This review originally appeared at our sister site TamsPPC, as TamsWMS did not exist when it was created. I have decided to re-run it now…as the new Voice Messenger might just hit our office shortly…
Traditionally, business phones have never had integrated cameras – these can make nasty problems when entering a company’s lab, for example. However, hp Austria seems to market the device at prosumers too…which usually don’t mind an integrated camera.
Anyways, the hp ipaq 514’s back includes a 1.3MP CMOS camera without flash or automatic focusing…can it stack up?
The camera application itself appears not very thoroughly-designed. For example, the digital zoom can be enabled from the 5way…while brightness can be adjusted only deep inside a menu:
While the camera supports a variety of white balance modes, it does NOT support any kind of image effects. It can also record 176×144px videos – nowadays, mobile devices can do much more…
Here are a few sample images made all over Vienna(click for full size, against Nokia N71):
ipaq
Nokia N71
In the end, neither the Nokia N71’s nor the ipaq 514’s camera can replace a digital camera. The ipaq manages to deliver pretty good images with punchy colors, decent noise and acceptable sharpness – good enough for showing on-screen. The N71, on the other hand, creates significantly better videos and also bigger images.
Related posts:
- The hp ipaq 514 voice messenger review – Part 2: screen
- The hp ipaq 514 voice messenger review – Part 5: UI(aka the hp ipaq 514 screenshot gallery)
- The hp ipaq 514 voice messenger review – Part 4: system specifications
- The hp ipaq 514 voice messenger review – Part 1: physical
- HP iPaq Voice Messenger review – size
