Content area
Full Text
There is a new kid on the block. During an exhibition we ran Into the Handheld brand. One of their products looked very promising and we kindly asked the Benelux branche ifa review model was available. During one of the coldest spells we've had in the Netherlands over the last few years the postman delivered a small box.
The first surprise came after unwrapping the brown paper the box was covered with. Instead of the usual carton, a brown box with a small white label which we normally get, this one was specifically designed to attract attention. Most of the space inside the box was taken up by the Handheld handheld device. And no, that is not a grammatical error that slipped through the net of the editor-inchief, the brand is actually called Handheld and the product we reviewed is their top-ofthe-line Nautiz X7.
Overall
Looking at the specifications of the Nautiz X7 the device is veo/ promising. After unpacking the box, most of those promises seemed to be true as well. The Nautiz X7 has a pleasant, sturdy look and feel. The battery compartment is easily accessible, even with the elastic strap fitted into place. One minor blemish was found after turning the device on, one of the pixels in the touch screen was defective, something that I haven't seen in a while. This is probably be a chance incident and not likely to occur in other units.
One advantage of this device over other, similar devices is that it actually has a keyboard. Granted, the alphanumeric keys are not available but there is a full numeric keyboard (which can be used with the telephone function) which, at the press of a button, doubles as the more conventional handheld keyboard with directional keys. Of course there is the also the usual Windows Mobile on-screen keyboard, but the presence of the numeric keypad should make data-entry more easy with GIS data collection.
When using the Nautiz X7, I found a few practical issues. The most important of these is the fact that the SDIO slot is covered by a rubber cap that is fastened with two Phillips...