In terms of design, the HP iPAQ rw6815 is something that looks rather different from the norm. It is all round silver, which these days is the exception rather than the rule. Most of the casing is plastic. There is a nasty plastic cover which protects the screen – but doesn’t stretch far enough down the front fascia to protect the front buttons too.

You can see through the cover to check on the display, and it lifts easily when you need to touch the screen. You can also, thankfully, remove the cover completely just by gently pulling it out of the small sockets that hold it in place. I did that almost immediately never felt the need to put the thing back. If you are worried about protecting the screen, the provided soft case (with integrated belt clip) does the job nicely.

The iPAQ rw6815 Personal Messenger is shorter and fatter than most PDAs at 102 x 58 x 19mm and its somewhat squat format feels quite comfortable in the hand. Its 140g is OK for a device which packs as much punch as this one does.

Fortunately, the slightly unusual dimensions have not led to a compromise on the screen, which measures 2.7 inches corner to corner, and delivers 240 x 320 pixels and 65,000 colours.