Though not as prolific as brands like HTC, Asus does have a few PDA-phones in its portfolio. The company's main differentiator since its earlier MyPal-branded devices is the inclusion of GPS in most of its devices. This carries on in the current range and extends to the upcoming lineup as well. Asus' current flagship model is the P750, a Windows Mobile 6 handheld with HSDPA as one of its connectivity features. It retails for S$1,188 and is available in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand.
Design
Ranging from components catered to enthusiasts to notebooks for a wide spectrum of consumers, Asus has a pretty good track record when it comes to quality. We found that to be true also in the P750 which has a solid build. With dimensions of 113 x 58 x 17.4mm and a weight of 130g, this PDA-phone is pretty compact for its class of products. It isn't as sleek as some other Windows Mobile handhelds from brands like HTC and LG. But given that it has a numeric keypad, we'd say Asus has done a pretty good job with the form factor even though the design isn't that exciting.
The front of the device is mostly taken up by a 2.6-inch QVGA display. Below that, you get a joystick navigator and a numeric keypad for number and text input. There are quite a number of shortcut keys found around the keypad including an OK key for getting out of menus quickly. Though it occupies a very small surface area, we found the keys on the keypad good to type with. One small gripe we had is that the "2" button, for some strange reason, requires more force to depress. So if you are using minimum force for the rest of the buttons, hitting "2" will give you a non-response and will require a re-press.
The bezel around the screen has a brushed metal finish while a chromed strip runs around the edge. The rest of the P750 including the back come in a velvety material--one that is getting popular among many handhelds because it feels good in the hands. The sides of the P750 are quite crowded. On the left are a jog dial and voice recorder shortcut key while on the right are a port for an external GPS antenna, the power switch, a reset hold, camera shutter and a microSD card slot.
The power switch is one aspect of the design that we really liked. It works very much like those Hold switches found on music players--moving it up from the default center position turns the device on or off, while moving it down locks it. This allows you to keylock the P750 no matter which application you happen to be in, unlike many other WM handhelds which can be keylocked only from the Home screen.
On the base of this PDA-phone are two ports, one mini-USB and one 2.5mm audio connector. A stylus slot is also found there close to the right edge.
Features
Among the handhelds from Asus, this is the first to come with HSDPA connectivity. In this case, that means it can hit a theoretical data transfer speed of 3.6Mbps over the cellular network. As always, this is usually much lower and is dependent on the quality of your operator's network in your current location. This handset also has a quadband GSM radio, so roaming in the US won't be a problem. Aside from the cellular features, the P750 additionally comes with the regular crop of Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity options.
GPS has become a regular item on Asus' checklist of specifications on its handhelds. The P750 comes with the Sirfstar III GPS chipset, a commonly used component for satellite navigation and one of the best in the market. Asus bundles some software which makes use of this feature. One of them is Travelog, an application which can follow you on your travels and then allow you to export a file which is used on Google Earth to track your journey. Another is LocationCourier which sends your coordinates to predetermined contacts via SMS. These are all nice to have, but the most important application for a GPS handheld is missing--maps. Asus has not bundled any navigation software or maps with the P750. Most PDA-phones with built-in GPS we have come across so far have been sold with applications like MapKing and a free local map. So those considering buying the P750 should factor in the cost of buying maps separately before going for it.
Other applications found in the P750 include a namecard scanner, a world time clock, an RSS reader and a backup application. There are also some which make the interface more user-friendly. Like with all current HTC products, Asus has a setting called Auto Cleaner which lets you press and hold the close button to terminate an application instead of just minimizing it to the background. There are also tiny icons on the Today screen which tell you when Wi-Fi or GPS is in use, and also gets you to certain settings quickly. There is even an Asus Launcher which makes the entire interface look more like a regular mobile phone with a grid-style menu layout. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to include new programs installed in the menus, making it ineffective for regular use.
Two cameras are found on the P750, one for picture-taking at the rear and one for video calls in front above the LCD. The 3-megapixel camera at the back has an autofocus feature and takes decent enough photos for a camera-phone. We did find the shutter lag quite bad, so don't be surprised if you miss some fast-moving action because of that.
Performance
We had no reception problems with the P750. It did well for voice calls and video calls worked out pretty all right, too. But as with many phones, it will be hard to actually hear what the other party is saying outdoors in a noisy environment using the P750's speakerphone.
With a 520MHz Marvell processor, this handheld did feel pretty responsive. Even though it has only 64MB of RAM, we did not find it to be sluggish in normal everyday use. That said, we wouldn't mind it having 128MB of RAM instead so that running even more memory-intensive applications in the background won't cause the device to slow down.
The P750's battery is rated for 3.6 hours of talktime. We managed to get three days' use on a single charge--excellent for a touchscreen device. Though this also depends on usage patterns, it's pretty safe to say that daily charging won't be absolutely required for most.
Conclusion
Asus has gotten it mostly right with the P750. It comes with all the requisite wireless options and doesn't have any damning flaws. It even comes with a pretty good bundle including a car holder and charger. The major shortcoming we would have to say is the lack of bundled maps--which makes the provision of a car kit a little ironic. This also makes the S$1,188 price tag feel a little expensive. But if you are looking for a WM6 handheld with a numeric keypad, there aren't many to choose from, and we'd say this Asus P750 is a decent choice.
Author: John Chan |
View more
| 
