i-mate's bulky JAQ could suit those who find many keyboard-equipped handhelds hard to use. In opting for this device, though, they will have to put up with decidedly average design, specifications and performance.

Design
We call the JAQ 'bold' because in design terms it defies convention by being large and somewhat unwieldy. It's also rather 'plasticky' in feel, while its colouring & mdash; completely silver apart from large blue company and device logos, and markings on the buttons and keys — is not attractive. Overall, the JAQ fails to deliver the kind of stylish look that many mobile professionals are after.

i-mate calls the JAQ a 'heavy duty' device, and sitting beside every other handheld on our desk it does indeed deserve the title. At 122mm tall, 71mm wide and 22mm thick it's a giant. The weight, at 160g, is not out of step with other Pocket PC handhelds, though.

The most immediate benefits of its size are that the JAQ can accommodate a large screen and a keyboard. The former measures 2.8in. from corner to corner, and offers the standard 320 by 240 pixels for Windows Mobile devices. The touch-screen has a landscape orientation, and one of the features new to Windows Mobile 5.0 when it appeared was the ability for the screen to flip between landscape and portrait modes. This has been used to good effect in, for example, the HTC TyTN where the display reorients itself automatically if you slide out the keyboard. There is no such capability here, however, and you're stuck with the screen in its wide orientation.

Compared to the portrait-format displays more commonly used in Windows Mobile Pocket PCs, the extra pixels of width can make it easier to view emails and web pages. On the other hand, the lack of depth when scrolling through vertical lists or using the Windows Mobile tappable keyboard can be annoying. In fact, you're unlikely to want to use the latter, as the hardware keyboard is one of this device's few plus points.

The keys are tall and thin, and well spaced. This makes it easy to locate them with both thumbs, although the overall width of the JAQ does make one-handed use difficult if your hands are small. Above the keyboard is a row of shortcut buttons in whose centre is an ugly but responsive mini-joystick. Immediately outside this are the softmenu buttons. They are a long way from the menus they map to, but, like the Start, OK, Call and End buttons flanking them, are large and easy to hit.

Above the screen are three indicator lights that inform you about battery, Bluetooth and messaging status. The JAQ's appeal to business users may be enhanced by the fact that there is no camera.

For all its robustness, the JAQ has a surprisingly flimsy stylus. It's a telescopic unit, and very lightweight. We found ourselves using fingertips rather than the stylus on most occasions.

On the left is a button for launching the built-in voice recorder and two others for adjusting volume. On the right is the power button. This edge also houses the 2.5mm connector for a stereo headset and a miniSD card slot. Both are covered by the same rubber strip. The mini-USB port for the AC adapter and PC connectivity is on the bottom of the casing.

The JAQ is supplied with a spare stylus, a stereo headset, a PC connection cable, a mains power adapter, a protective case with belt clip, a software CD and a printed manual.

Features
As a connected Pocket PC aimed at business users, the JAQ's specification is a little basic. The phone is quad-band with GPRS/EDGE support, but it lacks the 3G connectivity that we are seeing in many of the latest handhelds. It does support push email via Exchange 2003 SP2, though.

A shade more than 40MB of storage was free on our review sample after a hard reset — remember, you can expand on this using miniSD cards. Bluetooth and infrared are both present, but not Wi-Fi, which is another feature we now expect on Pocket PC handhelds.

i-mate has added some applications to the standard Windows Mobile suite, including a phone blacklisting application that can be used to block incoming calls, the ClearVue PDF viewer, a photo contacts application, and a profile manager that allows you to switch between six different handset profiles.

Performance & battery life
The JAQ delivered only an average battery life in our tests, managing 7.5 hours of continuous music from a full charge, with the screen forced to stay on and music played from a miniSD card. Indeed, the battery is remarkably small given the overall size of the JAQ.

Some users will desire the JAQ precisely because it's on the large side. Certainly, anyone who considers some keyboard-equipped handhelds too small to use effectively could find the JAQ more accommodating. In opting for this device, though, they will be choosing something decidedly average in both specifications and performance.

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