At $600, the Travel Companion is a tad on the pricey side, but then it's more than just a PDA.

Some of the 5900 series models, including the one I reviewed, come with three radios. Besides the SiRFstarIII GSC3F GPS receiver, they also have Wi-Fi (11b/g) connectivity—so you can connect at Wi-Fi hotspots and collect e-mail or browse the Web while traveling —and Bluetooth for connecting to a PC for wireless synchronization.

The one thing the Travel Companion is not is a cell phone. This is a product for folks who don't want to part with their RAZR or other tiny mobile, but do want a lightweight multi-purpose data device along on the trip. That said, it works with the Skype Mobile client so you can even make phone calls with it from a hotspot. ipaqtomtom.jpg

The Travel Companion is not perfect. The Wi-Fi connectivity was flaky at times. It would cut out for no apparent reason—none of the other wireless devices on the same network were having problems—and in some cases required a soft reset before it would connect again. It also wasn't able to pair with a Bluetooth telephone headset, which I wanted to use with Skype. Neither of these glitches, however, is a deal killer.

Specs
The 5900 seems sleek and feather light after PDA phones such as the Palm Treos. It measures 4.74 x 3.0 x 0.65 inches and weighs a mere 5.99 ounces. It has a very modern, minimalist look with simple low-rise control keys. The casing is molded and curved, made of high-impact plastic - very comfortable to hold.

Under the hood, the Travel Companion is reasonably well endowed. It uses the 400 MHz Samsung S3C2442 processor and comes with 64MB of SDRAM and 2 GB Flash ROM, of which about 500 MB was available with the TomTom software and maps loaded. There's also an SD card slot.

The screen, 3.5 inches diagonally, takes up most of the front face. It's a transmissive TFT with QVGA (320 × 240 pixels) resolution, LED backlight, power save mode and antiglare coating. HP doesn't say how many colors, but it looks reasonably good when displaying digital images. I'm guessing 65,000 colors.

The device is clearly meant to be used most of the time in landscape mode, which dictates positioning of controls—and orientation of logo, brand and product name on the front face. This is not the traditional way for a PDA, but it makes sense given that the Travel Companion's defining application is turn-by-turn navigation which really requires landscape.

You can however quickly switch to portrait mode using one of the five keys on the Travel Companion's right-hand edge. The button in the bottom corner is the power on/off. The others, at least by default, launch the TomTom application, launch Windows Media Player and move you backward through recently viewed screens. The microphone is also found on this surface.

On the front face, there's a four-way navigator with Select button to the right of the screen. I found the navigator a little loose, making it too easy to push the Select button when you mean to press left, right, up or down —or press a direction key when you mean to press Select. I'm sure I could learn its idiosyncrasies in time. Below the navigator are two buttons, one that exits you from the currently displayed screen and another that displays the Start menu.

On the top edge, you'll find the recessed reset button, a key that launches the audio notes recording applet—but does not actually start recording a note as some earlier Pocket PC implementations did—and the SD card slot.

You might have to go hunting for the stylus. It's tucked away at the bottom of the left-hand edge, flush with the rear surface. This is not a good place for it, unless you're a southpaw. I was constantly groping to find it. The headphone, USB and GPS antenna ports are also on this surface in a recessed (but uncovered) compartment.

Apps
The software that comes with the product includes the usual Windows Mobile line-up—pocket versions of Outlook calendar, contacts and e-mail that can be synchronized with your desktop or laptop, and pocket versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Windows Media Player.

Besides the TomTom software, HP also includes the very cool WorldMate software. It provides a bunch of configurable, and in some cases, updateable modules. You have to install the WorldMate ActiveSync plug-in on your PC so it will update modules when you synch.

WorldMate will show you time in different world cities. You can get weather for major cities—and you can add smaller cities which are updated when you synch. The currency converter lets you convert to and from any of three currencies. Key in an amount in one currency and it instantly displays conversion amounts in the other two currencies. Currencies can be updated over a Wi-Fi connection to the Web. (So why not weather too?)

The phone module gives you international country codes and North American area codes. And there's a metric converter, clothing size converter and packing check list. Altogether a useful little tool.

The important piece, though, is the TomTom navigation software. It's like others of its kind, though probably the slickest, in most respects, that I've tested. TomTom shows you a three-dimensional map display and speaks directions in a realistic human voice. There are four American voices from which to choose, including one male.

I liked that the program interface is touchscreen. You don't need the stylus, you don't need to tap, only touch with a finger. Even the minimal data input required - to enter a street number, for example - can be done by lightly touching the big onscreen keyboard keys with a finger.

I also liked that the maps show only the detail you need which makes the display simpler and easier to take in at a glance. You can see streets coming up on the 3D horizon, for example, but the program doesn't show street names until you get close.

And I like that the voice reading you directions doesn't jabber continuously, as some other turn-by-turn navigation programs I've tried do. It stays blessedly silent until you're coming up to a turn. When it does speak, it sounded clear and plenty loud coming through the 5900's speaker. I had no problem hearing even in my tin can on wheels with its loose muffler.

The routes TomTom came up with were generally reasonably good, although there was one map glitch.

I was driving down a major artery in my home town when TomTom told me to make a turn that didn't make any sense. I ignored it and kept driving. On the map, it looked like I was now driving through a farmer's field and across a river—instead of continuing down a major road over a bridge. A little further along, it suddenly found itself and told me to keep going the way I was. It wasn't until later I remembered that the road I was on did not go through until a few years ago when the city built a new bridge.

This is a little troubling. If the TomTom maps are that far out of date in a very populous part of Canada, can you trust them elsewhere? In fairness, I've found similar anomalies in virtually every mapping application I've tried. I did try to update the TomTom maps using a utility I downloaded at the company's site, but it told me no updates were available.

The car mounting kit worked very well. It includes a power plug that you attach to the device's USB cable and plug into the car lighter. The custom designed holder mounts very solidly on the windshield using a big suction cup with a locking lever. Then you can adjust the two arms so the device is sitting in an easy-to-see position.

Bottom line? Despite the occasionally flaky Wi-Fi connectivity and at least one out-of-date TomTom map, I was generally impressed. If you don't like fat PDA phones but want e-mail and other data applications while traveling, and you could use some help finding your way around in strange places, this little product does it all.