Need advice on a PocketPC!

[isochar]

I just purchased a Palm OS based PDA. (Sony Clie) I'll let you know how it turns out.

[SteveC]

Thanks isochar, but I'm really after a Pocket PC (WinCE 3) powered machine.

Also, I've found somewhere doing the Compaq iPaq (3630 ?) 32Mb for ~£350 all in. The compaqs do look good - is it worth going for it?

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Cheers,
Steve

"Life is what we make of it, yet most of us just fake"

[Taz]

Someone got me a Compaq iPaq, which uses Windows CE, looks very flash but not very useful. I wouldn't buy any CE based PDA stick to Palm OS, (Palm Pilot, Handspring Visor, etc.) or EPOC, (Psion Series 5/Revo). I still think Psion's are the most useful even if they look a bit dated.

[SteveC]

The thing is, I already have a Revo and I don't like it! Looking around today, I've found quite a lot of cool stuff for WinCE + also here at work, we're developing for it. And the higher model iPAQs (not the B/W screen) have got rave reviews, plus they're the fastest (helps when you play Quake! )

Oh, and the screens on the Palm machines are crap compared to Psion's or the colour WinCE machines. Only 120x160 resolution compared to 240x320 for the Compaqs/HPs/Casios.

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Cheers,
Steve

"Life is what we make of it, yet most of us just fake"

[This message has been edited by SteveC (edited 09 April 2001).]

[isochar]

From what I've read in the reviews, Windows CD and PocketPC based PDAs are light-years apart.

Seems the concensus is that Microsoft has finally gotten their act together with PocketPC. Supposedly so good that it can overthrow PalmOS.

[Taz]

The one I've got is the H3630 which is one of the colour models, street price around £400.00.

I still think you'd be wasting your money buying one. If mine wasn't a gift I'd sell it to you for half price

[SteveC]

Need advice on a PocketPC!

Hi all,

Does anyone have any experience with the PocketPC PDAs? I think I want one!

I saw the HP Jornada 525 and 545 in PCWorld yesterday for ~£300 and that's about what I want to pay. I believe one or two of Casio's are also at this price level. People in PCWorld didn't have a clue about any questions I asked them (simple things like: What time is it? What day is it? What's your name? Things like that )

So - I want answers! What's a good'un? What's the difference? Memory wise? Upgradeability? Screen quality? and so on.

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Cheers,
Steve

"Life is what we make of it, yet most of us just fake"

[spoogenet]

Here's my take on the sitation (deposit $0.02 here).

I've got a Sony CLIE. I love it. I much prefer the PalmOS PDA's over the PocketPC machines. They're lighter, and they're built to be PDA's, whereas PocketPC is built to be, well, a PC to fit in your pocket. If you're just looking for an organizer with a little extra capability, then I would certainly recommend PalmOS devices. That's what they're built for. If you're looking to carry Excel/Word files with you and manipulate them, etc. then I would definitely recommend a PocketPC.

The Compaq iPaq has certainly gotten rave reviews. I think I liked that one the most of all the ones I played with. A friend of mine has the HP Jornada. It's pretty nice, definitely looks very nice. It's damn heavy, too, but all the PocketPC's are. I did find the screen on many of the PocketPC's to be very difficult to read at certain angles. While most of the screen would be readable, at certain angles some of the text would blend in with the background. This is just something to think about. I found the HP and iPaq to be pretty decent.

Oh, and about screen quality...PalmOS devices don't need higher res screens, they're not built for that. I think Palm is working on a higher resolution OS, although I'm not positive. Keep in mind that while PalmOS and PocketPC devices do compete head-to-head in the market place, they are really designed for slightly different purposes.

b

[SteveC]

Yeah - I wanted more than just an organiser - I wanted things like word and excel. Anyway, after a demo from someone who has an iPAQ I was sold! Ended up getting a 32mb model and it's great! It even runs Quake Although I've filled all the RAM with games... I think I need a 1Gig Microdrive! Then I can even watch films on it!

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Cheers,
Steve

"Life is what we make of it, yet most of us just fake"

[CHHAS]

Can you play UT on it ?

[SteveC]

It plays Doom II and Quake 1 ! Also got a SNES, Gameboy Colour Emulator and there's even a Game Boy Advance emulator in the works!

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Cheers,
Steve

"Life is what we make of it, yet most of us just fake"

[Jammrock]

The only PocketPC (i.e. WindowsCE 3) device I have used is the Compaq iPac. It is designed for business users more than anything. Has more security features, etc. You can also plug IBM microdrives into those to give you 340 MB - 1 GB of storage for MP3's, MPEG's, games and the like. The iPac is the only Compaq product you will ever see me freely endorse.

Jammrock

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Athlon 650
256 MB PC133 CAS3 from Crucial
87 GB storage from WD & IBM
Matrox G400 (it's not dead yet!)
SB Live! the original full retail, still going strong
Klipsch ProMedia v.2-400, the PC speakers that goes BOOM!
Hope Matrox releases the G800 before rebuild time, becuase the end is near!

[xortam]

I saw the other day that there's a wireless modem attachment for the iPaq. One of the big things they touted was that it had its own battery, otherwise it would drain the iPaq batteries in no time.