Hewlett Packard Jornada 420

The Jornada 420 has been around for a while - a fact that is pretty obvious. To start with, it only comes with 8Mb of ROM and 8Mb of RAM (expandable to 16Mb), which isn't all that great compared to the newer CE machines with 32Mb. The core of the 420 is based around a 100Mhz Hitachi SH3 CPU, which is just about sufficient for running CE.

This was one of the first hand-held devices with a good colour screen to hit the market, but since then a lot of other devices have arrived with better displays. The screen is bright enough, but it's not the quickest when it comes to updating the display if you happen to toggle between applications a lot. In addition, to change the brightness and contrast settings you have to use a special HP display tool. This has four different default settings: outdoors, indoors, low power and special, giving you quick access to the different set-ups.

HP has made quite a few design choices with the 420 that leave it running behind its competitors. To start with, it doesn't come with a protective pouch; instead HP has opted for a flip-over lid that is supposed to protect the screen. It does a good job - probably better than some of the pouches - but there are symbols on the lid to show what each button on the side of the 420 does. If you then flip the lid over to use the touch-screen, you've got no guide markings.

The result is that when you're first getting to grips with the unit, you find yourself having to constantly flip the lid over and back.

Secondly, there are no 'hard' buttons for launching applications; instead HP has gone for touch-sensitive plastic icons below the screen. These function adequately, but we would have preferred the hard buttons.

It does have a hard key linked to the Windows start button, so it's easy to access the start menu, but this also has a disadvantage. If you've got the unit in your pocket, it might accidentally turn itself on if it gets knocked about. This might be a minor issue, but battery life on PDAs is everything.

The stylus seems to have been copied from the Palm - it's almost identical to the one that comes with the Palm Series III - but sadly it's not as comfortable to use. It's stored on the right-hand side of the 420 in a slot which isn't spring-loaded, so it has to be pulled out in the same way as on the Palm.

As with most CE devices, the 420 comes with a built-in speaker and microphone. The latter is not one of the better ones we've used and produces quite poor recordings. The speaker isn't as loud as on some of the models on test, but the unit does come with a standard 3.5mm stereo headphone socket, so you can use pretty much any pair of headphones with it.

Power is supplied by a 1500mAh lithium-ion battery pack that should last about four hours - well below average.

HP has also supplied a matching docking cradle, which has a lid to protect the connectors. When you put the 420 in the cradle it's locked firmly in place, and there are two release buttons. We're not quite sure why HP felt the device needed to be locked into the cradle, as it makes it slightly more awkward to dock and undock the device. On the plus side, both of the cables, the charger and the serial interface are removable so that they can be individually replaced if they get damaged.

Since this is an older device, synchronisation is taken care of by Windows CE Services 2.2, but you can download for free from HP's website. It also comes with a CDRom containing Trio Phone Manager 2.0, Outside In and HP PIM Translator.

The user guide is written clearly, with chapters covering just about everything that you would need to know about getting the 420 up and running. HP has also supplied a pamphlet listing peripherals that are compatible with the unit which can be bought from third-party vendors. These include Compact Flash memory cards, modem cards and network cards.

However, if you do decide to buy one of these add-on cards, you will find that the 420's cover for the Compact Flash card slot is not as good as seen on some of the other models in this test. It's a small piece of plastic that is attached with a plastic ribbon to the unit and, once removed, is very hard to get back in place.

At the end of the day, the Jornada 420 has been superseded by other CE devices. If the company dropped the price it might be worth a look for those who are interested in buying their first Windows CE device, but you will almost certainly need to add a memory upgrade immediately.

Contact Hewlett Packard 0990 474747 www.hp.com