Home > Consumer Reviews > Asus A626 3.5-inch PDA Windows Mobile 5.0, Wi-fi (802.11 B+g), Bluetooth 2.0 (edr),

After about 7 years of using 2 Palm based PDAs I had to buy a new PDA because my Z22 broke. It had been easy to use but not as reliable as I liked, and hadn't lasted as long as I would expect. The reviews on the Palm devices in general indicated that this was a problem, so I decided to experiment and ended up with the Asus 626 running Windows Mobile.

Well, it's pretty much what I should have expected. In theory it's more flexible, it has more capabilities, but any specific thing I do is harder to get done. Physically it's bigger and heavier. Simply taking the stylus out is a pain, because it's in an odd spot and is folded up.

The software is buggy in very obvious ways. The "Today" home screen that gives you a summary of appointments, tasks, etc doesn't update when you add an appointment or task, so the display is incorrect. There are obvious graphical glitches where parts of the screen don't get redrawn, so part of the screen sometimes displays a chunk of another program.

Carrying out operations is more painful and seems to involve more traversal of menus. For example, editing a calendar item on the Palm required a simple tap. On the Asus, I have to tap, bring up a menu, and hit edit. A lot of these are probably things that people would accept if they haven't used a Palm, but having used one, it's annoying.

The connection between the PC and the Asus requires some jiggling to get the PC to recognize the Asus. I have to do a variety of plugging, unplugging, and switching the Asus off and on to get things to work. And the ActiveSync program keeps switching off using the USB connection, so I have to periodically go into its settings and switch that back on again.

I'm sure that the Asus is a more powerful device and that over time I'll find use for that power, but basically if what you are looking for is a PDA so you can easily do the basics of calendar, notes, shopping lists, etc, you want to stick to the Palm.

Some difficulty to connect it with my home network (in fact, i didn't find out how to connect it on my network) but other than that work great.

This ASUS PDA has proven to be a solid performer. This was purchased to replace a much older PDA. It is easy to use, and I am completely satisfied.

Worked great for about two weeks. The next two weeks began losing data when synchronizing. Then the screen went black. It still synchronizes, but with a black screen it is totally useless. I am lost without my PDA, but the next one won't be an Asus.

got this pda
the solid and steel feeling gives me some impression
installed SD-HC support driver from Asus support, can take 16GB SD-HC without problem, that makes it becomes a decent audio player
very few skip on a2dp
now I explain why I give 72/100
very buggy machine, it maybe some software issue, but even the first day of use, it hangs and press reset, even the first day I did 4 times
LCD is NOT viewable when backlight is off, that's why it has very little backlight when it's idle, luckily you can turn the LCD off by using hold switch
horrible RF, even a few meters away from router, I only get 1-2 bars on wifi, this is simply a joke; bt is not good either, the antenna is located on the next to USB port, that I lose signal when I hold the unit on my hand
restricted USB charging: you MUST use supplied AC adaptor, or computer has async installed in order to charge the unit, you can't charge with generic USB charger
due to these shortcomings, I only can give 72/100, if you plan to use it as music player, or web/email, this is a decent machine for you, avoid it if you use wifi alot