PDAGold Reviews Acer's n30 Pocket PC

[Janak Parekh]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.pdagold.com/articles/detail.asp?a=174' target='_blank'>http://www.pdagold.com/articles/detail.asp?a=174</a><br /><br /></div><i>"I must say that I like the look of Acer n30 much better than that of its predecessor, Acer n10. A combination of grey and silver is much nicer than just silver. The shape of Acer n30 is better designed, too. The dimensions are also significantly smaller, so that n30 can compare with other Pocket PCs, such as LOOX 420 I reviewed recently. If you are interested in exact figures, it is 2.8 x 4.67 x 0.53 inches / 71 x 118 x 13 millimetres, the weight is a perfectly acceptable 4.6oz / 130 grams."</i><br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/parekh-20040628-PDAGoldAcern30.jpg" /><br /><br />Acer's been flying under the radar for the most part when it comes to Pocket PCs, so it's good to see someone giving their latest unit a review -- and Pavel over at PDAGold gives it a very thorough look.

[Kati Compton]

Hmm. No d-pad? No sale to me. Though, truth be told, I don't really use the d-pad much on my Axim. But I have bigger plans for my next PPC, and they require a d-pad.

[manywhere]

Hmm. No d-pad? No sale to me. Though, truth be told, I don't really use the d-pad much on my Axim. But I have bigger plans for my next PPC, and they require a d-pad.
Like taking over the world? :lol: Just kidding (no hard feelings, right?)... ;)

I also require a d-pad of my next PPC, but that's because I've gotten attached to using it for a various number of applications. :mrgreen:

[Janak Parekh]

Like taking over the world? :lol: Just kidding (no hard feelings, right?)... ;)
That's exactly what I thought, too, when I read her post. ;)

As for me, I suspect I use a d-pad less than most of you -- most of my games are stylus-only. The original J548 didn't have a d-pad, but it had a scroll wheel, and it was pretty decent that way.

--janak

[gorkon280]

"I must say that I like the look of Acer n30 much better than that of its predecessor, Acer n10. A combination of grey and silver is much nicer than just silver. The shape of Acer n30 is better designed, too. The dimensions are also significantly smaller, so that n30 can compare with other Pocket PCs, such as LOOX 420 I reviewed recently. If you are interested in exact figures, it is 2.8 x 4.67 x 0.53 inches / 71 x 118 x 13 millimetres, the weight is a perfectly acceptable 4.6oz / 130 grams."


No D-Pad?
No Removable battery?

What ARE they thinking?

[Mojo Jojo]

Wow, that thing is giving me flash backs to the casio e-100. Mind you that had a great button layout. Never liked the dpad in the center. Screw the lefties! :wink:

http://www.the-gadgeteer.com/e100-review.html

For what it is worth I loved the look of my E-100!

[foldedspace]

Very much like a Casio. Interesting review...did Casio come up with the D-Pad?

speaking on-topic, how can you not have a D-Pad? First they put out a ppc with MS instead of CF or SD (n20), now no D-Pad.

Odd.

[Kati Compton]

Hmm. No d-pad? No sale to me. Though, truth be told, I don't really use the d-pad much on my Axim. But I have bigger plans for my next PPC, and they require a d-pad.
Like taking over the world? :lol: Just kidding (no hard feelings, right?)... ;)
"Same thing we do every night - TRY TO TAKE OVER THE WORLD!!!"

So with VGA PPCs coming out, I'm looking forward to more gaming. Without a d-pad, that really limits the type of game that can be played. This is my same concern with the possible touchpad on one of the upcoming ipaqs.

[Kati Compton]

speaking on-topic, how can you not have a D-Pad? First they put out a ppc with MS instead of CF or SD (n20), now no D-Pad.
I don't really use mine on my Axim - I use my stylus (or finger - I have a screen protector!) for navigation, and the games I play on the Axim *mostly* don't use the d-pad. I'd like that to change in general and play more action-y games.

[maximus]

speaking on-topic, how can you not have a D-Pad? First they put out a ppc with MS instead of CF or SD (n20), now no D-Pad.
I don't really use mine on my Axim - I use my stylus (or finger - I have a screen protector!) for navigation, and the games I play on the Axim *mostly* don't use the d-pad. I'd like that to change in general and play more action-y games.

Same here. It is really hard to play an action game like odyssey with d-pad. The movement is limited to 4 directional only, while with stylus, you can virtually go to any direction.

Back to the acer, is it just me, or the boxy design is plainly ugly ?