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View Full Version : Fat Value in Thin Packard Bell PocketGear 2030

Andy Sjostrom
11-01-2002, 08:50 AM
<a href="http://infosync.no/news/2002/n/2518.html">http://infosync.no/news/2002/n/2518.html</a><br /><br />We have seen over the last few months that the Pocket PC price range, between low end and high end Pocket PC, increases. In essence it is the lower end that starts getting populated. I am thinking Viewsonic, Dell, HP, Toshiba, etc. infoSync has a nice article sporting the new Packard Bell PocketGear 2030. The PocketGear 2030 plays in the mid field from a price perspective, but with a new, thin design and attributes found in many higher end Pocket PCs this is a device that is likely to do well. Check out infoSync's article which as the usual great pictures!
vetteguy
11-01-2002, 02:29 PM
Packard Bell is still in business???
njb42
11-01-2002, 02:39 PM
With a new, thin design and attributes found in many higher end Pocket PCs this is a device that is likely to do well.

I'm not so sure about that. Packard Bell has a long reputation for lousy support. I sure wouldn't buy one.
peterawest
11-01-2002, 03:17 PM
Packard Bell was purchased by NEC, who tried to rebuild the reputation in the US, but failed. Eventually they dropped that name in the US, but continue to use it in other cournties where the reputation was not so bad.

Check here ( http://www.packardbell.com/ ) and you will see that they are still very active in many regions:

Asia Pacific
Austria
Belgium fr
Belgium nl
Denmark
Finland
France
Germany
Israel
Italy
Latin America
Norway
South Africa
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
The Netherlands
Turkey
UK & Ireland

I don't think you will see a model sold in the US that has the Packard Bell brand name on it.
vetteguy
11-01-2002, 03:30 PM
I was going to say...I had a Packard Bell computer back in the day, and besides the quality being crap, the support was non-existant.
Foo Fighter
11-01-2002, 03:44 PM
ARGH!!! Another reflective display. Those words are like finger nails screaching across a blackboard to my ears. 8O
Jonathon Watkins
11-01-2002, 04:13 PM
It's an also-ran. It looks quite like the NEC device that never quite made it when PPC2002 was first introduced. Pass, Packard Bell = dodgy quality.
Will T Smith
11-01-2002, 05:21 PM
It's an also-ran. It looks quite like the NEC device that never quite made it when PPC2002 was first introduced. Pass, Packard Bell = dodgy quality.

Just remember that NONE of the current PPC vendors actually manufacture their devices themselves. They're all outsourced. Since this is essentially a re-badged NEC, (like the rebadged Toshiba&lt;->Audiovox unit) I think you can treat it just like an NEC.
ECOslin
11-01-2002, 05:39 PM
Same old form factor as what went before it.
Appears fairly thin, guess the battery ain't worth anything.

I've been meaning to buy a SD card, I just haven't yet.
All my stuff is on CF cards, I guess I'm out of date.

64mb ram is good, not impressive, good.

Bundled software includes Pocket TV, Acrobat Reader, iGolf, IA Album and the Westtek ClearVue Viewer for viewing files stored in Excel, Word and PowerPoint formats, and more.

Hmm, Pocket TV, which was an MPeg video viewer when last I tried it.
A viewer program for Word, Excel and Powerpoint.

The repeated phrase 'compete in the low end market'.

No Office for PPC? ....

Doesn't make me enthusiastic.

Edward
ThomasC22
11-01-2002, 09:40 PM
Just remember that NONE of the current PPC vendors actually manufacture their devices themselves. They're all outsourced. Since this is essentially a re-badged NEC, (like the rebadged Toshiba&lt;->Audiovox unit) I think you can treat it just like an NEC.

Well, and beyond that, the Packard Bell of today (for what it's worth) is not the Packard Bell that was around back in the PC days. Packard Bell was based in Sacramento, CA now their part of NEC and not even selling stuff in the US, do you really think there are that many old (US) Packard Bell employees around?

Bottom Line: NEC bought the brand name more than the company and there isn't much "old school" packard bell around anymore.
JornadaJ
11-01-2002, 10:29 PM
Bottom Line: NEC bought the brand name more than the company and there isn't much "old school" packard bell around anymore.

Thank God for small miracles...my brother had one of those demon-spawn devices.
ThomasC22
11-02-2002, 01:05 AM
Thank God for small miracles...my brother had one of those demon-spawn devices.

Well, before you get too excited, I have a friend who used to work at Packard Bell's main office and he said the 70% of them now work for Intel. So, you may still have the evil spawn in your PC somewhere :)