HP iPAQ 314 Travel Companion - Expert Reviews

Review summary: We had a lot of problems testing the 310 Travel Companion; more problems than we've had with any other device in recent memory..

Pros: Wonderful screen ; lots of features

Cons: Navigation is non-intuitive ; instructions are lacking ; loading media onto the device is a hassle

Review summary: When you boot up just about any device from HP, you get a splash screen exclaiming, "HP Invent." This may be pure marketing shtick, but in the case of the new HP iPAQ 310 Travel Companion, it's actually true: The device offers innovation that its ...

Pros: Powerful dual-core Titan processor. High-resolution widescreen display. Forty-channel GPS receiver. Excellent 3D rendering. Buildings rendered in 3D in 40 U.S. cities. Multisegment routing.

Cons: Power connects to device directly, not via mounting bracket. Text on the bottom of the screen is a bit small.

Verdict: The HP iPAQ 310 Travel Companion is the first GPS device to use a speedy dual-core processor. When it's coupled with a high-resolution widescreen display, the results are pretty impressive.

Pros: Great display, robust GPS software, touch screen works flawlessly, 3.5mm headphone jack

Cons: Some slowdown at times, video play stutters, not all icons are clearly labelled

Verdict: Performing well in a number of areas, HP's iPAQ 312 is a bit of a jack of all trades. While the media playback features are a bit of a gimmick, the GPS is robust and the Bluetooth hands-free functions well, making this a solid choice for users who ...

Review summary: The first GPS to offer 3D maps, the iPAQ 310 is a promising portable navigation device.

Pros: >• Easy to plan multistop itineraries, • Large 12-million-POI database, • 4.3-inch glare-resistant screen

Cons: >• 3D maps slow things down, • Hard to look up POIs, Memory: 128MB SDRAM, 2GB flash ROM, , , , , , , On a product billed as a travel companion, we expected more, such as a currency conversion tool or a directory of travel discounts. Although we're ...

Pros: The HP iPaq 310 Travel Companion is a sleek portable navigation system with a gorgeous screen, text-to-speech functionality, and integrated Bluetooth. It also displays 3D building renderings and has multimedia capabilities.

Cons: The iPaq 310 was pretty awful at route recalculations, and the voice prompts weren't very loud or clear.

Verdict: Despite a sleek design and an attractive feature set, the HP iPaq 310 Travel Companion shows an ugly side with inaccurate route recalculations and poor voice directions that makes us say pass for now.