Anybody have a Pocket PC?

[AMDPwred]

I'm looking for some feedback on people with Pocket PCs. I've been doing some development with .NET, making an application for a Pocket PC is simple. I'm thinking of getting one to work on for everyday things, and use for development. Any feedback on their speed, screen, usefulness? And again, I'm only talking about the Pocket PC, not a Palm. 🙂

Oh yeah, and how is the Internet on those things? I'm guessing you need to pay a monthly fee to stay connected, but how does it work?

 

[joohang]

Nice review of iPAQ 3900 - Also check out the battery life comparison. It's very accurate. BTW, I don't recommend the 3900. You might also want to check out this thread

I have an iPAQ 3635 with 256MB CF and Targus keyboard that I plan to sell soon to replace it with Toshiba e740. I find the battery life too short on this sucker.

To program with the .NET Compact Framework, you'll need the PocketPC connected to your PC via ActiveSync. You may either use the USB cradle or the IrDA port, although I suggest you use USB for performance. I am not sure if you can connect to ActiveSync via LAN.

PocketPC ships with Pocket IE which supports cHTML and limited HTML 4.x, CSS and scripting support (not ***CONFIRMED*** so you might want to check for more details at Microsoft's website).

There is no need to "pay" for Internet access. ActiveSync will automatically bridge (probably not exactly bridging, but it somehow shares it) the Internet connection off your PC. You may also run a proxy server and access the Internet that way too. Unless you have any need to access the Web through PocketPC, I suggest you save some bucks and just use USB ActiveSync connection.

 

[MrBond]

I've got an Audiovox Maestro, it's a rebadged toshiba of some sorts. For internet access, I could use a wired/wireless CF network card, or I could just use it through the cradle. Mobile internet access can be done with a cell phone and a modem, but I am unsure of how that works. With the Audiovox Thera, you can connect with the mobile web through someone like Verizon, but they charge 10 cents/minute or $100/mo for unlimited useage.

The screen on this one is pretty good. The Ipaq's have basicly the benchmark screen for all pocket pc's, so you won't do better than that. This one has a slight pinkish hue to it when the frontlight is on, but it's nothing too bad. It uses a frontlight, rather then a sidelight like the ipaqs, some people don't like that, but I have no problem with it.

Battery life leaves a lot to be desired. I read ebooks on my CF card with it, and on the lowest frontlight setting (which is nessecary since I read in bed) I get about 2 hours of battery life before I drop to about 30% left. It charges quickly enough, so that's not really a problem. I just take the AC adapter with me if I'm going to be reading a lot with it. My next purchase will be a DC adapter so I can use it for long car trips. As an ebook reader/mp3 player, it's DAMN handy, I use the thing practicly every night. There's some slowdown when it first loads an ebook off the CF card and jumps to where I've already been reading, but I don't mind it too much.

 

[joohang]

Originally posted by: MrBond
I've got an Audiovox Maestro, it's a rebadged toshiba of some sorts. For internet access, I could use a wired/wireless CF network card, or I could just use it through the cradle. Mobile internet access can be done with a cell phone and a modem, but I am unsure of how that works. With the Audiovox Thera, you can connect with the mobile web through someone like Verizon, but they charge 10 cents/minute or $100/mo for unlimited useage.

On the road, one may connect the PocketPC to a cell phone (through a data cable) that can establish a data connection with a RAS server somewhere.

Or one could buy one could use one of those services like the one offered from Verizon, as you mentioned. You need a wireless card like the ones sold here (Canadian dollars, btw). They cost an arm and a leg for what they offer, though. Not worth it, imo, unless you really need the service.

The screen on this one is pretty good. The Ipaq's have basicly the benchmark screen for all pocket pc's, so you won't do better than that. This one has a slight pinkish hue to it when the frontlight is on, but it's nothing too bad. It uses a frontlight, rather then a sidelight like the ipaqs, some people don't like that, but I have no problem with it.

iPAQ has excellent backlight but the older screen (like the one I have) is not good with ClearType.

Battery life leaves a lot to be desired. I read ebooks on my CF card with it, and on the lowest frontlight setting (which is nessecary since I read in bed) I get about 2 hours of battery life before I drop to about 30% left. It charges quickly enough, so that's not really a problem. I just take the AC adapter with me if I'm going to be reading a lot with it. My next purchase will be a DC adapter so I can use it for long car trips. As an ebook reader/mp3 player, it's DAMN handy, I use the thing practicly every night. There's some slowdown when it first loads an ebook off the CF card and jumps to where I've already been reading, but I don't mind it too much.

That's my biggest problem with my iPAQ. I often play RealVideo and music on it and I sometimes go to lectures to take notes with it also. The battery life is far too short for all these and I find it too cumbersome to carry the adapter everywhere.

I hope to replace the iPAQ with Toshiba e740 and get 1 or 2 extended battery. 1 extended battery + 1 standard battery (shipped with the package) should give me a combined battery life of around 10 hours with music played under medium backlight. I don't know if they make any keyboard for the Toshiba PocketPCs, though.

 

[Boogak]

I've got an Audiovox Maestro as well. There's lots of different ways to get it hooked up to the Internet: hook it up to a compact flash modem and use dial-up, use a CF wireless ethernet adapter and hook it up to a wireless router, or hook it up directly to a cellphone and use your cellular service provider's wireless web system. So far it's been invaluable on vacations and airplane flights: it's a portable gaming/mp3/ebook system all in 1.

MrBond: Have you looked into the $10 Semsons battery extender? It uses regular rechargable AA NimH batteries to recharge your Maestro. Very cost effective if you already have these type of batteries lying around (I already had 3 sets of batteries and a charger I use with my digital camera).

 

[joohang]

Originally posted by: Boogak
I've got an Audiovox Maestro as well. There's lots of different ways to get it hooked up to the Internet: hook it up to a compact flash modem and use dial-up, use a CF wireless ethernet adapter and hook it up to a wireless router, or hook it up directly to a cellphone and use your cellular service provider's wireless web system. So far it's been invaluable on vacations and airplane flights: it's a portable gaming/mp3/ebook system all in 1.

MrBond: Have you looked into the $10 Semsons battery extender? It uses regular rechargable AA NimH batteries to recharge your Maestro. Very cost effective if you already have these type of batteries lying around (I already had 3 sets of batteries and a charger I use with my digital camera).

Sweet! It's only 10 bucks? Nice.

How heavy/big is the unit? How much more juice does it add to your Maestro's battery life?

 

[Boogak]

Sweet! It's only 10 bucks? Nice.

How heavy/big is the unit? How much more juice does it add to your Maestro's battery life?

The actual unit itself isn't big or heavy, stack 4 AA batteries side by side and that's about the general size and weight of the whole thing. Each set of 1600mAh batteries I use probably triples the amount of time I can use my Maestro. I just plug it in when my frontlight goes out, keep it on if I'm not done with the Maestro (it acts like an external AC source too), then set it aside and let it finish charging the Maestro up on its own.

 

[joohang]

Originally posted by: Boogak

Sweet! It's only 10 bucks? Nice.

How heavy/big is the unit? How much more juice does it add to your Maestro's battery life?

The actual unit itself isn't big or heavy, stack 4 AA batteries side by side and that's about the general size and weight of the whole thing. Each set of 1600mAh batteries I use probably triples the amount of time I can use my Maestro. I just plug it in when my frontlight goes out, keep it on if I'm not done with the Maestro (it acts like an external AC source too), then set it aside and let it finish charging the Maestro up on its own.

That's pretty sweet.

It should also work with rechargeable AA batteries, right? I think I'll buy one of these. I might end up keeping my iPAQ for a while longer. 🙂

 

[vetteguy]

I used to have an iPAQ 3650 and now have an HP Jornada 568. I have been much happier with the Jornada's battery life than the iPAQ, plus I prefer an integrated CF slot to an SD slot because I have a wireless network at work and can use a wireless card without a sleeve.

As far as the e740, if you check out some reviews and discussion on other sites, you'll see that there have been quite a few problems with this model, so if you're looking for one in the near future you might want to wait for a revision to fix some bugs.

The Maestro is a good price for that unit, but you can also get a Toshiba e310 for around $325 right now too.

Also, joohang, FYI, you can connect to ActiveSync via LAN, without too much problem, and it behaves exactly like you had it connected locally. Hope this helps.

 

[NFS4]

I've got the Audiovox Maestro as well. Kickass little device although I wish the battery life were a bit better.

 

[bcterps]

I have an Ipaq 3635 with a 256mb CF card. I plan on getting a CF 802.11b card when I move out of my apartment into my house and run a wireless network. I could surf through the cradle, but there's not much point in that. I mainly use it for AvantGo and as an organizer. On long trips I use it for mp3s. The battery life has been decent, but I recharge it pretty often. I do wish the form factor was a bit smaller, but the screen size is great! I dont see myself upgrading anytime in the near future, X-Scale devices arent worth the money right now. I'd like more battery life, but I could just buy an additional AC adapter for my office and that would solve my problem.

--Ben

 

[joohang]

Would this work on my iPAQ?

Looks like it doesn't offer 5V output, which seems to be what my iPAQ runs on. 🙁 Bummer.

 

[joohang]

Update - Nice article on battery extenders.

I'm heading to RadioShack later today to grab that universal extender and try it with 3 alkaline or 4 NiMH batteries. I'll also buy a voltmeter just in case. 🙂