Looking for World Atlas - + Misc Question

[shawnc]

I'm trying to find a world atlas for my PPC. I had the Blue Point Studio Pocket World Info on my Axim and it didn't really do for me what I hoped for. Usually when I'm using my paperback atlas, I'm not necessarily interested in very detailed information (i.e. local flag, population, etc.) about a particular country. I think I'm more interested in getting a regional view of where a country is in relation to it's neighbors. I'll give you a "for instance", like most folks, my interest in Iraq intensified when it became evident that we were going to invade. Since my knowledge of history is so poor, that I simply wanted to get a feel for where Iraq was in the region. Just a regional view. Pocket World didn't really give me that.

I'm looking at Pocket Earth (also by Blue Point Studio). It SEEMS to be what I'm looking for but its really difficult to tell. Which is where you all come in.

Anyone who has used Pocket Earth, what is your opinion? Also, suggestions for any other program are appreciated.

As for the misc. question, what is the difference between ARM, MIPS, and SH3? More importantly, how can I find this myself within my PPC because I always seem to struggle with this whenever I purchase software.

As always, thanx in advance for any advice.

[nosmohtac]

I use pocket world info as well, but I haven't tried pocket earth, so I can't really help you with that part of your question.

I can help you with the rest though.
If you are running PPC 2002 or WM2003 you want the .ARM version.
MIPS and SH3 are a couple of processors that were used in the first generation PPC's. The second generation PPC's were standardized by MS requiring them to have processors that were based on the .ARM architecture. The latest PPC's mostly have Intel X-Scale processors, which are still based on the .ARM version.

You can see what processor you have by selecting START>SETTINGS> select the SYSTEM tab at the bottom of the screen and then select >ABOUT.

I may have mistated something about the processors, but not intentionally. Feel free to correct me on this post.

[shawnc]

Thanx for the info Clark T. That was really helpful.

[nosmohtac]

Your more than welcome. That's what makes this place so awesome- learn and give back a little.

I'll correct my self from my first post. IPAQS have always had processors based on the ARM architecture, but the first jornadas had SH3 processors , which I believe were made by hitachi. The first Casio PPCs had MIPS processors. This made things a little confusing and frustrating, especially when you found a cool program or game, but it wasn't available for your device's processor.

[Lex]

I posting so I can see replies to this original question too.

You might Google on 'CIA World Factbook'. I downloaded the whole thing in HTML and view it on my iPAQ 3845 using Pocket I.E. Probably more info in it than you wanted but it's free. Note: you have to uncheck 'Fit to screen' to see the maps clearly.

[shawnc]

Lex, thanx for the tip. I tried it but it is a little more than I'm looking for.

[nosmohtac]

Lex, thanx for the tip. I tried it but it is a little more than I'm looking for.

I was going to suggest that one too, but I thought you might be looking for something with just the map type info.

[Andy Whiteford]

I'm in the same boat as you and I'm sure I tried Pocket Earth but found it wasn't quite what I was looking for, I actually preferred World Info - my search continues. I'm still surprised there isn't the equivelant of a world atlas available for the Pocket PC AFAIK.
There is a trial of Pocket Earth available so you may wish to see if it satisfies your needs.

[shawnc]

Andy,

I think I am going to try the trial version since it seems to have full functionality (for a limited number of uses). Thanx for the suggestion.

[Lex]

Anyone know if Pocket Earth can show country borders? I'm trying it out and don't think it does. I think that's a very necessary feature.

EDIT. LATER: Turns out it does have 'Political Maps' but I'd like to be able to zoom in closer than the app allows. U.S. states, for example are pretty tiny at the closest zoom. (Unless I'm missing some control to zoom closer.)

[shawnc]

Lex,

There is a way to zoom but it's like a toggle switch that only has one "zoom" level. Which takes me into my comment.

I ended up purchasing the software because the owner was pretty helpful and accomadating. It really is a nice little app. Not exactly what I am looking for, but closer than Pocket World. The only problem I can see is that certain functions are simply not very intuitive (at least for me anyway). There are quite a few nice features included in this software, but you really have to play around with it to figure many of them out.

Overall I'm pleased. I expect that I'll like it even more as I discover some of the nice features that are not initially apparent.

[Lex]

Shawn, I may buy it too.

You can zoom in and out using the hardware up/down, left/right controls. It just doesn't go close enough in for me. If you keep tapping a US state it shows lots of cities but you can't get close enough for all those cities to separate much.

[shawnc]

Lex,

One more point to consider, I got a pretty decent price because I'm a previous purchaser of Pocket World. If you are prior owner, you may be eligible for the discount. At the discounted price, it was a no-brainer for me.

Now that I have had the opportunity to really play around with it, it is even worth the full price (IMO). However, you are correct in it not providing detail info about US citites. For me, thats not an issue.

Good luck.