AJP MIO 558

IN BRIEF: This wireless Pocket PC packs every available feature into one device, although its not the most stylish device on the market.

The AJP MIO 558 (£399 inc. VAT) is a fully featured wireless handheld with both802.11b and Bluetooth built-in. It also has two types of expansion slots – Secure Digital and CompactFlash – giving plenty of scope to add
memory and peripherals.

BUSINESS APPROACH

The handheld has a business-like appearance and, in place of the more common four-way navigation pad below the screen, there’s a mini-joystick. This is more accurate to use than a navigation pad, although its polished
surface is quite slippery. Four standard programmable buttons activate Notes, Contacts, Calendar and Tasks by default. The power button is placed, unusually, near the bottom left corner of the face plate. Intel’s 400MHz PXA263 processor powers the device. It comes with 64MB of SDRAM and 64MB of Flash ROM, 32MB of which can be used for backup. The 3.5-inch screen displays240 x 320 pixels, and can support 65,000 colours. It also has a good level of brightness and contrast, making content easy to read.

On the left side of the handheld there’s the typical arrangement of a thumb-operated scroll wheel set above an audio recording button, and the SD/SDIO card slot is also on this side. CompactFlash cards are inserted into the top of the device, and this slot is covered by a spring loaded door when not in use. By not having both expansion slots at the top, the casing is reasonably compact. Considering it also has two types of wireless technology onboard, the size and weight have been kept nicely under control. It measures 74 x 125 x 16mm and weighs 160g. There are lighter PDAs around, but they don’t pack all of this in.

STYLISH OPTIONS

Located at the top of the device are the infrared port and microphone, the stylus, two LEDs and the headphone jack. The latter is the 2.4mm mini-jack format, smaller than the standard stereo mini-jack. The stylus has a round telescoping metal barrel giving it a nice feel, and the writing tip fits conveniently into the 558’s reset hole. The only drawback is that it needs strong fingernails to release the stylus from its slot. In keeping with the latest Pocket PC thinking, the MIO 558 has both a rechargeable main battery and a backup battery. You can remove the main cell easily and swap with a spare. That’s a sensible feature because heavy use of the wireless facilities will quickly drain the battery. The charging cradle can take both the PDA and an optional spare battery at the same time. Microsoft Window Mobile for Pocket PC2003 is installed, so you get Pocket Excel and Pocket Word bundled in. Some wireless PDAs fall down in the ease-of-use department, but the MIO provides a simple tool to control connectivity. Clicking an icon at the bottom of the Today screen reveals a menu where you can enable Bluetooth or wireless individually, or turn them both off. This icon doubles as a signal-strength indicator, and the antenna is hidden away inside the PDA’s body. So, the AJP MIO 558 is a versatile PDA with all the features you could hope for, but will it fly off the shelves in numbers? Many PDA buyers focus on style and aren’t interested in CompactFlash cards, preferring smaller, wireless PDAs with an SD slot only. However, if you need a CompactFlash slot as well, then the AJP MIO 558 is a solid performer.

RATING: 7

PRICE: £340/£399 (EX/INC. VAT)
PROCESSOR: INTEL PXA263 400MHZ
OPERATING SYSTEM: POCKET PC 2003
MEMORY: 64MB RAM / 64MB ROM
EXPANSION: COMPACTFLASH/SECURE DIGITAL/SDIO
SCREEN: 3.5-INCH, 240 X 320 PIXELS
BATTERY: LITHIUM-ION
LINK: USB
SIZE: 74 X 125 X 16MM
WEIGHT: 160G
CONTACT: 0208 208 9739 WWW.AJP.CO.UK