I have been anxiously waiting for the release of NEC's new MobilePro P300 Pocket PC 2002, and received one of the first production units just in time for this review. You've probably seen evaluations of the P300 before this, but these were done using early prototypes of the NEC Pocket PC. As reflected by those mostly negative reviews, the prototypes were not quite ready for prime time. However, the final production version I review here is in far better shape. In fact, if I could change a few small things, the MobilePro P300 might be my Pocket PC of choice.

Form and function

The NEC MobilePro P300 has a sleek silver metal case and a cool, futuristic sync cradle. A hinged plastic cover protects the display. The cover can be folded over the back to access the screen, or completely removed if you feel you don't need it.

The P300 has one of the best displays I have seen. It is as large as the iPAQ 3800 screen (3.8" diagonal), and very bright in all lighting conditions.

The programmable application keys are well placed for easy access, and glow bright blue when activated—a nice touch for dim lighting conditions. A small, square navigation button sits between the application launch buttons, and contains the unit's speaker. This navigation button is a bit too small for my fingers; I found it difficult to use comfortably.

The right side panel has a slot for the stylus and the USB host port. The left side panel has the power-on button, a scroll dial to move around within a menu or application, a record button for voice memos, and a Secure Digital (SD) card slot.

Dual card slots; optional PC Card Expansion Jacket

The NEC MobilePro P300 is one of several new Pocket PCs to offer dual card slots. As mentioned above, it has one SD slot on the left side. It also has a Type II CompactFlash slot on the top of the unit, which can accept virtually any CompactFlash card, including wireless LAN, GPS, or voice-over IP (VOIP) modules, and the 1 Gb IBM Microdrive. I used a SanDisk Ultra 256 MB CF I card (MSRP $179.00), and a 256 MB SD card, also from SanDisk (MSRP $199.00). Both functioned flawlessly in the NEC P300.

An optional PC Card Expansion Jacket is available for $149. This slip-on jacket adds a full, Type II PC card slot. This lets you use PC Card expansion options, including wireless cards for Sierra Wireless, Toshiba's 5 Gb PC Card Hard Disk Drive, and more. The PC Card Expansion Jacket has an additional lithium-ion rechargeable battery built into it for extra power. I evaluated a pre-release version of this jacket and found the fit, form, and function very acceptable. The jacket slips on easily and locks securely into place. There are two quick release buttons on the side. It adds very little bulk and fits easily into the sync/charging cradle.

"Flexible Memory"

NEC boasts that the P300 offers 32 Mb of Flash ROM and 64 Mb of "Flexible Memory." The latter consists of 32 Mb of internal RAM and a 32 Mb SD card. This is fine for internal data storage and the installation of most programs, but a number of the healthcare programs I use must be installed into RAM. I find 32 Mb internal RAM to be inadequate for my needs.

Built-in USB host capabilities

The MobilePro P300 and the Casio E-200 are the only two Pocket PCs available with USB host capability. This capability lets you connect directly to USB peripherals compatible with the Pocket PC, such as Microsoft USB keyboards. Zip drives, hard drives, printers, and other USB peripherals are in the works, but not currently available. You need an optional mini-plug-to-USB adaptor to take advantage of the P300's USB host capability.

The synchronization cable and the AC power cable connect to ports on the back of the data cradle. The sync cable cannot be directly plugged into the P300. That means you must use the cradle for synchronizing data. This is a minor annoyance for the mobile users who sync their Pocket PCs to laptop PCs while they are on the road. It means that they must take the cradle with them on trips, instead of just the cable. NEC is working on a stand-alone sync cable that should be available by the time you read this. The AC power cord can be used directly with the device, without the cradle.

Built-in battery Power Options: Beware of Battery Run Down

The P300 is powered by a lithium-ion rechargeable battery. As Compaq did with the iPAQ, NEC built the battery into the P300 and did not give users the option of removing or replacing it. I was able to achieve about 6 hours of use before receiving a low battery warning. I wish that NEC had designed the P300 with a removable, replaceable battery. Having dealt with "dead" iPAQs over the past year, I believe that all manufacturers should offer replaceable main and backup batteries as standard equipment. The only extra-power option you have currently with the P300 is to purchase the PC Card Expansion Jacket with its extra rechargeable battery.

Add-on software geared towards enterprise users

The P300 has Microsoft's Pocket PC 2002 operating system and productivity applications built in. Check out a complete description of this software on Pocket PC magazine's Web site (www.pocketpcmag. com /bg2002/ ppchpc.asp).

NEC also includes an excellent variety of add-on software that's obviously geared for business/enterprise. NEC add-ons include:

MobilePro Synchronization System— a disaster recovery and synchronization solution that manages synchronization between the P300 and enterprise servers (server software required). It supports synchronization with Microsoft Exchange, Lotus Notes, and relational databases such as Oracle and SQL Server.

My Menu— an application launcher utility that is accessed by pressing the Home application launch button. My Menu (Screen 1) is fully customizable and can display an unlimited number of launch "pages" to organize and accommodate all of your programs. At the top of each My Menu screen is a title bar, with icons for the battery indicator, memory meter, and other common functions.

Screen 1: My Menu can display an unlimited number of launch "pages" to organize and accommodate all of your programs.

My Settings— a special folder added to the Programs screen that makes it easier to further customize the P300 (Screen 2). From the My Settings folder you can access built-in configuration utilities. Unique to the P300 is the LED Setting function (Screen 3). The LED indicator flashes one of seven colors to indicate different aspects of the system status. LED Setting lets you see what the different colors mean and change color assignments.

Screen 2: The My Settings folder lets you access any of the NEC utilities included with the P300.

Screen 3: The LED indicator flashes one of seven colors to indicate different aspects of the system status. The LED Settings function lets you see what the colors mean and change color assignments.

My Settings also has a Front Light control that lets you set two separate screen brightness levels: one for when you are connected to the power adapter and another for when you are operating on battery power alone. Tap on the "AC" or "DC" tab at the bottom of the screen to set the brightness levels (Screen 4).

Screen 4: The Front Light control lets you set two separate screen brightness levels: one for when you are connected to the ACpower adapter and another for when you are operating on DC battery power.

NEC also includes the following third-party applications:

ClearVue (Westtek: www.westtek.com)—a file viewer that displays .JPGs, Excel charts and worksheets, and PowerPoint presentations. (Screen 5)

Screen 5: The NEC P300 comes with the Westtek ClearVue file viewer, which displays .JPGs, Excel charts and worksheets, and PowerPoint presentations (shown here).

PhotoBase (Arcsoft: www.arcsoft.com)—a digital photo image manager that helps you organize digital photos, create and run slide shows, add notes, and more.

PV Player (PacketVideo www.packetvideo.com)—a video player that supports MPEG-4 video streamed over wireless or wireline networks.

Voice Messenger Force (Ruksun: www.ruksun.com)—voice enhanced instant messaging software that works with MSN instant messaging.

ZioGolf 2 (full working version) and GolfWits (Ziosoft: www.ziosoft.com)—two golf-themed entertainment programs.

A great device, but I'd like to see more

I love the P300's dual card slots; its large and bright display; removable hinged cover; and the size, shape, and general feel of the unit. Combine these hardware features with the suite of add-on software, and the NEC MobilePro P300 stacks up well against the other Pocket PC 2002s. That said, I'd still like to see some improvements in the next version, including the expansion of RAM to 64 Mb and the addition of removable batteries. If NEC does this, the P300 could easily become my Pocket PC of choice!

The MobilePro P300 has an MSRP of $599.00. It is available online through MobilePlanet (www.mobileplanet.com), CDW (www.cdw.com), and PC Connection (www.pcconnection.com). For more information, visit NEC's MobilePro Web site (www.neccomp.com/MobilePro).