Windows Phone Thoughts: A Strong Competitor - Asus MyPal A730 Reviewed

The bottom of the PDA contains the sync/charge port, reset pin, and the stylus slot. Yes, the stylus goes into the bottom of the PDA. Considering that I am used to accessing the stylus from the top of the PDA, it took me quite a while to adjust to pulling the stylus out from the bottom of the device. This is frustrating since you must pull the device out of the cradle to access the stylus. That makes the cradle's "stylus holder" very convenient. I found it very useful to keep the bundled second stylus in the cradle stylus holder at all times.


Figure 5: The stylus is located on the bottom of the device.

The PDA's VGA screen is very large and bright. After playing around with this device for a few days, I couldn't bear reading news on my QVGA HP iPAQ 4155. If you're thinking about buying a new device, I'd highly recommend buying one with a VGA screen. I am not going to show VGA vs QVGA screenshot comparisons, since these kinds of comparisons aren't related to the device itself.


Figure 6: The A730's screen at full brightness is much brighter than the iPAQ 4155.

The size of the Asus A730 is larger than I like my PDAs to be. Of course, I prefer my PDAs to be as small as possible since I keep them in my jeans pocket. I would have preferred that this device come with a flip cover, which would eliminate the need for an external case.


Figure 7: The A730 is noticeably larger than an iPAQ 4155.

A unique feature of this PDA is the USB host support. You will have to purchase the proprietary cable separately, which connects the USB device to the PDA's sync port. I wasn't able to test this feature since I did not have the right cable.