As I mentioned in my earlier review of the ASUS P526, the multitude of devices that ASUS churns out from its factories can only get better. And today, I believe we may have in our hands, quite possibly, the best PDA Phone in the market.

The packaging for the ASUS P750 is impressive. Once you removed the cover, all you see is a black box. Simplicity at its best. Open the box and you're presented with the device itself. But the excitement doesn't end here. Lift the top layer, and underneath it is a compartment that holds the car windshield mount, a holder for the P750 and car charger. The top layer removed also reveals two more boxes. In these boxes you will find the sync and charge cable, a wall socket charger, a stereo hands-free kit, the user manual, a quick start guide, a CD containing essential software, a pouch, a spare stylus AND the 1300mAH battery.

ASUS bundles quite a bit of accessories...

The ASUS P750 looks rather similar to the P526, but to visually delineate the P750 as the superior, ASUS has added a dark brushed aluminium frame around the 2.6-inch TFT screen, displaying 65k colours in 240x320 pixel glory. I'm glad to say, the screen on the P750 is brilliant and displays ClearType properly.

The ASUS P750 is surprisingly light, officially weighing in at 130g. Don't let that fool you because it feels solid enough. It didn't creak during normal handling, and the finishing is top notch. This is no fingerprint magnet, because all the exposed surface of the device, except the screen of course, is matte. Cosmetically, the P750 is very business-like and should appeal to corporate customers.

ASUS used the well designed P526 as a base for the P750. On the front, the numeric keypad has good mechanical feedback. On each side of the keypad is the Call key and End key, and below those are the Mode/Task Switcher button and the Clear key. The Mode/Task Switcher can be set to cycle through 4, and only 4, applications of your choice under Mode setting, or to cycle through all your running applications under Task setting. Above the numeric keypad, ASUS has enlarged the four buttons and improved their functions - the Left Soft key, Windows Start button, the OK button and the Right Soft key. And best of all, there's now a navigation button. This makes navigating the menus and dialog boxes of Windows Mobile 6 Professional very convenient without having to peck for the stylus.

The newly added navigation button.

Along the sides, ASUS has thoughtfully included useful features such as the sliding switch that toggles between Power and Hold, and a jog dial for scrolling pages. There's a microSD slot to expand the built-in 256MB ROM and 64MB RAM. ASUS could have included a dummy microSD to cover the slot, but I believe the designers knew users would get a microSD card right away, so why bother.

The jog dial that's so rarely seen nowadays.

There's a GPS antenna socket that's been relocated to the side. This is a better position so the antenna wouldn't get in the way of the car mount. The P750 comes with the popular SiRF StarIII chip so satellite acquisition should be quick.

A microSD slot, the camera button, reset hole, slider switch and the GPS antenna.

Headphone jack and the mini-USB for sync and charging.

Inside the ASUS P750 beats the Marvell PXA270M CPU chugging merrily at 520MHz. Complimenting this powerful processor is support for tri-band EDGE/GSM with 3.6 Mbps HSDPA. Yes, this baby has 3G connectivity. Not only that, it also comes with Bluetooth v2.0 with EDR (Enhanced Data Rate) and WLAN 802.11b/g. Yes, this baby has 3G AND WiFi. Powering all these big bang features is a 1300mAh Li-Ion battery, but surprisingly, ASUS has actually improved the battery life of the P750 compared to the WiFi-less and 3G-less P526. The official figures for 3G use is 240 hours Standby, 5 hours Talk time.

No mobile phone should be without a digital camera and the P750 doesn't disappoint. The 3 megapixel camera has auto focus, and the macro feature is very good. Macro is an important feature as you'll find out later in the review. The camera does have shutter lag, but that's expected. Don't expect serious photography with the P750, but it should be more than adequate for everyday snapshots.

So far, I've only described the hardware portion of the P750. But the software part is equally impressive. I'm not talking about the Windows Mobile operating system. Instead, I'm talking about the applications that ASUS developed for their mobile devices. Most of the applications are for business use, such as keeping track of different time zones, business cards, presentation aid and making backups. ASUS also includes applications to complement the GPS capability, such as keeping a record of your travels and sending your GPS location to other P750 users via SMS. There are also some extras such as an application to encrypt a folder to protect your important documents from prying eyes, an RSS newsreader and an option to terminate an application by tapping the X icon.

First, some business applications:

Ur Time and its corresponding Today screen plugin. This is a world time application to help set appointments or alarms in different time zones.

A backup software with encryption.

WorldCard Mobile is a business card scanner that recognises field information. The recognition is pretty good when the business card doesn't use too fancy fonts and design. First you use the Macro function to capture an image of the business card.

Click Recognise and this is what you get. Not too shabby.

Some applications to complement the built-in GPS:

Travelog records your travels and exports for display on Google Map. I didn't get a chance to try this.

Location Courier sends SMS of your location to 5 receivers. Receivers must also have the software to allow them to locate you on their GPS enabled devices.

And finally, some additional software:

Newstation is an RSS reader.

My Secrets encrypts a directory, My Secrets, in your My Documents folder. You lock and unlock that folder from the Today screen by tapping on the icon of a locked folder.

Auto Cleaner lets you terminate an application by tapping on the X button of the application's window.

What do I think of the ASUS P750? ASUS has truly outdone itself. Their designers certainly know how users would like to interact with their device. They've added a multitude of buttons to aid usability so you don't have to look for a stylus. The location of the buttons are also improved so that frequently used functions are just a finger or thumb away. The P750 has all the connectivity and features that any power user would want and then some - WiFi, 3G, EDGE, Bluetooth - all that without sacrificing battery life. I'm certainly impressed. Add in a speedy processor, an auto focus 3 megapixel camera and GPS... what else can I say? This is a feature packed device. If I really had to nitpick, I'd say ASUS could now spend some R&D to explore the aesthetic part of their designs. The business look is great, but I wouldn't mind a device that caters to the lifestyle crowd.

Review made possible by Gadza World at Digital Bay, Queensbay Mall (tel: 04-642 8601). Contact them for details.

Finally, some comparison photos of the ASUS P750 with my RAZR.