Last year, HP introduced the HP IPAQ rx5900 Travel Companion, a sleek gadget that combined the powers of PDA and portable navigation systems into a single solution. This was the first GPS device for the company, and it enjoyed moderate success with our readers. Now, HP has decided to launch its first GPS-only venture with the new HP IPAQ 310 Travel Companion. This sleek device with exceptionally beautiful and sharp screen and has attractive features on the inside, as well, including text-to-speech, integrated Bluetooth, and 3D-rendering of the building.Unfortunately, things go wrong, as soon as we hit the road. IPaq 310 was awful at route recalculations, which gives us clear direction and in a roundabout way to their destination. In addition, the voice prompts it was difficult to hear and understand. It is a shame because we really wanted to like this device, but HP should work out some bugs before we are ready to fork over $ $ 449 for a portable nav system. At the same time, if you are looking for a mid-level to advanced in-vehicle GPS, we’ll offer Mio DigiWalker C520 and Garmin Nuvi 660.
Design
Although the HP IPAQ 310 Travel Companion does not surprise different design than other portable navigation systems, is another sleek device. It sports an attractive black chassis and black plums with a soft finish on the back panel, which makes for a nice addition to any car interior. IPaq 310 also has a thin profile (4.3 inches wide by 3.4 inches by 0.7 inches deep 6.6 ounces) so you can easily carry it between vehicles or pack in your suitcase for use with a rental car during travel.
On the front panel you will find a spacious 4.3-inch TFT touch screen, which shows with 65000 colors at a sharp 800×480 pixels, which makes maps and text look more clear and bright. This is one of the best displays we’ve seen on a GPS device to date, and we could read it in various lighting conditions including bright sunlight. You can adjust the brightness, and have the option of a night mode, which will automatically switch the map flowers at night for better viewing. The touch screen reacts to our team, even though the system itself can sometimes be sluggish, you can make it appear on the screen did not immediately respond to your touch. On-screen keyboard on the close side, so users with larger digits may have a hard time entering the address with only their fingertips. Fortunately, there is the stylus on the top of the device for more accurate text entry.
For the most part, the user interface HP intuitive and easy to understand. Home menu presents you with five clear options: Navigation, Entertainment, Contacts, Extras, Settings. However, once you dive deeper into these parameters, the functions of all the different buttons, not always obvious. Manual is very barebones, but at least explains the purpose of each icon.
The power button is located above the display, and there are expansion SD slot on the left side.On the right you’ll find a reset hole, port mini-USB, 3,5 mm headphone jack, external antenna connector, as well as the multifunctional steering wheel jogging, which can be used to adjust the volume and backlight, scroll and select various menus, or zoom in / out card.
Features
HP IPAQ 310 Travel Companion was built from scratch and not use the navigation software TomTom. Instead, it uses its own navigation software HP and comes with preloaded TeleAtlas United States and Canada. As in most other portable navigation systems, you can get a referral to a specific address, point of interest (POI), the location from the list of favorites or recently visited list, or home address. After entering the destination, the route can be calculated in several ways, including the shortest, quickest and most economical, and you can instruct the system to avoid certain road types and maneuvers, such as roads, toll roads and turns. There will also be IPaq dedicated website where you can plan your trips in advance, and then send them IPaq 310. This is a good option if you have time to pre-plan your trip because you can use the full computer screen and keyboard to enter all the information. Unfortunately, this feature is not live at the time of this writing, so we could not verify it. HP said that the site should be ready for public use in late November, but did not give a specific date. Other goodies include an automatic navigation route recalculation and alert the security cameras.
