It is rare indeed to see a Windows Mobile handheld device without a SIM card slot these days. But Hewlett Packard clearly thinks there is a market for such a device, and has come up with the iPAQ 214 to meet that market's needs.

The iPAQ 214 is no shrinking violet. It is large by handheld standards, measuring a massive 133mm tall and 75mm wide. It is 17mm thick and weighs a hefty 190g. You are going to need a large pocket to carry it around.

That size is put to good use, providing houseroom for a massive 4-inch screen with a superb 640 x 480 pixel resolution. If ever a PDA looked like those slate-style devices you see characters in Star Trek carrying around, this is it.

The good thing about the screen is that it could turn out to mean the iPAQ 214 can be put to more uses than a smaller PDA, simply because its higher resolution and larger size mean it can be read more easily.

It is a comparable size to the screens of many personal media players, for example, and could be used to watch pre-recorded video footage. Or, if you are a wordsmith, you could use a Bluetooth keyboard, as Bluetooth is built in, and write your texts.

Viewing text on the large screen is a lot easier on the eye than it can be with smaller screens and this also opens up the potential for ebook reading. And what about viewing pictures shot with your digital camera, an activity where a larger screen is also handy. Finally, as Wi-Fi is built in, the screen makes for great wireless Web browsing.

The overall hardware size is put to further good use by providing accommodation for two flash memory card slots. One of these is an SD card, the other, most unusually these days, can cope with Compact Flash.

On the software front the iPAQ 214 includes OneNote Mobile which will please anyone who uses this Microsoft application on their desktop.

The downsides? Well, the size is an obvious negative to those with small pockets, there is no camera, and the hardware design isn't much to look at, being basically black and silver and uninspiring.

But if you are after a handheld and don't feel that it is a problem to carry a separate mobile phone, that large and high quality screen could sell the iPAQ 214 to you.

With no SIM support or camera the iPAQ 214 is not what you'd call cutting edge. But its large screen means it is better at some visually demanding tasks than many other PDAs.