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Two of a Kind I am convinced that "Hitachi" must be Japanese for "beautiful screen". Hitachi and Lucky Goldstar (now called LG) have co-developed an HPC and are separately selling the device under different names. The Hitachi HPW and the LG Phenom are two devices that deliver a beautiful display in a very small size. At first glance, the characters seem clearer, the screen brighter. But once the Win CE desktop appears, there's no doubt; the icons seem huge. Mathematically, the 5"x2" HPW screen doesn't seem that much larger than Cassiopea's 4 5/8" x2 3/8" screen. But when users spend just a few minutes with a Casio or NEC unit, then switch to the Hitachi comments like "Wow, this is great!" and "Much better!" can be heard. However, the screen does have two flaws. First, when using the stylus on the unit, I occasionally had to triple tap or press hard on the screen to get the unit to respond. This problem is also evident on the Casio offering and it is not eliminated by screen recalibration. The second, and much more serious, flaw is that neither of the models have backlighting. Today's market isn't making a decision on whether or not to buy a unit with backlighting, it's which backlit unit to buy. And with such an amazing screen, Hitachi or LG could own the market by producing a backlit unit that is brighter than all the other HPCs. That lesson will hopefully be learned quickly so that either company can deliver a backlit unit in time to stuff stockings this Christmas season. Favorite functional features The keyboard, despite the device's smaller footprint, is the most functional I have used on a handheld PC. The keys are spaced very well and have an excellent response. One interesting observation: the default "key press" sound that is emitted from the device at every touch gives the user an illusion of poor key response and feel. Try typing on the device first with the sound on, then turn off audio and you'll understand; the key response is excellent, the sound is poor. These units earn their small footprint by moving a few key items off of the top half of the clamshell. First, the speaker resides on the bottom of the unit. Audio from the speaker is quite a bit louder than other HPCs - probably to compensate for the fact that the speaker will spend most of it's time pressed against a tabletop. This design decision provides an excellent alarm; even the heaviest of sleepers should awake if they set a repeating alarm and leave the unit, speaker-side up, on the night stand. Second, there is no LED to serve as a visual alarm - a feature that might be important as a silent alarm for professionals in a business meeting or students in the library. Lastly, the contrast controls for the units are keyboard functions (holding the Alt key and pressing period or comma). This choice I applaud, as I often find contrast dials too sensitive and difficult to use, and I prefer being able to adjust the screen without lifting my hands from the keyboard. Another pleasant design feature is the placement of the stylus. It sits in a recessed space above the keyboard and is brought into action by pressing on the tip, and grasping the other end of the stylus as it pops out of the unit. This eliminates the struggle that plagues most CE devices: trying to remove the stylus from the side of the device. As a bonus, a spare stylus is included with both the Hitachi and LG units. Fantastic phone These tiny HPCs have a powerful phone packed inside. The high-end Phenom and HPW each have a 28.8 fax/modem, without any increase in size from the smaller models. Bundled with the Phenom, an application called "Pocket Phone" is the key to the telephony communications. On-screen buttons let you enter phone numbers, redial, set speaker and microphone volume and even auto answer. But the phone features are useless until you get the optional telecom earpiece, which is sold separately. It looks like an earpiece for a Walkman radio, but has a tiny microphone halfway down the wire. Attaching the earpiece also allows you to record voice annotations that you can name and play back to refresh your memory. The fax services are adequate, allowing send and receive functions, and supporting file attachments. Fax numbers are automatically imported from Win CE's Contacts database and available at the touch of a button. However, the cover page design can not be customized, a feature that all WinCE Fax programs are sorely lacking. Hitachi officials did not supply us with a copy of their telephony software, but did confirm that it is similar in function to the Phenom's, and may even be the same package. Bundle of joy Hitachi has a well-rounded bundle of applications shipping with the HPW, although users will need to download v1.1 of HPC Explorer from Microsoft's web site <http://www.microsoft.com/WindowsCE> if they want Office 97 integration, in addition to Socket's pager access software and Virtual Courier for MS mail and cc: Mail connectivity. But what the Hitachi marketing materials -and even the opening screen on the install disk- refer to as "Freehand Notepad" is really ART Technology's smART scribble, a superb notepad package and the perfect complement to any CE device. bFax Lite completes the bundle and is software no HPC should ship without (although shipping with the professional version would be an even bigger plus, in my book). Reportedly, the HPW contains similar (if not the same) telephony software that is bundled with LG's Phenom. LG's Phenom includes 30-day evaluation copies of Intellisync and Pocket On-Schedule plus full versions of WyndMail/CE, SkyTel Messenger and TeleFax. TeleFax is the proprietary software that manages the telephony features described in this review. Microsoft's omnipresent WinCE distribution diskette contains HPC Explorer v1.1 and Automap Streets. And there are 53 Automap Streets maps included on the CD; more than is available in Microsoft's free download area.  The LG and Hitachi units are slightly smaller than the Casio Cassiopeia. (Click on the graphic for a larger image. -35kb) Identical twins?
Aside from the software
bundle and the corporate badges on the devices, there are
only two ways to tell these devices apart. The Hitachi
line has chosen an "off-beige" color for their
HPW units, while LG has dressed the Phenom with the
"black is beautiful" approach. LG may have had
the right idea, since the HPW's color may quickly wear
thin on users and may not be appropriate for corporate
users that do not want to attract attention to their HPC.
Secondly, the LG unit has earned the better surname.
Phenom certainly has a much more appealing ring to it
than HPW, and provides a more personal title for the most
personal of computer systems. Therefore, if vanity plays
a part in your decision making process, the Phenom edges
ahead. However, for many, price is the main
consideration. The Hitachi units will be available at
Fry's and Staples stores nationwide. Pricing is set at
US$499.95 for the 2MB HPW-10E2, US$599.95 for the 4MB
HPW-10E4 and US$699.95 for the 4MB HPW-10E4 with the 28.8
modem. Phenom pricing and distribution information wasn't
set at press time, but officials from LG gave us
estimated street prices of US$549 for the 4MB unit and
US$699 for the 4MB unit with modem. While the lack of
backlighting should be considered a cardinal sin at this
point in the handheld PC game, these devices have too
many great features to be overlooked. The impressive
keyboard, sharp screen and slim size make this the
perfect device for the "no-hassles" consumer.
Plus, the high-end versions of the LG/Hitachi HPC line
offer something only one other manufacturer could: a
modem. They best the 19.2kbps Philips Velo in speed and
the Velo lacks telephony features. If you test drive the
other CE units first, you'll really appreciate all the
facets of these well made devices. Hitachi <www.hitachi-ce.com> |
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