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"ASUS, a provider of 3C total solutions, is well known for high quality and innovative technologies", releases its latest Pocket PC offering... ASUS MyPAL A716...
Introduction
In their latest offering, ASUS has created the perfect business and/or personal Pocket PC, the A716. The A716 is the fourth Pocket PC released by ASUS, following on from the very successful A620BT, A620 and A600 series PPC's.
The A716 is not as light or slim as its predecessors, however the A716 offers just about everything anyone could want in a Pocket PC!. Pre-loaded with the Microsoft PPC 2003 Operating System and powered by Intel's PXA255 chip (running a clock speed of 400mz and and a bus speed of 200mz), the MyPAL A716 is built to perform. It is larger than the other mainstream Pocket PC's (compared to other recent releases from HP for example but the A716 is no larger than other Pocket PC's such at the HP5550 series) however the A716 boasts an SD slot, CF slot, BlueTooth, Wireless, 64 Mb Ram/Rom while also offering 25.04mb of Flash Disk for additional storage etc. In fact I can't think of anything the A716 does not have! The MyPAL A 716 certainly will NOT disappoint even the most particular of Pocket PC users!
One of the first things that stand out about the A716 is the attention to detail in the design. One of the great features of the A716 is its 'one handed use' feature. Located on the upper left hand side of the unit there are three buttons: one is the combined 'action' (and voice record) button with the other two buttons being for vertical scrolling. The user can scroll up and down a menu or screen using the vertical scroll buttons and then use the 'action' button to activate (action) that program or selection.
Operating System
The MyPAL A716 comes pre-loaded with the Microsoft PPC 2003 Operating System, Windows Mobile 2003. New to WM2003, here's what's new/included:
New Connection Manager Redesigned to allow you to more easily connect to your corporate network or to the Internet
Enhanced Messaging Support Composing email messages is easier than ever
Enhanced Keyboard Support Providing enhanced keyboard support for new devices with integrated or snap-on keyboards
Enhanced Contacts Optimized search - find key contacts more quickly
Enhanced Calendar Offering multi-day views with weekends highlighted in different colors
'Pictures' Image Viewer A great new digital imaging application for the Pocket PC
Windows Media Player 9 Series Do more exciting digital media
Improved pIE Performance Improve your browsing experience with an enhanced Pocket Internet Explorer (pIE)
Jawbreaker is the great new popping puzzle game
New Zero Configuration Wi-Fi Easily find and connect to any 802.11 wireless local area network
Bluetooth Support Simple to link your Pocket PC and other Bluetooth-enabled mobile devices
Size and Weight
As mentioned, the A716 is larger than other mainstream Pocket PC's. It is 135mm long, 78mm wide and 17.6mm deep. Given the amazing array of hardware the A716 offers, it weighs in at a very reasonable 197g. From a design perspective, the A716 is slightly on the square side however it is designed well and is aesthetically appealing.
Processor
The MyPAL A716 is powered by a 400mhz Intel Xscale PXA255 processor delivering impressive speed enhancements and multi-tasking.
Memory
Like most of today's Pocket PC's, the MyPAL A716 comes with 64MB of RAM (SDRAM) and 32MB of Flash ROM. And if the 64MB of RAM (of which the OS takes approx 10MB - leaving around 54MB) is not enough space for you to install your favourite programs, games and data, then you can always install/save to a CompactFlash or SD card or the additional 25.04mb of Flash Disk made available within the unit itself. The CompactFlash slot on the A716 is a Type II Card Slot (3.3V/5V.
Multimedia Playback
As with the A620 and A620BT, the A716 has been designed to enhance multimedia playback, making it a pleasure to run your multimedia applications. Combine the PXA255 chip, the 200mhz bus, the transflective screen and Media Player 9, and you have a great multimedia sound and video 'studio' right in the palm of your hand.
Screen
The screen is a high quality Transflective TFT LCD screen, with a resolution of 240 x 320. ASUS have again delivered a screen in the A716 which is sharper and more vibrant then other mainstream Pocket PC's, which only further enhances the overall look and feel of this device.
Battery
One of the most important features in today's Pocket PC is the battery, and unlike all other current Pocket PC's, the MyPAL A716 hosts a powerful 1500mAH removable Lithium Rechargeable Battery allowing up to an impressive 19 hours of use (using power saver mode and brightness adjusted accordingly). If the standard battery is not enough, the A716 has a 3000mAH removable Lithium Rechargeable Battery available as an optional extra. Now that is some serious battery power!
** Connecting the Battery when you first set up your A716
Straight out of the box the A716 comes with the battery in a separate plastic bag and is detached from the A716 itself (which is in another bag). BEFORE you connect the battery to the unit, make sure you flick the small backup battery switch on the back of the A716 to the ON position. Your A716 will not turn on until you do this. Place the battery on the back of the A716 and then to complete the installation of the battery, simply slide the battery lock (found on the lower left hand side of the unit. You can use the stylus to slide the locking mechanism into place.
Different to the previous ASUS Pocket PC's, the A716 does not have the built in SmartKeeper function, rather it comes with a backup battery (which the A620BT/A620/A600 series did not).
What comes in the box?
A Carry Case : Designed to either carry in the hand or clip to the belt the carry case is made of a tough durable material and has a magnetic closure which flips over like and envelope closure. The front of the case (where the closure flips over) has a small pouch for SD storage and is held closed by Velcro.
USB Cradle
Charger
Detailed User Manual
Microsoft Outlook 2002 (and Active Sync 7)
The MyPAL A716 unit itself (shown here)
MyPal Software CD (which includes the following):
Microsoft Active Sync 3.7
SyncSoftware support (MS Outlook 98, 2000, 2002, XP)
PaPaGO! 5
MapKing
Pocket Painter
MoneyTracer
Presentation DX
Engineering Calculator
RealPlayer Mobile
Pocket Book
Dung Cleaner
Guess Color
Gobang
Reversi
Monster SIP
Monster Chinese
Pre-Loaded Software (ROM based):
Microsoft Pocket Outlook
Pocket Word
Pocket Excel
MSN Messenger
Microsoft Reader 2.0 for Pocket PC
Terminal Services Client
Windows Media Player 9.0 for Pocket PC
Voice Recorder
Calculator
Pocket Internet Explorer
Games
File Explorer
Microsoft ActiveSync
Asus Backup/Restore Utility
Asus Launcher
WiFiME
Asus Settings
Most of the 'core settings' of the MyPAL A716 are controlled from one central icon - the "ASUS Settings" - which lives on the Today page at the bottom right hand corner of the screen (the small 'house icon' next to the BlueTooth icon). This makes it both convenient and easy to access.
Within the ASUS Settings, there are four main areas, Info, MultiMedia, System and IR.
1) INFO
The info screen details such things as the device id, ROM version and date, ROM and RAM size etc…
2) MULTIMEDIA
:: AGC is where the microphone record gain and volume are controlled
:: AUDIO which controls the volume, balance, treble and base settings
:: DISPLAY is for adjusting the brightness of the display. There are separate adjustments which can be made for the A716 while it is on battery power and also while on external power (ie: charge)
3) SYSTEM
Within the System section there are three sections, AUTORUN, MODE and WAKEUP
:: AUTORUN allows you to enable the autorun feature for automatically strating an application from a storage card.
:: MODE is where the 'Run Mode' of the unit is adjusted. There are three 'Run Mode' settings
Turbo Mode unwinds the full power of the CPU allowing it to run at 400mhz. This mode is ideal for game play and video (however this will reduce the battery life).
Standard Mode which sets the CPU to run at 300mhz. This setting is a 'nice' balance between power consumption and speed.
Power Saving Mode which sets the CPU to run at a fixed 200mhz (which is fine for general PPC use - appointments, tasks, contacts, Word and Excel etc). This mode significantly increases the battery life.
Automatic ModeA : The auto mode is where the true benefit of the Xscale CPU unwinds. This allows the MyPAL to automatically scale accross 200mhz, 300mhz or 400mhz, depending on the application and the CPU load.
:: WAKEUP allows the user to customise whether the A716 will 'turn on' when a program button is pressed.
There are five hardware buttons with the option to set as 'wake up'. The Record Button and then Buttons one through four (ASUS Settings, Calendar, Contacts and Tasks)
:: IR is where the rate of Infrared transfer can be adjusted between FIR (max 4mps) and SIR (max 115.2mbs).
SIR is the more widely accepted data rate transfer at this stage.
4) WIRELESS
As I mentioned earlier, the A716 comes with both BlueTooth and Wireless support built in. The Wireless settings are accessed via the same icon used for the ASUS Settings (as described above), the small house icon at the bottom right hand corner of the Today screen.
Under the ASUS Settings icon there are three options, ASUS Settings (which we have covered), Wireless LAN Info and Wireless LAN ON.
Under the Wireless LAN Info option there are seven screens. These seven screens form the ASUS 'WiFiCFG' and will give you all of the information regarding your Wireless connection settings. I have removed all settings from the following screen shots, but here they are to give you an idea of what you are looking for:
You may notice I have the 'Enable Power Saving' setting ticked on the Power Management screen shot. This is simply my personal preference as I find this gives me slightly longer WiFi access on battery power.
Turning On the Wireless
To tun on your wireless, simply tap on the ASUS Setting icon again, go to the top of the three options (Wireless LAN ON) and tap on this. The wireless turns on.
Simply put, the Smart Keeper keeps an eye on your battery and when it detects that you battery is running low, Smart Keeper launches in time to backup your device (you do need to have a CompactFlash card installed for this) saving loss of data.
Summary of Hardware
Processor : 400mhz Intel Xscale PXA255 (200mhz Bus)
Operation System : Microsoft Pocket PC 2003
Display : 3.5" Brilliant Transflective TFT LCD 65,536 Full-Colors Display
Resolution : 240 x 320
Memory : 25MB Flash and 64MB SDRAM
Card Slot : One CompactFlash Type II Card Slot (3.3V/5V) and one SD slot
Multimedia : Integrated Microphone and Speaker
Record : Full Duplex Record and Playback
Ear Jack : One 3.5mm Earphone Jack and MP3 Stereo (through audio jack)
Infra Red : FIR/SIR
Battery : 1500mAH Lithium Rechargable Battery, Up to 19 Hours Long
Size : 135mm 78mm x 17.6mm (L x W x H)
Weight : 197g
Peripherals
Check out the full list of accessories for the A716 here
Pro's
Dual Slots (CF and SD)t
Blue Tooth
Wireless
Backup Battery
Built in XScaling functionality
Additional 25mb FlashDisk storage
Removable 1500mHA Battery
Cons
Slightly larger than other Pocket PC's
In Summary
I have been using the A716 for four weeks now and I am again nothing short of impressed with this latest offering from ASUS! The A716 is fast, stylish has everything built in that a demanding Pocket PC user could dream of. And it comes with some very useful FlashDisk additional storage.
It is one of the ONLY Pocket PC's which comes with its own built in XScaling capability software allowing for total control over battery time versus performance - depending on user preferences.
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