Replacing the H5400 as top dog in the iPAQ line up, the H5500 offers better performance, more memory and Pocket PC 2003, but at a price only corporate users will be able to afford.

The H5500 is powered by the fastest XScale processor currently offered by Intel - 400MHz - backed up by a whopping 128MB of RAM and 48MB of ROM, which leaves plenty of space for the storage hungry Pocket PC 2003 OS and some left over for important data to be stored in non-volatile flash memory.

The H5500 looks identical to its older sibling and like that other device it's no lightweight PDA, weighing a hefty 207g. Measuring 13.8 x 8.4 x 1.6cm it is also compatible with many of the iPAQ line of accessory jackets. These jackets are why the H5500 carries its 3.5mm headphone socket in the base; the sides have to be clear to allow the jackets to slide on and off.

The sharp, 16-bit colour transflective screen is the same one as is found on all the latest iPAQs and is easy to see even outdoors in direct light. On the top of the device is an SD/MMC slot, which accepts a wide range of additional options, plus a power button, a record/volume button and the radio antenna housing.

The navigation button on the bottom of the unit is surrounded by the familiar iPAQ buttons for Calendar, Contact and Inbox access along with the HP iTask button.

By using the latest version of the Pocket PC OS, the integrated Wireless and Bluetooth features of the H5500 become a lot easier to setup and use, plus they offer increased security. Continuing the security theme, the biometric fingerprint scanner of previous models is retained. By using a combination of VPN software, 64-bit and 128-bit WEP, F-Secure FileCrypto Data Encryption and Xcellenet Afaria device management, your data should be protected from unwanted admirers.

Besides Wireless and Bluetooth, the H5500 can connect to an another system using the USB-equipped synchronisation cradle, but unfortunately there is no separate USB cable to allow synching without the cradle. On the plus side, the battery can be recharged via USB as long as the H5500 is in the cradle and connected to a PC. To connect to very old systems you have the option of a serial port cable.

Despite having a large, 1,250mAh, lithium-ion battery, the power-hungry H5500 had only a little over three hours of battery life when tested playing a video at 50 percent brightness, although this did rise to just over eight hours when tested playing MP3s with the backlight turned off.

The iPAQ H5500 is a feature-packed PDA with excellent connectivity options, but - and it's a big but - it is one of the most expensive ones around and is something that only serious business users are likely to consider.