There has been a rush of Microsoft smart phones and connected PDAs reaching the UK recently, and one of the most interesting is the Eten P300. A kind of cut-down PDA with GPRS and Windows Mobile 2003 software, it doesn't have a direct rival in the Microsoft camp.

Not only is it fairly small, at £351 (without contract) it is quite cheap, too. The place where the cash has been saved is obvious as soon as you switch on the device. Its 2.8in 240x320, 4,096-colours transflective LCD screen is simply way behind those found on handsets such as the XDA 2. It is tricky trying to read the screen without the backlight on and this saps battery life.

Another curiosity is the camera. It is placed at the front of the handset, not the rear. While this is great for self-portraits, it is of little use for day-to-day snapping. There's also no Bluetooth or speakerphone.

However, the 200Mhz ARM 9 processor is just about fast enough, and the core Microsoft applications all work well. It comes with a decent cradle and offers reasonable value.