I had my first PDA, a Psion Series II, in March 1988. Like the early mobile telephones, the Series II was better known as 'a brick with a battery'. I progressed through the Psion range with a Series 3, a Series 3a, and my Psion experience culminated in a Series 5.

With the demise of my Series 5, and the imminent demise of all Psion handheld computers, I was forced to widen my horizons. I considered the Palm m515 - nice screen, easy user interface, but ultimately limited in its potential. I considered the Compaq Ipaq range - nice screen, good interface, good expansion potential, but large, heavy, and unwieldy.

So to the HP Journado 568 Pocket PC: I have to confess that I am already an HP fan having used HP printers since about 1981. I have owned HP printers since 1992 - I am now using a G85 (one of the first to be released in the UK) and I have owned a HP CD-RW 9210e since about 1998. I have found all my purchases to be reliable and economical to own.

However, in choosing a HP Jornada 568, the killer blow to the opposition was the ability to swap batteries. The main benefit of the old Psion range was that the computers ran on two 'AA' batteries. As long as you carried a spare pair of batteries, you could access your information. Until the Jornada 56x appeared on the scene, with other PDAs if your batteries ran dry - tough! No names, no addresses, no telephone numbers, no agenda, no MP3 to while away hours spent in airport lounges!

Until the Jornada 56x I would not have considered buying a new handheld computer because they only ran on non-swappable rechargeable batteries. As far as I could see this was a recipe for disaster. Imagine being stranded in a foreign country without the correct mains adapter and a depleted battery and not being able to remember the telephone number of your contact who hasn't arrived to collect you. What are you going to do? Probably panic - unless you had the foresight to write the critical information down on paper, which rather defeats the idea of having a handheld computer!

As well as having swappable batteries, the Jornada 56x range runs the standard Pocket PC 2002 software and comes with a good range of additional software. The ability to save a system backup to the 'HP Safe Store' is a particularly good idea. The quality of the design and construction is high and the built-in flip cover is appealing (I like clamshells - I have a Motorola V50!) The screen is bright and clear and the ambient light detector helps battery conservation. I have not experienced any of the problems with dust that have been mentioned by other owners, but I am alert to this possibility.

In summary: well done HP - the master stroke of swappable batteries has converted me and I can heartily recommend the Jornada Series 56x to anyone.

Light, Smart, Sexy and Fast. The HP Jornada 568 Pocket PC runs smoothly with no fuss. Boy have they come a long way in recent years.
Battery life is good, I'm a student and currently use it for revising for hours whilst in the library.
You can use this little number to display photos to your friends, listen to music, play short video clips, play games on the move (move over gameboy advance), maintain your diary and address book, read ebooks which are easily downloadable online and keep in touch with the latest news with portable internet access (You may want to look into GPRS for improved access, contact your mobile phone operator). Oh and you can record memos.
In a nutshell this thing can do everything. Why carry a bag of things around when you can simply carry this.
The screen is easy to read off for hours on end and seems clearer than a monitor. You can write text in the likes of Microsoft word and excel using a variety of methods, text recognition is pretty impressive; the alternative is to add a full size fold out "stowaway" keyboard. Another useful attachment is a small camera which fits in the memory slot and turns the device into a digital camera.
If you are looking for a wonderful and useful tool that will alter, entertain and organise your life, then look no further. Everyone will want one of these things. Enjoy.