PC and CF Card Expansion Pack Plus Review

[Jason Dunn]

<a href="http://www.pocketpcpassion.com/iPAQ/PCexpansionPackPlus/PCEPP_Intro.htm">http://www.pocketpcpassion.com/iPAQ/PCexpansionPackPlus/PCEPP_Intro.htm</a><br /><br />Dale Coffing over at Pocket PC Passion has had the new Compaq sleeves for a while it would seem, because he's already posted a detailed review of both new sleeves and the battery charger. This part of the review surprised me:<br /><br />"You don't want the external battery getting low. If this happens you will receive the following Extended Battery Fault warning and the expansion pack will be powered off. I can understand this happening on the PC Card version but it also happens on the CompactFlash expansion pack which really shouldn't rely on the extended battery for operation. This is a flaw in my opinion and should be resolved. The Pocket PC will see the following screen when the battery gets critically low."<br /><br />I wonder if you can use the sleeve if you take the battery off? If not, this has to be one of the worst things Compaq could do to cripple the product - if you have a fully-charged iPAQ, but a dead battery in your CF card sleeve, you can't use the CF card sleeve! Not good at all. I've requested a review unit from Compaq, so perhaps if the winds of fate smile upon me, I'll get one and find out for myself.

[captgoodhope]

Chris De Herrera did a short review on his site. (He removed the pictures after Compaq asked him to.) He seems to imply that the sleeve can be used without the battery.

http://www.cewindows.net/reviews/ipaq-compactflashsleeve.htm

[PDAlien]

I'd definitely like to know for sure whether the CF sleeve works without the battery. It would be a MAJOR flaw if it didn't. Also, would these fit in the Vaja cases made for the SS2?

[eosd30]

Hey, Jason, if you do get one for testing, please answer one question that both Dale and Chris seem to have glossed over in their reviews: What's the run time like with the external battery attached?

[Jason Dunn]

Hey, Jason, if you do get one for testing, please answer one question that both Dale and Chris seem to have glossed over in their reviews: What's the run time like with the external battery attached?


If I do get one, I'll do my standard MP3 playback battery test.

[Jason Dunn]

http://www.cewindows.net/reviews/ipaq-compactflashsleeve.htm


Hmm - but he also said it's quite a bit thinner than the standard CF card sleeve - which doesn't jive with Dale's photos...??

[ChrisD]

Hi,
Well I had a chance to work with both the CF and PC Card sleeves. I've added the pictures back to the review now that they are announced.

Based on my quick test, I was able to use the sleeves without the batteries.

The cool part is that the units are really thin without the batteries.