HP Premium Travel Phone review

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Verdict:

Review Date: 27 Jun 2008

Price when reviewed: inc VAT

Reviewed By: Nik Rawlinson

Our Rating 3 stars out of 5

Review
Specs

Everything about this phone is small.

This is great for travellers, but not so good if your notebook has a slot-loading drive. The installation disc is 8cm, so won't work with a slot-loader. A sticker on the back points you to HP's support site to download the contents if this is a problem. Neither its product code nor its name would turn up any hits in the driver search. Without the drivers, Windows sees the phone as simply an audio device with no Skype integration.

If you manage to install the driver, the hardware buttons let you control Skype without touching your keyboard or mouse. Unfortunately, you have to press the buttons hard for them to work. The volume controls are on the face of the unit rather than the side, which makes them tricky to use during a call. To make landline calls, you have to dial the full international number, including the leading '+'; it's not much different to using a mobile phone. Sound quality proved to be good in our tests and, as a bonus, it's bundled with 60 minutes of SkypeOut credit to get you started.

As far as looks are concerned, HP's Premium Travel Phone is second only to the Internet Handset in this group. It's a highly portable handset that is good for travelling. However, because of the design compromises made for the sake of size, we cannot recommend it for home or office use.

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