Want to get slim for summer? Try a svelte new Pocket PC instead: Anthony Newman finds that good things come in small packages with the ViewSonic V35.
ViewSonic's first-generation Pocket PC product, the V35, has been available for some time now, and has become an accepted member of the Pocket PC establishment. It owes its success largely to a combination of decent reputation (especially in the display industry) and a relatively low price point. Let’s see how it fares in today’s world.
 | The most impressive aspect of the ViewSonic V35 is its brilliant display
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Design
The V35 still more than holds its own on the design front, sporting a sleek exterior which means that, apart from the HP iPAQ H1910 and the Razor Zayo, it remains the smallest Pocket PC widely available. The design ethos is similar to that shared by Toshiba, with calm silver and sleek, sober lines setting the tone. The V35 is extremely thin and light, at about 120 grams and 1 cm thick. These dimensions are somewhat offset by the length and width of the unit, which makes it feel quite large in the hand, but overall the V35 is eminently pocketable and light enough to forget about - just don’t sit on it by accident. A side-effect of the lightness is that the device feels rather plasticky, an impression which is furthered by the black plastic back. Although this is attractive in combination with the silver fascia, it removes the secure illusion of a metal shell. Nonetheless the build quality is sturdy.
As a display manufacturer, ViewSonic were under pressure to produce a great screen for their first PDA. Thankfully, the 3.5" transflective display on show here is a delight to use: on full backlight it is dazzling. The screen lighting is fairly even, with colours well represented, if a little pale. Unfortunately, ClearType looks awful - strange cyan ghosts hamper the clarity and there is distinct blurring. This is odd, as on the whole the display is one of the best we’ve used, especially in terms of viewing angle. Thankfully, one of our pet-hates is skillfully avoided by ViewSonic, who have equipped the V35 with a stunning touchscreen, fully receptive to all but the lightest of taps and with just the right amount of give.
This is partly thanks to the stylus, which is an interesting telescopic affair, moving from a thick bullet-shaped head to a sturdy metal shaft that offers plenty of purchase.
The V35 comes with a perfectly standard set of buttons: four main application buttons grace the front, covering the usual Pocket Outlook programs in an odd order, and with one of the four being devoted to ‘Notes’, duplicating the function of the side-mounted record button. The four main buttons are large and well-spaced, and offer a good level of feedback.
The D-pad is one of the odder features, as to our confusion and later frustration it seems to lack an action button either at its centre or anywhere else: the ‘enter’ function must be performed by pressing the jog dial. Despite this the pad itself is of a decent size and with a definite clicky response, whereas the aforementioned jog dial is pleasant to use with a distinctive ‘enter’. Just below the jog rocker is the record button, well recessed, and of a similar nature is the power button, mounted on the top of the unit.
Just in front of the power button are two very bright notification LEDs, offering the usual indication of alarms and charging status.
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