PDA Suggestions

[Kiyoshi]

I was planning on posting this earlier, but I came to my own conclusion about buying a PDA. I ended up buying a new e740 on eBay for $300 (quite a deal, eh?). That was about my spending limit and I figured that that was the best Pocket PC to get for the price. My requirements were:

400MHz XScale
SD & CF slots
64MB (duh)
Fast video playback

These requirements led me to 4 handhelds:

Ipaq 3955,
Axim 400MHz,
Toshiba e740, and
Toshiba e550g

The Ipaq didn't have a CF slot and was one of the most expensive, so I ruled that out. The Axim wouldn't be pocket-friendly enough for me, and the e550g was also expensive and I probably wouldn't be able to get any warranty for it. I couldn't find too many bad things about the e740, plus it was getting pretty cheap so I got one. Think getting the e740 was a good idea? Because if it's not, I got it quite cheap and may be able to resell it.

BTW the reason I want fast video is because I want to be able to watch videos on it, although it'll suck up the battery in probably only an hour or so.

[jornadaholic]

wut bout the e750 that has 96 mb of storage

[TopDog]

The only thing I have against the e740 is the low battery time. If you can live with that, you've got a hell of a machine :-)

Personally, I don't mind the size of the Axim, and love it just because of the batterytime and dual ports!

[Kiyoshi]

The e750 is WAY over my budget. Plus, the 96MB isn't that much bigger, I can buy a 32MB compactflash card for maybe $20 and then my e740 will match the memory of the e750. Anyways, the PXA255 processor doesn't seem to be significantly faster, and I could get a 4" screen in a Genio e550g.

Yes, I know the battery life on the e740 might not be as great as the Axim, but I need to be able to fit this into my pocket! BTW, the e740 also has a SD & a CF slot, just like the Axim.

[PetiteFlower]

The Axim is only like fractions of an inch bigger then the Toshiba though?

[J2theIZZO]

Sounds a lot like me at the moment, somehow steering towards the Siemens Loox though, seen some for around £200, which I think is a great deal.

[TopDog]

Sounds a lot like me at the moment, somehow steering towards the Siemens Loox though, seen some for around £200, which I think is a great deal.
Nah... I don't like the LOOX... the bluetooth-app is not very user friendly, and the LOOX is slower than any other Xscale I've tried. I even got a techie at Fujitsu Siemens to agree on that...

And the battery is not removable/changeable. I would seriousely look at the Axim, it's not as big as everyone that haven't tried it says!

[PetiteFlower]

Ok here's the stats just for comparison :)


The e740 stats weren't on the web site but I'm gonna assume they're the same as the e750:
Dimensions 4.9" x 3.1" x .6"
Weight 6.7 oz.

Axim:
Dimensions 5.04" x 3.21" x .71"
Weigh 6.9 oz.

[Kiyoshi]

Here's the dimensions of the e740 that I took from CNET:

6.3 oz
.6" x 4.9" x 3.1"

The Axim specs from CNET:

6.9 oz
.7" x 5" x 3.2"

Yeah, so I guess the difference is quite small, but when you actually multiply it, the e740 is 9.114 cubic inches and the Axim is 11.2 cubic inches, which is quite a big difference. That makes the Axim about 22% bigger than the e740!!!!

Here are some pics to compare the size:
http://a.r.tv.com/cnet.1d/i/uff/20636982/20636982_DT1_200.gifhttp://a.r.tv.com/cnet.1d/i/uff/20636982/20636982_DT2_200.gif

http://a.r.tv.com/cnet.1d/i/uff/20033518/20033518_SC1_200.gifhttp://a.r.tv.com/cnet.1d/i/uff/20033518/20033518_SC2_200.gif

Oh yeah, I forgot to say, does anyone have an Axim and has had a Handspring Visor (not an edge)? That's the only other PDA I've owned and if someone can compare the sizes between them that'd be a great help.

[Janak Parekh]

If you look at the dimensions (http://www.handspring.com/products/outlet/refurb_deluxe.jhtml), the Axim is nearly the same as the Visor/Visor Deluxe: 4.8" x 3.0" x 0.7" is the old Visor's size. If you find that pocketable, I don't see why you won't find the Axim to be (although you'll probably want to buy a slimmer case than the bundled one).

Quite frankly, I've commonly heard that the Axim "is smaller than I thought", when people first encounter it. It has much better battery life, and another key plus for the Axim is the transflective screen -- that makes a big difference. The one thing going for the e740 is the built-in wireless, but from what I've heard from most people, it kills the battery too quickly.

--janak

[Kiyoshi]

Thanks for the reply, I was waiting for a response. :D

I plan on getting a hard case to protect whatever PDA I buy, and they also seem to be the slimmest cases you can find for your PDA. Also, I know the e740's wireless is it's big advantage but I don't even have a wireless network where I can use it!! I've been planning on getting one up and running, but I don't have the $100 or so to spare to get it going (I really shouldn't say that while buying a $300 PDA)

I guess I should settle for the Axim, but the only thing I want to verify is the video playback for it. To determine that I usually use pdabuyersreview.com's video benchmarks using some small video files, but they didn't post any for the Axim!!! Does anyone know how it sizes up in terms of video?

[maximus]

Our company has this special deal with fujitsu, and they purchased loox in bulk for a very special price (I think it is around S$ 500, around USD250), and made it a "standard" pocket PC at the office. I used mine for only 3 days. Got crashed 5 times during day 1 and 2. The third day, when I wake up, I noticed that the mid section of the screen seems blurred. Get to the office, talk to the purchasing folks, and they say that they are returning 16 units already. What ? returning 16 units in 2 days ??!!

I returned mine, and purchased an axim, at my own expense, and lived happily ever-after :mrgreen:

What I really dont like about the loox is .. the screen and the lighting. duh. what a dull combination of color. Cant hardly use it outdoor. And that is assuming that I can get the loox up and running :D

[J2theIZZO]

Sounds a lot like me at the moment, somehow steering towards the Siemens Loox though, seen some for around £200, which I think is a great deal.
Nah... I don't like the LOOX... the bluetooth-app is not very user friendly, and the LOOX is slower than any other Xscale I've tried. I even got a techie at Fujitsu Siemens to agree on that...

And the battery is not removable/changeable. I would seriousely look at the Axim, it's not as big as everyone that haven't tried it says!

Hmmm.....i've just bought one now, it'll be here tommorow, but I can always sell it again if it's poop....It cost me £200 from ebay, which is a good price...I really wanted BT and that is a major factor in me buying it.

Can it be overclocked in anyway?, sap the battery I suppose...hell if I like it i'll buy another one :roll:

[J2theIZZO]

Our company has this special deal with fujitsu, and they purchased loox in bulk for a very special price (I think it is around S$ 500, around USD250), and made it a "standard" pocket PC at the office. I used mine for only 3 days. Got crashed 5 times during day 1 and 2. The third day, when I wake up, I noticed that the mid section of the screen seems blurred. Get to the office, talk to the purchasing folks, and they say that they are returning 16 units already. What ? returning 16 units in 2 days ??!!

I returned mine, and purchased an axim, at my own expense, and lived happily ever-after :mrgreen:

What I really dont like about the loox is .. the screen and the lighting. duh. what a dull combination of color. Cant hardly use it outdoor. And that is assuming that I can get the loox up and running :D


AARRGGHH!, Sound like i've just bought a lemon! :?


I should still get a feel for the OS though?...assuming it runs....is there a general opinion of the best PPC on the market at the moment?...I'm guessing it's the Ipaq 5XXX series?, but it doesn't have a CF Type II slot right?...well not without the expansion pack?....what makes this such a great device?...Or what justifys the price?

I'm starting to regret buying a Pocket PC already, before it even arrives. :evil:

[Unreal32]

For my money, I'd go with the Axim (If I didn't already have an iPaq 3955, of course. :wink: ).

[TopDog]

I should still get a feel for the OS though?...assuming it runs....is there a general opinion of the best PPC on the market at the moment?...I'm guessing it's the Ipaq 5XXX series?, but it doesn't have a CF Type II slot right?...well not without the expansion pack?....what makes this such a great device?...Or what justifys the price?
I would not agree on the iPAQ 5400-series. I've delivered several of them, and they are full of bugs, WLAN and BT does not work stable, hard reset's are a common solution... batteries have arrived DOA... it's slow as hell...

I would say the best PPC's now are Dell Axim, iPAQ 3970 or Toshiba e750, all depending on your needs...

[Kiyoshi]

Wow, my thread has become a Loox discussion! Thanks to Topdog, who actually talked about his prefrences of PDA's. Bah, I hate thinking about how I just bought a $300 new e740, while most people are saying that the Axim is better for the price. I've found refurb. Axim Advanced's for $240 on eBay!!! That'd spare an extra $60 which could buy a aluminum case and a 256MB flash card if I'm lucky!!!

[maximus]

Well, you can consider the extra $60 is the cost for the integrated WLAN :wink: Dont feel too bad about it. A smooth sail does not produce a true sailor, they said.

[Kiyoshi]

The problem is that I don't even have a WLAN to use the Wi-Fi on! It wasn't the main reason for getting the e740, it was it's portabillity and speed that I liked, besides it's popularity and great ratings from every electronics website in the world.

BTW, nice quote, sounds like we have a philosopher in our midst :wink:

[maximus]

Well, you are still luckier than me. You have $60 lost opportunity.

I have the chance to use a free Pocket Loox (company issued), yet I choose to return it and purchase an axim at my own expense. Talk about the fastest way to lose $420.

Which brings me to my next point: Money-wise, you guys living in the U.S. are blessed with outrageous pricing ... you can purchase an axim advanced for $300, singapore price is $420.

1 GB CF for $176, our price is $290.
512 MB CF for $89, our price is $140
256 SD for $56, our price is $100

and I can really go on and on and on with the list :|

[Stephen Beesley]

PDA Preference - Well I am currently facing the possiblity of needing a new PPC (pending the outcome of delicate PPC surgery!) and I think the Axim Advance is probably about the best value for money out there at the moment. The latest x-scale processor and duel expansion at a good price.

Speaking of price - Maximus I know what you mean about envying US prices here in the Eurozone prices are even higher than in Singapore and, at least were I am, we do not have the pleasure of places like Sim Ling Tower or the Funnan Centre!

Goldtee

[Kiyoshi]

Why don't you guys just buy stuff from American web sites and ship it to Singapore or Europe? Maybe a currency problem or something, but the International shipping charges wouldn't completely kill the money that you saved by buying something here.

BTW, everything's so cheap here cuz people want you to spend your money at their store. Buy.com sells a e740 for $600 still while AMatterofFax.com sells it for $271 (I'm not sure if it's new though), isn't that crazy!

[Janak Parekh]

Why don't you guys just buy stuff from American web sites and ship it to Singapore or Europe? Maybe a currency problem or something, but the International shipping charges wouldn't completely kill the money that you saved by buying something here.
Most mail-order sites here won't ship internationally, AFAIK. :(

--janak

[Stephen Beesley]

Why don't you guys just buy stuff from American web sites and ship it to Singapore or Europe? Maybe a currency problem or something, but the International shipping charges wouldn't completely kill the money that you saved by buying something here.
Most mail-order sites here won't ship internationally, AFAIK. :(

--janak

Sad but true! And when they do they often do actually want silly money for shipping.

Goldtee

[maximus]

Great god! I see a new business opportunity!

A U.S. based discounted-online-store who shipped overseas at minimum shipping fee!

Err... well, they better have a very good risk management, considering the credit card payment, shipping risk, insurance cost, etc. etc.

Seriously, perhaps one of you guys who lived in U.S. should start a distribution firm, accept money order/wired transfer for the rest of us who lived abroad, and do bulk shipping, hence minimizing shipping cost. :| I can live with a 10% increase in price.

[CodeSurge]

Why don't you guys just buy stuff from American web sites and ship it to Singapore or Europe?

Warranty could be a problem. I know that Dell's is transferrable (at least, I think so - it worked for my Inspiron 8000), so I bought one during one of those ultra-low Axim pricing periods (the Advanced was 240 USD, IIRC) to ship back to my brother in Singapore.

Your best bet would be to contact the local branch of your desired PPC manufacturer to double-check before spending the money importing one.

[nosmohtac]

I would have to agree with TopDog.
You have to take a lot things in to consideration when giving advice on this topic. A lot of devices are out there and peoples needs are different. With that said I think the best pocket pc's out there are: Dell Axim X5 advanced, Toshiba e750, and the ipaq3970 respectively with the dell being the best deal.
I have owned a jornada 548, currently jornada 568 and ipaq3970.
I did have an order in for a Dell and the only reason I cancelled is because I read posts on this site stating that the IR was a little weak.
Not a big deal for beaming, but I really like the using my ipaq as a universal remote.

I can tell you though that I have swayed 6 of my coworkers in to getting a dell axim instead of a palm and they are all very pleased. I have been asked to help them with setting up there devices and showing them some tips and tricks, and they look and feel like a top notch device.

Lately I've been getting that feeling that I should have gotten a Dell instead of the ipaq, because with my PI Dual CF sleeve my ipaq is thicker than the Dell.



I have also pointed them all to this site for help and information. I have looked everywhere, and there are plenty of good sites like this but this is IMNSHO by far the best site for help and information on pocket pc and mobile computing. Thank you 'thoughts team.

[Janak Parekh]

Great god! I see a new business opportunity!

A U.S. based discounted-online-store who shipped overseas at minimum shipping fee!
Hmm... that sounds like Dynamism (www.dynamism.com) in reverse. :lol:

--janak

[maximus]

Yeah, I accidently went into that site several weeks ago, and the first thing that comes up on my mind is .... duh, what a weird collection of products. As an example, they do carry Toshiba notebooks, but they only carry the libretto line, not the popular tecra/satellite/portege lines. What's up with that ?

And then the restocking fee. A <u>minimum</u> of 15% restocking fee for returned item ?

[Janak Parekh]

Yeah, I accidently went into that site several weeks ago, and the first thing that comes up on my mind is .... duh, what a weird collection of products. As an example, they do carry Toshiba notebooks, but they only carry the libretto line, not the popular tecra/satellite/portege lines. What's up with that ?
Check the site more carefully. This is Japanese-imported cutting-edge stuff, usually on the very light end. Ergo, the Libretto, of which they have an extra-special model in Japan.

--janak

[maximus]

hmm ... products in a niche market. That makes sense then.

[Kiyoshi]

Hehehe you guys went WAYYYY off topic but that's okay. Sorry that you guys not in the US of A don't get the same price competetion we do.

Oh, BTW, my $309 new e740 is being shipped and all you people on this forum keep saying how they're screwing up and I'm getting worried about it not working all that well.

[maximus]

Actually, e740 is an OK device. Some of my coworkers here use e740, it works fine. Speed is OK, integrated wifi, nice screen ... Dont worry too much about what other people say. :wink:

[Kiyoshi]

Yeah, i've heard of the "loud minority" that complains on how they don't like their PDA. There's probably gonna be a lot more people that say "mine didn't work good for me" or "why isn't this working" than the optimists saying "My *insert PDA here* is working fine just ta [excuse the Chicagoan accent in there :wink:]let ya know!"

I wasn't planning on using the Wi-Fi either, but someone else in my house wants to also be able to use the Internet somewhere other than their office/basement, so we're gonna install a network pretty much when the e740 arrives.

A Netgear MR814 & a PCMCIA Wi-Fi card better work with my e740!

[maximus]

Someone else on this forum mentioned the use of wifi to stream mp3s/ogg from your home PC to your PPC ... I find that very interesting. A very cool idea. What I did is, I divide my mp3 collection into 3 different classifications:
- Class 1 mp3s (the mp3s that I like very very much) are located on my SD card, plugged all the time on my SD slot, hence I can do GPRS/sms/icq and listening to mp3s.
- Class 2 mp3s (the mp3s that I like very much) are located on my CF card. Only have 1 CF slot, which most of the time is occupied by a GPRS card. Which means I have to unplug my GPRS card to listen to class 2 mp3s.
- Class 3 mp3s (the mp3s that I kinda like) are located on my PC, streamed to me by a wifi CF. Which also means that I have to unplug my GPRS card.

Been waiting for a device that have integrated wifi, gprs, and CF slot. :wink: The ipaq 5555/5550 comes really close, but did not hit the bullseye.

[TopDog]

Class 3 mp3s (the mp3s that I kinda like) are located on my PC, streamed to me by a wifi CF. Which also means that I have to unplug my GPRS card.
How do you do that? I've been trying to find an app to do that, but haven't found one yet, or have it and haven't found out how...

[maximus]

By manually mapping the remote drive on my PPC :oops: heheh. it is not hi-tech, but it works. A friend of mine just told me that the latest version of gsplayer actually manipulate the remote drive and make it show on the playlist. I have not test this yet.

[TopDog]

By manually mapping the remote drive on my PPC :oops: heheh. it is not hi-tech, but it works. A friend of mine just told me that the latest version of gsplayer actually manipulate the remote drive and make it show on the playlist. I have not test this yet.
Now we're gettin' somewhere... how do you map the remote drive?

[maximus]

I installed Microsoft’s Windows Media Encoder on my PC, to serve as a broadcasting media server. Setup a URL for the broadcast, play winamp on PC, run WMP on PPC, click on connection, connect the PPC to the specified URL ... Basically it is like remote mapping your PPC's WMP to a remote drive (the URL on the broadcast server), and get the broadcast feed from a running winamp on the PC. Voila. mp3 live broadcast.

A friend mentioned a client-server software called <a href=http://mcmajeres.com/>iremote</a> ... This software lets you control the winamp's playlist on the PC side, hence you will have more flexibility. Have not tried this yet. Looks like it is much more easier than my current setup.