Though not as prolific as brands like HTC, Asus does have a few PDA-phones in its portfolio. The company's main differentiator since its earlier MyPal-branded devices is the inclusion of GPS in most of its devices. This carries on in the current range and extends to the upcoming lineup as well. Asus' next flagship model is the P750, a Windows Mobile 6 handheld with HSDPA as one of its connectivity features.

Pros

The candy-bar design of the P750 reminds us of the Sony Ericsson M600i. This is because of the large display with a portrait orientation and the keys taking up a much smaller area right below that. The keypad on the Asus does not have a QWERTY layout though, but is a regular numeric keypad with a joystick navigator and various shortcut keys.

A 3-megapixel camera can be found on the rear of the P750. This is one with an autofocus feature, which makes it good for namecard scanning applications. A second VGA camera above the screen on the front is also available for video calls.

The GPS chip used in the P750 is the SiRFstar III. Other devices with this module are the glofiish X500+ and Dopod U1000, both of which we found to have good tracking when performing in-car navigation.

In what is a first for an Asus PDA-phone, the P750 comes with HSDPA connectivity. This gives it a download speed of up to 3.6Mbps over the cellular network, depending on support by the operator and network strength. Aside from that, it has the usual crop of wireless features including Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.0.

Cons

Even though this handheld comes with 256MB of flash memory and a microSD card for expansion, its RAM remains at 64MB. RAM is where applications are stored temporarily during operation, so more of it will improve performance. Some devices already come with 128MB RAM, so it's a pity Asus' upcoming flagship model will not.

Bottomline

Recently, handhelds have become largely the same. Manufacturers are able to squeeze in all available wireless radios and features so the differentiating factors are what will stand out. The P750 needs to have a great bundle to set itself apart from the rest. GPS maps and a car kit will certainly help, as well as bundled software.

The P750 will be available in Asia Pacific from December. Asus has yet to disclose its pricing, but that will be available as the launch date draws closer.