Ipaq 5455 size with CF sleeve

[Stephen Beesley]

Hi there,

I am looking for a replacement for my dear departed Jornada 568 and my eye recently fell on the Ipaq 5455. I particularly like the built in bluetooth, WiFi AND consumer IR. The only problem is that it does not have one thing that I really do want - a CF slot. For this reason (and the cost :( ) I am also looking at the Axim X5 with a bundled WiFi card. Still the idea of having all that connectivity built in plus the bigger screen is very tempting.

So I am wondering if anybody can give me an idea of just how much difference the CF sleeve makes to the size of the Ipaq. I am not necessarily after the smallest PDA around (after all the Jornada and the X5 are among the bigger PPCs about) but I do not want it to be too much bigger than than an X5.

Goldtee

[Chris Spera]

I have the PC Card Sleeve for the iPAQ, and recently had a CF Sleeve.

The PC Card Sleeve adds quite a bit of bulk to the iPAQ. It more than doubles its thickness. The reason for this is the extra battery that's included in the PC Card Sleeve.

The CF Card Sleeve isn't quite that bulky. It doesn't have a battery in the sleeve. The CF Card Sleeve doesn't quite double the thickness of the unit, but it is close...

I got a 5455 for the built in WiFi and consumer IR. Both rock, BTW.


Christopher Spera

[Jason Dunn]

With a standard CF sleeve, it would get a little big, so something like this (http://www.madebywhitney.com/products/whitneynew/pocketpcthoughts.htm) is a good solution. You can save $5 off the price too. :mrgreen:

[Stephen Beesley]

Thanks for the prompt replys!

When I think about it the only thing that I really wanted the CF slot for (given the built in WiFi) is my landline modem and I guess that in situation where I need to use that then the size of the Ipaq is not really a problem.

Damn I am tempted!

One more quick question - anyone with experience using the pocketop keyboard with the Ipaq?

Goldtee

BTW Jason the case/CF combo looks very cool. If I do end up getting an Ipaq I can see this being high up on my accessories wishlist!

[bigkingfun]

I tried the Pocketop keyboard with my 5450 but had some problems. When it worked, it worked great, but the driver would constantly stop working and switch me to the onscreen keyboard instead of the Pocketop. I talked to Pocketop and they thought it was because I also use Calligrapher. There is a dll file that they both use that are different versions, so they don't work well together.

If I didn't use Calligrapher as my main method of input, I would have kept the Pocketop. I switch PPCs way too often, so the universal keyboard was pretty attractive. I picked up the HP folding keyboard instead, and the Pocketop was considerably smaller when closed.

[Stephen Beesley]

I don't like the sound of the incompatability with Calligrapher. I recently switched to using that as my main input method and found it better than the inbuilt Transcriber (still not as good as the Newton HWR of course!).

I wonder if that is something they can fix or not - did they give you any indication?

Goldtee

[Janak Parekh]

I tried the Pocketop keyboard with my 5450 but had some problems. When it worked, it worked great, but the driver would constantly stop working and switch me to the onscreen keyboard instead of the Pocketop. I talked to Pocketop and they thought it was because I also use Calligrapher. There is a dll file that they both use that are different versions, so they don't work well together.
It could also be DLL loading issues in WinCE 3.x, like the problems the Spb guys were having. Try a soft-reset, and then activate the Pocketop; it should probably work then. The 545x shows more of these problems because of its large variety of drivers (WLAN, BT, Expansion Pack, etc.) Hopefully the next OS will fix this.

--janak

[Chris Spera]

It could also be DLL loading issues in WinCE 3.x, like the problems the Spb guys were having. Try a soft-reset, and then activate the Pocketop; it should probably work then. The 545x shows more of these problems because of its large variety of drivers (WLAN, BT, Expansion Pack, etc.) Hopefully the next OS will fix this.

--janak

I think that this is EXACTLY what the problem is. There is definitely an issue with resource handling on the 5400 with the current release of Pocket PC 2002. A ROM update could address this problem; but I think that we'd have a better chance at everything with the next OS.

Kind Regards,


Christopher Spera