More Power For PDAs

Do you like to use your PDA for wireless communications, videos, music, or games? If so, then you'll want to check out new devices with Intel's latest processor for handhelds.

Structured on Intel's new XScale core, the PXA250 chip offers a leap in PDA processing power--without a commensurate sacrifice in battery life. We were impressed by Hewlett-Packard's preproduction IPaq Pocket PC 3950, the first PXA250-based PDA.

Intel designed the PXA250 to handle such demanding tasks as multimedia playback or voice and handwriting recognition. Its top 400-MHz clock speed doubles the 206 MHz of the StrongARM SA-1110 (the PXA250's predecessor); the new chip also incorporates some functionality that formerly required separate chips, such as LCD and USB controllers and interfaces to audio codecs. And the PXA250 will improve performance with XScale-optimized applications--media players, games, and the like--due in the next few months.

The PXA250 does this without using more battery power than the StrongARM, in part because its XScale core lowers its clock speed when performing tasks that don't need much CPU muscle. The PXA250's little sibling, the 200-MHz PXA210, will go in smaller devices such as cell phones.

We looked at a $649 IPaq 3950, which is similar to the StrongARM-powered 3850 ($600) but with an improved transflective screen and a universal remote-control application. We noticed that the 3950's screen was much brighter than the 3850's (with each set to maximum brightness). It also appears that the 3850's LCD does not power down as far as the 3950's.

Acer, Fujitsu, and Toshiba plan to ship XScale units by fall. PalmSource, the Palm subsidiary responsible for the operating system, has demonstrated the upcoming OS 5 on an XScale board, though no devices are announced yet. In the handheld world, it appears XScale will mark the spot.

SUMMARY

IPaq Pocket PC 3950 Hewlett-Packard (Preproduction unit, not rated) List: $649