Pocket PC

[purplegrum]

Looking for some views...

Does anybody here have a Pocket PC such as an iPaq? What do you think of them, was it worth the money?

I'm deciding on something to take my Visa balance to a nice round figure

[Molendinar]

well I've had one for a few years now and to be honest it doesn't really have a must have killer app. My dad uses Tom tom for gps which is really cool. I tend to use it as a glorified alarm clock and address book. I also like reading e-books on it, quite easy to read, cos it's like reading a paper back book that's slim no matter how big the book is. Good to download pdfs and html manuals and docs etc for reading on the train. Good to use to share your digital photos with folk in th pub. If you can get a big enough storage card you can use it as an mp3 player too... so, maybe I guess it is worth it.

I dunno, I just feel like I could be using it more intelligently though. The problem I find is that you go on websites looking for software and people are trying to sell you stupid wee utilities to check the status of your battery for $15...! why?

[purplegrum]

I was just looking for a base model one, like the Acer n30, just simply to have something I can fling in my bag and use with my mobile to check e-mail and things like that. My Toshiba laptop is like carrying round a concrete slab and is doing my back no favours.

Dunno, just it's something I really want but don't know if I really need!.

[Molendinar]

always the way with gadgets eh? It's sthg me and all my family suffer from..

Was round at the folks and my my brother and my dad were all sitting swapping files over wireless laptop connections... my mother could only sigh and shake her head..

[scotia47]

I used to have one, an hp Jornada 568. Got it for free when I went to Texas, as hp were sponsoring the trip. A large number of them turned out to have a defect where dust would get behind the screen and screw everything up. Bizarrely, mine was unaffeected. I say that because I could be a serious contender for the "Crap Magnet of the Year" award. In the past year and a half alone, I've had a PDA (more on that in a minute), three PS2s (disc read error, played everything except PS2 games, disc read error) and a laptop (screen fault) go belly-up on me. Plus, my Microsoft optical mouse is knackered and my Microsoft ball mouse isn't far behind it.

Anyway, back to the PDA. All was fine until I decided to get a Bluetooth CompactFlash card for it. Unfortunately, since the card was rather wide, it wouldn't fit in the slot properly. My dad had a look at it and tried to force the card in. Unfortunately, he only succeeded in bending the contact pins inside the slot, rendering it useless. I was far from amused.

As compensation, my dad allowed me to swap my now non-expandable PDA for his (he liked mine so much that he got an identical model for himself). That one had the screen defect I mentioned earlier, but it had been sent in to hp for repair so I wasn't bothered. It worked fine for several months when, after I did a soft reset to get out of a crashed program, it just froze. Wouldn't let me do anything. I did a hard reset (erased everything) and started from scratch. Then I had to do another soft reset. Froze again. Done another hard reset, then another soft reset. Froze. Only explanation I can think of is that the screen defect has returned.

Jornadas have been out of production since hp merged with Compaq, and AFAIK they're not supported any more. Mine is now in a box in a drawer awaiting environmentally-friendly disposal.

With regards to wether or not you should invest in one, I tend to agree with what Molendinar wrote.

[Apollo]

For my tuppenceworth, get a phone that will let you browse your email, then you only have one bit of kit to keep track of, and can probably browse at a pinch. More sites are starting to have a layout for this nowadays.

I got a little Palm based unit ages ago, same reason as you, to feel the water, and I've stuck with it. The web's awash with free apps for it, and it only cost me £90. I can make notes, sync with desktop, use flatform databases of my own build, even pics (but not very good, though I have all the lo-res web ROC pics on it as it has 128 meg card on board. I simply haven't found a reason to upgrade it. Plus, if they crash, hit reset and just restart in seconds. Even customised with hacks, mine is dependable after over 2 years. And just needs rechargeable AA's to work all day.

Pocket PC's may be pocket size, but they are too expensiv for their limited screens, and always struck me as poor value. Someone proudly boasted "And I can get my Excel spreadsheets on here" and then regretted it as I tried to work with 3 column and 12 rows on display. Also needs dreaded Li-ion and charger to stay alive, though I see they are now at least making them swappable.

[purplegrum]

One advantage as far as the ROC goes is that I could combine my GPS and records into one device, instead of having a GPS/Laptop combo. Laptops are crap in the rain in the middle of a field in January, up to you ankles in mud. Anybody want to buy a GPS?!

[Molendinar]

i've got a 568 too, so I know all about the dust, had to do the whole-install thing only once so far... touch wood.

excel can be handy tho rarely... I had a few simple calcs set up to hand for engineering meetings

like i say still waiting on that eureka moment when i work out what indespensible thingit can do for me.. I haven't got bluetooth for it and I've never set up the whole e-mail thing properly, never found it easy to do. Still do I need browse HG on public transport and while sitting on the bog?

(ditto for these prtable dvd things- lord of the rings while on the bog = good way to get piles)

[mrlipring]

shit name, but go take a look at the gizmondo.

400mhz arm cpu.
gfx chipset by nvidia.
SD slot
bluetooth
GPS
GPRS
does SMS + MMS
plays music+videos (runs winCE, has WMP)

a shedload more. Funky wee bit of kit. It's more of a gaming device (multiplayer over GPRS or bluetooth) but with other stuff tacked on. It's nowhere near as big as it looks on websites either. They've been taking them around shows like the Stuff show etc, pimping them.

[purplegrum]

I bought an Acer n30 from Expansys should be here tomorrow, so hopefully this will let me see if I have any use for a Pocket PC or not! If only Apple still made a handheld...

[DVF]

None of the new PDAs are much good as far as I can see. They don't have keyboards. The Psion PDAs, they were good, they had keyboards. I could type faster on my Revo than I can on this PC. They don't make them anymore though, shame that. Have a look on Ebay for the Series 5, see if you can find a cheap one. They're still sought after, years after production stopped. Comparing them to modern PDAs is like comparing the old Amiga with a P4 workstation. The new boy has all the toys and muscles but it still can't do things the Amiga could 10 years ago.

Enough sentimentality though, it's making me sad.

[purplegrum]

My fingers were always way too big for the Psion keys. I remember a mate of mine shalled out on a Revo to 'type stuff on the go' and he used it like twice.

Packed full o' features though, the only thing that put me off was the small buttons.

[teclo]

I have had various flavours of Pocket PC over the years, but the PDA I have really liked and apreciated the most is my Palm Tungsten C. It has a boatload of memory ( 64 meg ), a fast processor ( 400 mhz ), a nice colour screen, a built in _usable_ keyboard and the clincher. Built in Wifi.

Last week I was in a conference and I was able to get and read my email over wifi, but not only that, using a messenger app, I was able to talk to my brother through yahoo.

And the conference? Windows Mobile Developer Briefing, hehe.

[purplegrum]

And the conference? Windows Mobile Developer Briefing, hehe.

The Windows Mobile guy at the MS Gen 05 event last week was talking to me fine'till I mentioned Apple's Newton and he just walked off!

[teclo]

Ha.

I never had a newton, but I had Amstrads knock off device. Heavy and clunky, but had that nice satin rubber feel to the outside of it.