch and include typical shortcuts for opening your calendar and for accessing the start button. To the sides of the PDA you don't really get that many options, with an SD card slot to the left and a power on/off button, reset switch and a dictaphone recorder button to the right.

To the base you have a mini UBB port which can be used to charge up your device - the USB cable can also serve this function.

At the top we were pleased to see a standard 3.5mm headphone socket which will be ideal if you already have a pair of headphones - it’s just a pity HP don't supply any as standard.

Features

The HP as you know lacks a phone/camera element but it does provide dual Wi-Fi support for linking up to nearby hotspots or routers. The only snag with this is if you are not around any of the latter you will have to link up the device via a Bluetooth compatible phone to get remote internet access.

You do get a handy BT Connect manager to help with the above, but its list of compatible devices is limited, so it’s a case of choosing the nearest match to your phone and hoping that it will work.

Being based on the Windows Mobile 6 Classic operating system means you get to use the mobile office programs to create documents or spreadsheets (as mobile office comes with Word, Excel, PowerPoint), but unlike other manufactures like HTC and E-Ten - who go out of their way to customise the interface and apps - HP have provided little more than the standard suite of software, the afore mentioned BT utility and a couple of shortcut buttons on the home screen.

To be fair you can choose from a selection of iPAQ choice software for free, but HP could do better for the price.

Its 3.5" screen is transflective which means that you can use the device in bright outdoor conditions and alongside its auto sensor - which adjusts the backlight according to the available light levels - is a nice way to save battery life whilst still getting a relative bright screen.

However with this screen HP missed out on an opportunity to add a built in GPS receiver, as a result if you want to add this functionality you will have to lug around a Bluetooth one instead.

Also because of the lower 320 x 240 resolution the screen icons and text were not as crisp. Plus the page layout would have benefited from a higher VGA resolution to take advantage of the larger screen, but this option is only available on the more expensive 214 Classic.

Having to use the built in virtual keyboard to type will also prove a major drag, especially if you have been used to a physical keypad or slide-out keyboard, so we recommend you get hold of a Bluetooth external Keyboard if you are doing some serious typing.

Performance

As you would expect from a 624Mhz CPU, 64MB Ram (31MB of free system memory) and a 256MB ROM (196Mb free storage) the HP was a quick performer.

At one point we had around ten applications open at once and the device was still going and playing games, watching videos or handling documents did not cause any problems for the HP at all.

Battery life was respectable form the 1200mAh rated battery, however for a traditional PDA we would have expected a larger battery. For general standby use with no Wi-Fi or Bluetooth enabled the battery lasted around 5 days with pick up and play usage.

For general usage you can get arround two days out of the device we recks.

Turning on the Bluetooth though does zap the life quickly, going down to 53% from 88% over night when we had only spent 30 minutes of time using this function and then quickly turning it off.

During internet use (with our device being linked via Bluetooth) the HP lost around 6% of battery power every 8-10 minutes of moderate use. So you can get around two hours from the battery when fully utilising the Bluetooth. Wi-Fi usage will also cause the battery to drain quicker.