The HP iPaq rx5900 Travel Companion is a sleek device, both as a portable nav system and a PDA. The travel-friendly handheld measures just 4.7 by 3 by 0.6 inches and weighs 5.9 ounces, making it easily portable between your car and for use on foot. We really like its streamlined look and attractive silver casing and burnt-orange accents. In general, the device had a solid construction, but the glossy coating made it quite slippery in the hand.

The GPS capabilities and the travel tools made the reviewers more optimistic about the HP iPaq rx5900 Travel Companion. It comes equipped with a SiRF Star III GPS receiver and it’s loaded with GPS applications and maps of the respective countries. It can provide text as well as voice-guided driving directions, automatic route recalculation, and a POI database. You can view maps in 2D or 3D mode. A status bar at the bottom of the screen displays useful information, such as the next instruction, remaining distance, and estimated time of arrival. There are also two icons in the upper right and left corners that let you zoom in and out of maps. You can add real-time traffic information, safety camera alerts, and other advanced nav features via TomTom’s subscription-based Plus services.

A SiRF Star III GPS module provides the most accurate navigation currently possible, and we found it to locate satellites within seconds. HP isn’t a satnav company, so it’s teamed up with TomTom to handle the maps side of things. This is a wise choice, opting for the leading GPS player in the market. It comes with full European mapping stored on 2GB of flash memory. As with all Mobile 5.0 devices, a button on the side allows you to switch the display to landscape mode. This is the best mode for maps, as it allows you to get a lot more detail on the screen. Full postcode support makes it easy to enter your destination, and the HP stores a list of recently visited places.

Being a handheld, it’s equally usable for using when walking around as it is when in the car. You’ll find all you need to hook it up to your car, including a dashboard mount as well as a battery charger. What makes the rx5900 so appealing is how simple it is to use. Whether as a PDA or a GPS, it switches seamlessly and never feels as though you are compromising the quality of either.

The price tag is pretty steep for a PDA, but considering that you also get a full-featured GPS device tossed into the mix and that we were able to find it for closer to $450 from a variety of vendors, the price gets a lot more reasonable. If you’re looking for a versatile PDA that also offers GPS capabilities, the well-designed HP iPaq rx5900 Travel Companion is an excellent device to take on the road with you.