Tuesday, May 2, 2006
A Truly Pocketable All-In-One Package - The Pharos Traveler GPS 525 (Part 1)
Posted by Don Tolson in "HARDWARE" @ 08:00 AM
Physical Specs
The Traveler 525 is based on an HTC Gala100 (at least, that’s what it’s called in the Identity section of the Device Information on the unit). I've never encountered one of these units in North America, but perhaps one of our PPCT regulars from overseas recognizes it.
The unit measures 4.3in (109.7mm) long by 2.4in (59.4mm) wide by 0.7in (17.6mm) thick and weighs approximately 4.4oz (125g) which is certainly the smallest and lightest unit I’ve ever seen. It’s easily stuffed into a jacket or pants pocket without creating a big heavy lump. Here’s a comparison shot with my Dell Axim X50v, and my old iPAQ 2200.
Figure 5: Size comparison of Axim X50v, iPAQ 2200, and Traveler 525, side by side.
Figure 6: Side view comparison (top to bottom) of 525, iPAQ 2200, and Axim X50v.
Unfortunately, this pocketability comes with a price – the screen is also one of the smallest I’ve worked with. At 2.9 inches (75mm) on the diagonal, screen real estate becomes a bit of a challenge, especially for applications with dense interfaces and small icons.
The screen runs QVGA (240x320) with 65536 colours and it’s certainly one of the brightest I’ve ever seen.
Figure 7: Comparison of Axim X50v, iPAQ 2250 and Traveler 525 screens.
Although the screen is transreflective, using it in direct bright sunlight was a little difficult, especially when trying to read the small print used for street names, etc. on the maps.
I found screen alignment to be a bit of a problem with frequent mis-cues on which button I had intended to tap. Also, the screen sensitivity seemed to be a bit off. If I used by fingers to activate buttons on the screen, sometimes they would take 2 or 3 attempts or not respond at all. When using the stylus, the screen seemed to be overly sensitive – sometimes picking up strokes before I actually touched the screen. This made things a little difficult at times when inputting appointments and contact information.
