HP iPaq 110 and iPaq 210 bring back PDAs from the dead

HP iPaq 110 Classic Handheld

(Credit: HP)

Ha! And people thought the PDA was dead. Today, HP introduced two new models to its iPaq line of handhelds: the HP iPaq 110 Classic Handheld and HP iPaq 210 Enterprise Handheld. Now, in this day and age of smart phones, will this type of classic PDA fly? I say yes. There are still plenty of people who want one device for organizing their contacts and appointments while keeping their cell phone separate. And heck, since Dell exited the handheld market in April and there hasn't been a new PDA from Palm in years, HP fills that void. Both devices are expected to start shipping in late October, while pricing has not been finalized at this time.

So if the name didn't give it away, the iPaq 110 is more for the everyday user--the student, the do-it-all supermom, the mobile professional. There's no revolutionary technology in here, but that's not to say, it's a snoozer. The PDA runs the latest Windows Mobile 6 Professional Edition and comes with integrated Bluetooth 2.0 and Wi-Fi. It's nice and trim at 4.5 inches tall by 7.1 inches wide by 0.5 inch deep and 3.6 ounces and features a 3.5-inch, 240x320 pixel touch screen. Underneath, the iPaq 110 is powered by a 624MHz Marvell PXA310 processor and 256MB Flash ROM and 64MB SDRAM.

HP iPaq 210 Enterprise Handheld

(Credit: HP)

Meanwhile, the HP iPaq 210 will appeal to only a certain portion of the audience, namely vertical markets such as the medical profession. This business-centric handheld comes with advanced tools, such as HP's Enterprise Mobility Agent, a certificate enroller, and VoIP support. It's also equipped with a 24-pin connector and a mini USB port for terminal attachments such as bar code readers. Other highlights of this Windows Mobile 6 PDA include Bluetooth 2.0 and Wi-Fi (802.11b/g with WPA2 security), a 4-inch, 262,000-color, VGA touch screen, 256MB of Flash ROM, 64MB of SDRAM, a voice recorder, and a 3.5mm headphone jack.

[tsaot]

Why is a headphone jack a feature?

Why are the headphone jack & voice recorder listed as features for the 210? Shouldn't those be standard to a PDA? Heck, my ancient Dell Axim X3i has those.

[geekster1]

Ipaq 210 - PDAs back from the Dead

Vertical market my a**. With that battery and screen and the expandability, this is a great multimedia platform too.

[zengeekdad]

Is anyone aware of plans at HP to offer a version of the hp 210 with an integral keyboard? The 210 is everything I've been waiting for, for years, EXCEPT the lack of a keyboard.

I saw nothing about it at hp's website, but companies are so often secretive about such things, to avoid undermining sales of current offerings, and I noticed those "truly connected" knew of the 210 back when only the 110 had been released.

There are a lot of users out here who want the versatility and power of a device like this, for personal use, as well as for third party software that doesn't quite fit the "business enterprise" model.