Editor-in-Chief Jørgen Sundgot whips out his looking glass to pore over ASUS' MyPal A730, among the first VGA-enabled Windows Mobile 2003 SE based Pocket PC to hit shelves.
Despite having only a small share of the Pocket PC market, Taiwanese manufacturer ASUS has consistently come up with some of the most powerful devices available - always pushing the envelope. Its most recent addition to its Pocket PC portfolio, however, is currently facing very stiff VGA competition from four other manufacturers, and so the question becomes: should you buy the MyPal A730 or look elsewhere?
 | ASUS' MyPal A730 doesn't quite measure up to other VGA Pocket PCs, but is nevertheless a good handheld
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Design
Quite a bit more attractive than ASUS' MyPal A716, the A730 is encased in purple-and-silver combo which, although visually pleasing, has a finish so slippery we'll just go ahead and declare it the next best thing to ice. Combined with a complete lack of any gripping points, this makes the 118 x 73 x 17 mm and 170 g heavy device difficult to hold at times - even straining, in some cases.
A relatively large, 3.7" colour display does its best to draw attention away from this faux pas, however, with 16-bit colour depth and a stunning 640 x 480 pixels of VGA resolution. Crisp and clear, the display delivers excellent ClearType results, however is hampered by a poor viewing angle which renders the screen increasingly milky when not viewed straight on; an issue not seen in competing VGA offerings, but which fortunately only minimally impacts day-to-day use.
Just below the display, we find a five-way navigational pad, flanked with four hardware shortcut buttons, whilst the left side of the device contains the power on/off button, as well as a voice recorder button labeled with a camera icon. Naturally, this is somewhat confusing until one learns that the button acts as a release when using the camera application, and initiates the voice recorder application under all other circumstances. Thankfully, all buttons non-confusingly offer excellent tactile feedback.
The right side of the device harbours a slide release for the plastic cover that spans the entire back of the unit, allowing users access to the battery compartment, as well as the unusually placed stylus well in the lower right corner. The back also contains a loud and clear - yet tinny and distortion-prone at its highest setting - speaker, as well as a 1.3 MP camera, vanity mirror and white LED photo light.
Finally, the top harbours a 3.5 mm earphone jack, also providing good audio quality, as well as an SDIO capable SD/MMC Card expansion slot, and one for CompactFlash Type II cards. This is also where the Infrared port is located, while the bottom of the A730 offers a reset pin and a USB Host capable USB/Serial port connector for use with the bundled USB cradle.
Connectivity
As a top-of-the-range, high-end Pocket PC, it's only fitting that the ASUS MyPal A730 offers dual expansion slots in the shape of one SDIO Capable SD/MMC Card expansion slot and one of the CompactFlash Type II variety. Infrared is also in place, of course, as is a dual USB/Serial connector for synchronization and charging purposes.
Interestingly, the A730 also offers USB Host capabilities, allowing certain USB peripherals to work with the device, although an accessory cable must be purchased from ASUS in order to enable this functionality. Disappointingly, however, the A730 does not offer Wi-Fi, which has become something of a requisite as of recently. Still, it does offer excellent Bluetooth support, offering a broad range of profiles.
Specifications
Powered by a 520 MHz Intel PXA270 processor, the MyPal A730 doesn't climb to the highest step on the ladder in terms of processor speed, but still packs some serious punch under the hood. Disappointingly, though, users will find themselves presented with a mere 33 MB of available RAM, which is shockingly low for a high-end Pocket PC. Fortunately, this is somewhat mitigated by an additional 17 MB of non-volatile storage, but remains inexcusably poor.
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