Have to invest in a pocket PC...some truly noob questions...

[jakobkraft]

Am traveling a lot and have admitted to myself, finally, the need for a pocket PC, primarily to complete my thesis while I'm on the road, which is going to be a lot longer than I expected. My needs are simple - I need to be able to transfer a pretty large word file (600 KB) begun on MS Word 2000 (9.0.6926 sp-3) to a pocket PC, and then back again to my desktop and so on.

Will the formatting be all screwed up each time I open it? Is there a way to install the version of Word I have on my desktop to a pocket PC, or am I stuck with whatever version is preinstalled on it?

Primarily I just want to be able to transfer my word file back and forth without having the formatting all screwed up - is this possible?

Thanks in advance...

 

[Jakebrake]

You should probably get a laptop computer.

 

[Silverbullet28]

It is very possible, but have you ever tried to type more than a paragraph at a time on a PocketPC? It would be a pain the the arse to type pages in at a time.

 

[samgau]

or an ultra portable...

 

[DaveSimmons]

Pocket Word will change and lose formatting. The stylus works OK for short notes but would be more fun than humans can endure for editing a thesis.

Dell makes 5 pound laptops, get one of those. Lattitude series in small business is a little higher quality than Inspiron. GottaDeal.com for coupons.

If money isn't an issue there are also some $1,500 - 2,500 imports from Japan that are even smaller (2 - 4 ppunds).

Another choice is a Thinkpad 240 off of ebay for $120 - 200, this is slow, 800x600 screen but very light (3 LBs) and with good keyboard. Be sure to set one with floppy and CD (both are external) and 128 - 192 MB RAM (192 is the max I think) (sample auction)

 

[Fox5]

Why not just get a small laptop? IBM's X41 is about 2 pounds, and the tablet version is about 3.
There's the Oqo, a pocket sized fully functional PC, and Sony has their own similar micro PC which I believe may even use a Pentium M processor.

There are also various tablet pcs that have like 8" screens and weigh like a pound.

 

[shoRunner]

there are many ultra portable notebooks. sony has some in the 1-4lbs range.

 

[dwcal]

Originally posted by: Silverbullet28
It is very possible, but have you ever tried to type more than a paragraph at a time on a PocketPC? It would be a pain the the arse to type pages in at a time.

Typing on a thumb keyboard isn't bad. Sure, it's slower than a full-size keyboard, but so is typing on one of those 4lb laptops with the smaller keys. If you count a full size kb as 100%, I'd say a mini-notebook is 90% and a thumb kb is 50%.

Forget about formatting in Pocket Word. Just get the text down and format it later.

Forget about writing any long text with the stylus. Find one that works with a thumb keyboard, or even better, a foldable full-size keyboard if you have a place to set it down.

 

[Fox5]

Originally posted by: dwcal

Originally posted by: Silverbullet28
It is very possible, but have you ever tried to type more than a paragraph at a time on a PocketPC? It would be a pain the the arse to type pages in at a time.

Typing on a thumb keyboard isn't bad. Sure, it's slower than a full-size keyboard, but so is typing on one of those 4lb laptops with the smaller keys. If you count a full size kb as 100%, I'd say a mini-notebook is 90% and a thumb kb is 50%.

Forget about formatting in Pocket Word. Just get the text down and format it later.

Forget about writing any long text with the stylus. Find one that works with a thumb keyboard, or even better, a foldable full-size keyboard if you have a place to set it down.

The ~2lb X40/x41 thinkpad has a full size keyboard.

 

[xTYBALTx]

If you go with a PDA, just make sure it has a thumb keyboard. It saves you lots lots lots of time.