ok ready to make the plunge to VGA but need some advice

[zilla31]

ok ladies and gents who are always so helpful... i've saved up my allowance (the pennies my wife allows me) and i'm ready to make the plunge to a VGA device from my beloved 4150. I have a few questions i was hoping some VGA owners could sound off on:

1. after much research i think the x50v is the one for me. i love (love) the form factor/size of my 4150 and want to stay as close to that as possible - anyone seen these two side by side?

2. i keep hearing people say that some apps are not "native" VGA. what does this mean exactly? can i expect some of my apps to not display properly or at all?

2a. I've read about the various VGA fixes... what do these do exactly and why do we need them?

3. anyone know where i can get an x50v for cheap? i found this deal - how does it look?

http://getyourtech.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=1114

i'll think of more and post as i do... thanks a million!

[Menneisyys]

2. i keep hearing people say that some apps are not "native" VGA. what does this mean exactly?

You may want to check out http://discussion.brighthand.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=116549

can i expect some of my apps to not display properly or at all?


Some of your apps (for example, PQV 3.0 doesn't run well on WM2003SE VGA devices), but the vast majority of your apps will run OK.

2a. I've read about the various VGA fixes... what do these do exactly and why do we need them?


Now, you'll only need either SE_VGA or OzVGA. I recommend the latter; check http://www.geocities.com/[email protected]/VGA/index.html
on what you can do with it in practice.


3. anyone know where i can get an x50v for cheap? i found this deal - how does it look?

http://getyourtech.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=1114


I've seen a topic discussing an even cheaper source: http://discussion.brighthand.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=116643

[zilla31]

wow great deal (and thanks for the answers). is the x50v much bigger than my 4150? hard to tell by the specs.

UPDATE: the coupon expired :(

[zilla31]

found this with a pic of the x50v next to a 4150/55:

http://www.aximsite.com/articles/link.php?id=200

[Jason Dunn]

Size comparisons right here:

http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/articles.php?action=expand,33206&start=2

[zilla31]

ok so if i use se_vga or ozvga to get more screen realestate, what happens to things like wisbar advance skins? or ebooks? things in programs that don't support it... do you have to turn "off" se_vga or ozvga to use these (requiring a lot of back and forth and soft resets??)

thanks!!

[Menneisyys]

ok so if i use se_vga or ozvga to get more screen realestate, what happens to things like wisbar advance skins? or ebooks? things in programs that don't support it... do you have to turn "off" se_vga or ozvga to use these (requiring a lot of back and forth and soft resets??)

thanks!!

Most apps run flawlessly, with greatly extended screen area in "true" VGA mode. There're some apps, however, that have completely messed-up GUI (for ezxample, the image viewer PQV 3.0) or only occupies quarter of the screen (for example, Idruna Photogenics, or have some other problems (for example, with PictPocket Cinema 4.0, video playing doesn't work in native VGA).

You can also test the so-called "forced VGA" mode, it's also great, albeit, in general, much less compatible with existing "legacy" PPC apps than the native/true VGA mode. More on it at http://www.pc-counselor.com/How_to/index.htm#doublepixeling

[Dalantech]

Normally I don't advise people to wait, but I think anyone who buys into the current crop of VGA handhelds is going to be disappointed when the next version of Windows mobile is released (which should be in a few months). The new OS is going to include Direct 3D for mobile devices, and companies like Nvidia and ATI should have some really good accelerators out specifically for mobile 3D...

Granted, the new OS will run on most of the current VGA and QVGA Pocket PCs, but if you are into gaming then you might want to squeeze a few more months out of that old iPaq. I don't plan to make the jump to VGA for at least another year -IMHO VGA on a PocketPC is just a marketing gimmick until the next release of Windows mobile...

[Menneisyys]

found this with a pic of the x50v next to a 4150/55:

http://www.aximsite.com/articles/link.php?id=200

You can also check out http://www.firstloox.org/forums/showpost.php?p=18291&postcount=14

[Scarpad]

Normally I don't advise people to wait, but I think anyone who buys into the current crop of VGA handhelds is going to be disappointed when the next version of Windows mobile is released (which should be in a few months). The new OS is going to include Direct 3D for mobile devices, and companies like Nvidia and ATI should have some really good accelerators out specifically for mobile 3D...

Granted, the new OS will run on most of the current VGA and QVGA Pocket PCs, but if you are into gaming then you might want to squeeze a few more months out of that old iPaq. I don't plan to make the jump to VGA for at least another year -IMHO VGA on a PocketPC is just a marketing gimmick until the next release of Windows mobile...


I agree with you I wanted to replace my 2215 with something that had wireless and was a bit faster. I considered the X50V but in the end got a great deal and went with the Axim X30. It will hold me for a few years and eventually if a good deal comes by I'll buy a VGA device with Windows Mobile 2005 and probably better VGA support

[zilla31]

i'm actually starting to think i might wait too... i love my 4150 but the temptation of VGA is strong for me... if i could get more screen realestate - i really think the whole PDA experience would be better (and more productive)... still on the fence i guess. is there anyone out there that moved from a 4150 by chance to a x50v?

[Sven Johannsen]

i'm actually starting to think i might wait too... i love my 4150 but the temptation of VGA is strong for me... if i could get more screen realestate - i really think the whole PDA experience would be better (and more productive)... still on the fence i guess. is there anyone out there that moved from a 4150 by chance to a x50v?

I have both. I may be one of the few who isn't gaagaa over VGA. In the stock, out of the box configuration, VGA has the same stuff on it as QVGA, with some minor caveats. You can adjust text size with more granularity and still have smaller fonts legible. I'm not talking 4 times as much stuff on the screen though. To get the full 640x480 experience, you need to use one of the hacks, enhancements, whatever you want to call them. I personally find stuff too small to comfortably view when I do that. It is somewhat like holding your PPC twice as far away as you normally do, since everything is half as tall and half as wide.

I must say the clarity at normal sizes is noticably better. I don't think I gained as much with the VGA, as I lost in form factor going from the 4155 to x50V. I did also gain a CF slot, VGA out, microphone in and physical screen size. I lost battery life. At this point, I'd likely wait myself.

[zilla31]

man how i wish they'd keep the 4150 form factor and just keep changing the "guts".

[GSmith]

I don't really like to promote or suggest devices that have not personally used. But the X50v has been reviewed as having very minimal battery life.

This is one of the reasons I chose the Fujitsu-Siemens Loox 720. It has, reportedly, very good battery life.

I don't think there is a VGA device that does *not* have a Compact Flash slot. Which means that the devices (I think) cannot be as small as the 19xx/4150 series. I think the best you could *possibly* do is a size near the iPAQ 2215 (which is not VGA, but does have CF and SD slots). As for the Loox, it is supposedly only about 1/4 inch greater in height than the 2215.

All that said, I probably would have waited if my 2215 audio plug was not broken/staticy. Audio output is very important when you listen to podcasts ;-) Gotta have my IT Conversations.

Greg Smith
Author, FeederReader - The Pocket PC RSS, podcatcher, videocatcher
www.FeederReader.com - Download on the Road

[zilla31]

yeah my only prob w/ the loox is that it gets into the "square" form factor that i don't appreciate near as much as the "rounded" of the 4150/x50v.

[zilla31]

I don't think I gained as much with the VGA, as I lost in form factor going from the 4155 to x50V. I did also gain a CF slot, VGA out, microphone in and physical screen size. I lost battery life. At this point, I'd likely wait myself.

in pictures its hard to tell but it only seems to be slightly taller. how different does the form factor feel in the hand? dress shirt breast pocket?

thanks a mil.

also - is watching video on VGA that much better?

can anyone screen shot me some VGA stuff - like an excel worksheet, an email, etc. w/ the 640x480 realestate? thanks SO much.

[Menneisyys]

also - is watching video on VGA that much better?

Not necessarily - videos don't gain much from VGA, unlike textual content.

can anyone screen shot me some VGA stuff - like an excel worksheet, an email, etc. w/ the 640x480 realestate? thanks SO much.

Check out http://www.geocities.com/[email protected]/VGA/index.html - these screenshots are using "tweaked" native (true) VGA settings; this is why they are far more readable (although, they offer less information) than the default character size on a VGA screen in true VGA mode. So, this is what you can expect of a VGA device if you really want to see readable text without much eyestrain.

[zilla31]

that's exactly what i was looking for thanks... there is a huge difference between what i see there and my 4150 screen.

is buying from ebay a bad idea? this guy seems pretty legit:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=5756303427&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT

[Menneisyys]

that's exactly what i was looking for thanks... there is a huge difference between what i see there and my 4150 screen.

is buying from ebay a bad idea? this guy seems pretty legit:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=5756303427&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT

The item has ended so I can't check how much it was paid for. The Buy Now! price (385 + 20 shipping + 5 insurance) wasn't particularly spectacular, though.

[zilla31]

oh ok - is there better deals around than that ($385+shipping)? i can't find any, but sure would love to...

[Sven Johannsen]

Check out http://www.geocities.com/[email protected]/VGA/index.html - .

Those are great shots, and show that the text is exeptionally legible. Thing is on my 14" monitor at 1024x768, the display on the screen is over four times the size of my actual X50v display (or two times in each direction). It's just too small to read comfortably, for me. Now a lawyer who is accostomed to reading the fine print all day might do fine. I would think it is something you need to see in person.