The e805's VGA Screen And Compatibility With Windows Mobile 2003

[Janak Parekh]

There's been considerable discussion about the e805's 480x640 screen, and for good reason: the ability to either view more information or the same information at a higher quality is appealing. It was therefore a bit disappointing, but not surprising, to hear that Toshiba restricted the 480x640 mode to just the ClearVue applications: presumably, they wanted to avoid support issues and wanted only official-high-resolution-supporting programs to appear when you switch resolutions.<br /><br />However, the Pocket PC community has developed a solution, called ResFix, that lets you use most any application on WM2003 in 640x480. :D You can read more about that on <a href="http://discussion.brighthand.com/showthread.php?threadid=94194">this Brighthand thread</a>.<br /><br />James, over at BostonPocketPC, took the e805 out for a detailed spin, and also gave ResFix a close look. His experiences, plus some great screenshots, are available <a href="http://www.bostonpocketpc.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Reviews&file=index&req=showcontent&id=146">in this article</a> -- he tested the hires mode with many applications, and found most of them worked:<br /><br />"Most applications I've tried so far work fine in VGA with very few exceptions. A few of the applications that do run at this higher resolution do so by o*nly using a quarter of the screen which makes for some very tiny, humorous screens. But even displaying such small screens they are still useable and legible. The display is just so nice. And the entire device is very fast due to it's fast CPU (PXA263) and the fact that Toshiba put 2 MB of video memory dedicated to the ATI graphics controller it uses."<br /><br />I wish I didn't see this; now I want one! :drool: (Some full-sized screenshots, unlike the ones in the article, are available <a href="http://www.bostonpocketpc.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1924&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0">here</a>).

[HTK]

Great to see it works!
Too bad the reviewer did a really poor job resizing the images, I wish he just posted them resized to 240x320 with links for the respectives full size screenshots.

[ricksfiona]

Great to see it works!
Too bad the reviewer did a really por job resizing the images, I wish he just posted them resized to 240x320 with links for the respectives full size screenshots.

That would've been a good idea.

I'm going to have to wait until HP get's to this resolution... There are some HP specific peripherals that I need to use and the resolution advantage isn't that big a deal for me. Especially since I just bought my 5550. Life is good. :wink:

[Don Sorcinelli]

Great to see it works!
Too bad the reviewer did a really poor job resizing the images, I wish he just posted them resized to 240x320 with links for the respectives full size screenshots.

This was not James' doing - I take full responsibility. I had to make some judgment calls regarding viewing for Pocket PC, as well as overall download time and bandwidth.

I post some of James' screen captures in an article prior to the posting of the review. They are in 480x640 format, and can be seen here. (http://www.bostonpocketpc.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1924&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0)

DonS

[dh]

I wish I didn't see this; now I want one! :drool:
I feel the same. Thank goodness it doesn't have Bluetooth. :D

[Janak Parekh]

I feel the same. Thank goodness it doesn't have Bluetooth. :D
You can use a CF (or SDIO, presumably?) card. ;)

--janak

[dh]

I feel the same. Thank goodness it doesn't have Bluetooth. :D
You can use a CF (or SDIO, presumably?) card. ;)

--janak
I understand that, but since I currently swap out cards several times a day, my next PPC is going to have both radios built in. That's why it's good the e800 doesn't quite meet my spec, since I can't afford it right now.
David's Spec:
CF
SDIO
128MB
BT
WiFi
Great Screen.

See, it comes too close for comfort. :lol:

[Jonathan1]

"Most applications I've tried so far work fine in VGA with very few exceptions. A few of the applications that do run at this higher resolution do so by o*nly using a quarter of the screen which makes for some very tiny, humorous screens. But even displaying such small screens they are still useable and legible. The display is just so nice. And the entire device is very fast due to it's fast CPU (PXA263) and the fact that Toshiba put 2 MB of video memory dedicated to the ATI graphics controller it uses."

I wish I didn't see this; now I want one! :drool:

OK I have to admit I’m getting a bit teary eyed over this. OH MY GOD. I have never seen a more beautiful thing in my life. At first I thought WTF is with the blury screen shots but those new ones. That is the most gorgeous, drop dead screen I’ve ever seen. And to think next year every Pocket PC is going to have this. Forget about Matrix Revolutions 2004 will be Pocket PC: Revolutionary. This, IMHO, will do for Pocket PC 2004 what the first iPaq did for Pocket PC 2000. Its going to draw a whole new crowd of users. Janak you just made my day and made me uberly depressed. I don’t know what to do now. I was so looking forward to purchasing the 4150 next month and now. *sighs* I just don’t know what to do. The Tosh looks bulky but that screen. OH MY GOD! :frusty:

[dh]

I was so looking forward to purchasing the 4150 next month and now. *sighs* I just don’t know what to do. The Tosh looks bulky but that screen. OH MY GOD! :frusty:
I know I'm going to keep my Axim until we know what next year has in store. From what we've seen so far, 2004 should be great.

[HTK]

Great to see it works!
Too bad the reviewer did a really poor job resizing the images, I wish he just posted them resized to 240x320 with links for the respectives full size screenshots.

This was not James' doing - I take full responsibility. I had to make some judgment calls regarding viewing for Pocket PC, as well as overall download time and bandwidth.

I post some of James' screen captures in an article prior to the posting of the review. They are in 480x640 format, and can be seen here. (http://www.bostonpocketpc.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1924&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0)

DonS

Thanks for the link

Interesting thing to notice is that the pixel orientation from the Toshiba e800 LCD is the inverse of common LCDS, at least this is what we can tell by looking the way clear type fonts are draw, BGR system

[dave]

I wish I didn't see this; now I want one! :drool:

i wish i didn't see how big the freakin' device is, cuz now i don't want one. i think i will wait until the wile e. coyote supergeniuses at hp offer up their answer.

[Janak Parekh]

I post some of James' screen captures in an article prior to the posting of the review. They are in 480x640 format, and can be seen here. (http://www.bostonpocketpc.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1924&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0)
Thanks Don, I'll update my post.

--janak

[huangzhinong]

OK I have to admit I’m getting a bit teary eyed over this. OH MY GOD. I have never seen a more beautiful thing in my life. At first I thought WTF is with the blury screen shots but those new ones. That is the most gorgeous, drop dead screen I’ve ever seen. And to think next year every Pocket PC is going to have this. Forget about Matrix Revolutions 2004 will be Pocket PC: Revolutionary. This, IMHO, will do for Pocket PC 2004 what the first iPaq did for Pocket PC 2000. Its going to draw a whole new crowd of users. Janak you just made my day and made me uberly depressed. I don’t know what to do now. I was so looking forward to purchasing the 4150 next month and now. *sighs* I just don’t know what to do. The Tosh looks bulky but that screen. OH MY GOD! :frusty:

I bet you only visit Pocketpcthoughts every day. These photos has been in brighthand.com for more than 3 days

[Marcel_Proust]

Damn I don't know if I can hold off.
Does anyone know if it can run the GoToMyPC in 640x480 format. That would do it for me.

[Janak Parekh]

I bet you only visit Pocketpcthoughts every day. These photos has been in brighthand.com for more than 3 days
Not everyone visits every PDA forum every day, you know. ;) There were screenshots that we posted on weeks ago, before the hack was available, demonstrating the feasibility of doing this...

--janak

[HTK]

I wish I didn't see this; now I want one! :drool:

i wish i didn't see how big the freakin' device is, cuz now i don't want one. i think i will wait until the wile e. coyote supergeniuses at hp offer up their answer.

Taking in account the vga resolution I don´t think it is that big.
128mb for storage + 32mb for applications + wifi + SD&CF seems to me like a very reasonable mix.
The only thing that keeps me away from one is the price.

I just dont get this:
http://www.csd.toshiba.com/cgi-bin/tais/pc/pc_prodDetail.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@1498189133.1069195523@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccchadcjlmliliecgfkceghdgngdglk.0&comm=ST&wSource=ANEM&poid=263419&plin=PDAs&pfam=PDAs&Adoid=140417 why they do not list the VGA capable display?
"Display Type: 4.0” TFT Transreflective Color display (240 x 320 portrait resolution w/64K colors) "
odd!

[PR.]

I don't like the idea of having to hack the OS to get it to do what it should do out the box :|

I think I will wait for proper 640x480 support by the OS and then when HP put it in a 5xxx chasis I will upgrade :D

[Palmguy]

I don't like the idea of having to hack the OS to get it to do what it should do out the box :|

I think I will wait for proper 640x480 support by the OS and then when HP put it in a 5xxx chasis I will upgrade :D

You wouldn't be hacking the OS, all that that software does is remove a limitation that Toshiba intentionally put into the device. The OS itself, by all accounts, supports VGA just fine. Some apps, such as MP, will only work in 240x 320 though.

[b3trio]

I think I will wait for proper 640x480 support by the OS and then when HP put it in a 5xxx chasis I will upgrade :D

While you're waiting, I'll enjoy the unbelievable bliss of 640x480 on a 4 inch screen :mrgreen:

With my recent $11.11 purchase of Textmaker, this is as close as I can get right now to a laptop replacement.

[Jonathan1]

[quote]


I bet you only visit Pocketpcthoughts every day. These photos has been in brighthand.com for more than 3 days

Nope I go to Brighthand at least three times a week. But unless its on the frontpage I'm not going to see it. PPCT is my main source of PPC info.

[KAMware]

I don't like the idea of having to hack the OS to get it to do what it should do out the box :|

I think I will wait for proper 640x480 support by the OS and then when HP put it in a 5xxx chasis I will upgrade :D

It is not a hack of the OS but a change in the registry. Toshia changes a bunch of registry settings to put it into hi-res and keep you in the ClearVue application. They make it so you cannot exit the ClearVue app and run any other app by disabling a bunch of things via the registry.

The so called hack is basically an attempt to change the registry settings and to hi-res then keep the Toshiba from running the ClearVue application.

I can, and have, written a test application in .NET to run in the new 480 x 640 mode and it works great. The OS for PPC is acutally CE.NET that until now was restricted via hardware to 240 x 320.

I have had one of these since it came out and it really does spoil you as far as the screen goes.

Plus the unit has all that memory to use!

[jnunn]

I think I will wait for proper 640x480 support by the OS and then when HP put it in a 5xxx chasis I will upgrade :D

I was under the impression that the 5xxx form factor is or will soon be obsolete. I do not recall reading anything from HP about this but the 4xxx series covers wireless and the 2210 covers expansion with BT. If the 2210 had WiFi then I could not see a reason why anyone would purchase the heaftier 5xxx series. Even niche sleeve applications seem like they could be covered by CF.

Of course, the 5xxx series is the only form factor with the 3.8 screen. Perhaps HP will create a new line that squeezes a 3.8 or 4.0 screen into a more manageable form factor like the 2210 or 4xxx. 2004 will be fun.

[kuyars]

This is great that now PPC is emerging onto the VGA screen that I've been lusting over ever since I played with the Sharp Zaurus Cxx over a year ago. Pity it's taking this long considering the Zaurus folks have had it for so long.

[etalianstallion]

Oooh......niiiiiice. :drool:

Okay, now I just have to wait for Dell to annouce that they have a similar product in the works which will sell for 1/2 the price. Come on Dell, I'm waiting.....

[PatrickD]

I wasn't that excited about this unit until I saw the real thing at the MS mobile tour in Toronto. The screen on this thing is fantastic even in standard 240x320. It is so bright, clear, and big (The device itself is not that big just the screen :D )

[beq]

Please Santa bring me one for Christmas I'll be good

[yvilla]

I wasn't that excited about this unit until I saw the real thing at the MS mobile tour in Toronto. The screen on this thing is fantastic even in standard 240x320. It is so bright, clear, and big (The device itself is not that big just the screen :D )

Hey, I fell in love with it in Toronto too! I tried hard to resist, but lasted exactly one week. Unfortunately for my pocketbook, and somewhat to my surprise, I was able to talk CompUSA into matching the $534.99 price listed at Etronics online! So there was no way I could walk out of that store without it. :lol:

Besides the obvious advantages for web access, ebook reading in VGA is the most marvelous thing about this PPC for me. :ppclove:

[Ekkie Tepsupornchai]

Wow... this is making me want to upgrade from my relatively-new 2215...

[Jonathan1]

huh. This is going to put pressure on other PPC manufacturers. But its a real between a rock and a hard place situation. Does a manufacturer want to put the time and effort into implementing a proprietary VGA solutions when MS's OS native solution is right around the corner or do they want to let Toshiba have the upper hand. It should be interesting to see how well these devices sell this x-mas.
If nothing else I'm willing to bet its going to make HP and Dell put pressure on MS to get PPC2004 out ASAP.

[jkendrick]

huh. This is going to put pressure on other PPC manufacturers. But its a real between a rock and a hard place situation. Does a manufacturer want to put the time and effort into implementing a proprietary VGA solutions when MS's OS native solution is right around the corner or do they want to let Toshiba have the upper hand. It should be interesting to see how well these devices sell this x-mas.
If nothing else I'm willing to bet its going to make HP and Dell put pressure on MS to get PPC2004 out ASAP.

No proprietary solution is necessary. CE .NET supports higher resolution natively.

[AndrewLubinus89]

[quote=PatrickD]

Besides the obvious advantages for web access, ebook reading in VGA is the most marvelous thing about this PPC for me. :ppclove:

*Sigh* I have been drooling over it too. I have always been a big e-book fan and that is just an amazing resolution. Now to wait until we get a more economic solution to our low resolution...