Every once in a while we get our paws on a gadget that makes everyone just stop what they are doing and gather round and this was the phenomenon created by someone pulling an Ipaq H4355 out of their bag, this wasn't due to the fact that they were lucky to have picked one up in the states months before the UK launch but more to due with the shock of seeing and Ipaq with an inbuilt keyboard.

But as we found out the Ipaq H4355's beauty is a lot more than just skin deep. Based around a 400mhz X Scale processor the H4355 is one of the most powerful PDA's on the market today and it follows a line of Ipaq's that have put HP in a position of envy ahead of rivals like Palm and now Dell. Memory wise the H4355 comes as standard with 64mb of RAM which gave about 56mb of useable memory out of the box. The Ipaq's evolution continues and external storage is now so simple gone are the days when you needed jackets to slide in expansion packs the H4355 comes with a SD (secure digital) slot which can also take MMC (multimedia cards) these are easily available and range from 16mb to 1gb or you can use the IBM microdrive. You can load programmes onto memory cards and run them and HP have also provided a small section of memory (2.85mb) that uses the Ipaq's ROM this is protected against complete battery failure or a hard reset. Using SIDO you can also plug a range of accessories into he SD slot, like mobiles, GPS receivers etc but with the level of connectivity on the H4355 we doubt it will get much use.

So onto connectivity, the Ipaq H4355 must win the prize for the most connected PDA, it sports the ubiquitous IrDA (infa Red) serial connectivity via cable and now Bluetooth and Wifi as standard. Bluetooth is excellent for connecting to suitably equipped devices (normally mobiles) at speeds up to 1mbit/s or PC's which are increasing equipped with the mobile connectivity standard this is great for close proximity work, like syncing MS outlook to the Ipaq. However the Ipaq H4355 is a truly mobile device and HP have included Wifi 802.11b connectivity allowing you full access to your home or office network or even Wifi hotspots as they start to spring up around the UK, the maximum possible 22mbit/s is only achievable at close range the speed deteriorates with the distance from the access point and we found an effective maximum of 30ft through a few walls.

Access to all these goodies is through Microsoft Pocket PC 2003 which is rapidly becoming the defacto standard for mobile device operating systems, the Ipaq is equipped with a 3.5 inch screen with a resolution of 240 by 320 pixels and of course the main selling point of the H4355 the qwerty keyboard. It takes a little getting used to as some of the punctuation keys are in new locations but the qwerty keyboard is correct and although the buttons are small you soon mange to type very quickly which sure beats having to use a tooth pick to type on the older Ipaq's and the current competitions devices.

Now when it comes to size there is no denying that the H4355 is bigger than the older Ipaq's and when we say bigger we mean longer, in fact if you picture a keyboard bolted onto the bottom of a 3600 you'll be about right, there's no way of forgetting you've got this model with you it creates a bulge in any jacket and that's without any slipcase or extras in place.

Bearing in mind its size the productivity benefits have to be good to warrant carrying the H4355 around, battery life is key in this sector, no good having enough connectivity to run a war room if the battery has all the capacity of an asthmatic ant, but fear not the unit has an extra capacity 1500mAH battery which seems to go on well past any other PDA's we've played with in fact with moderate use we managed to exceed 6 hours in a single session. Now the Wifi and Bluetooth can eat into this time in a serious way especially in weak signal areas so best to turn wifi off if not needed to stop it hunting for connections of course you can always by a second battery which can easily slide into the H4355 to bring it back to life.

The Ipaq H4355 comes with a good standard spec of software including the full MS pocket office suite Word, Excel, Outlook etc and it has the latest mobile optimised Internet explorer and windows media player which could enable the Ipaq to act as an MP3 player with suitable headphones.

Not having made it to the UK shores yet the Ipaq H4355 is retailing in the USA for $499 which does make it good value for money when you consider everything that is bundled into the stylish exterior, the H4355 certainly seems to have all the bells and whistles the mobile gadgeteer could ask for if not perhaps a bit too much bulk to be the killer PDA. Quite how it will fare over in Blighty is yet to be seen but HP plan for them to be in shops in April 2004 and we'll bring them to you though our partners Amazon as soon as they hit the warehouse.

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