Questions from a newbie

[winoki]

Hi,

I am thinking about buing an pocket pc (perhaps x50v) but I have never had one and I have some questions:

- can I run programs from an sd card without instaiilng them in the ROM?? if yes, why do manufacturers insist so much in big ROMs and not in big RAMs which is more important??

- If microsoft releases a new OS can I change the existing one?? can I do it by myself or should I take my pda to the manufacturer again??

- how important is the CPU speed?? I want it to see some videos smoothly, listen mp3, read the email, gaming, surf the web, do some office work on the fly and something more

- I choose x50v due to its graphical processor, its VGA screen and its CPU speed. is it better to buy it now or wait few months to see if the new devices from the other manufactures include the graphical processor??

- for what I want a PDA, would be enough with 32MB RAM??? I ask this because perharps I do not really need the expensive x50v


Thanks!!

[GSmith]

- can I run programs from an sd card without instaiilng them in the ROM?? if yes, why do manufacturers insist so much in big ROMs and not in big RAMs which is more important??
Yes you can. Bigger ROMs are good for additional storage (but are generally slow at writing). Hopefully the newer, bigger, ROMs will be used for upgrading to new versions of Windows Mobile. I would not make a purchase decision on this because manufacturers have other considerations to determining whether to release a new OS for an old device: called revenue stream.

- If microsoft releases a new OS can I change the existing one?? can I do it by myself or should I take my pda to the manufacturer again??

Most (all?) manufacturers issuing ROMs allow user installation.

- how important is the CPU speed?? I want it to see some videos smoothly, listen mp3, read the email, gaming, surf the web, do some office work on the fly and something more

Probably less important than you might expect. Overall system performance is based on more than just a small difference CPU speed (524MHz vs. 600MHz). You will notice a big difference (200MHz vs. 600MHz).

Of the activities you listed, gaming is probably the most demanding (well, the right type of gaming). You will want to investigate either the built-in controls to see if they are gaming friendly. I think those devices with USB Host capability can use a control pad. Getting this to work seamlessly with games (which will not assume that such a control exists) may be difficult though. For simple games like solitare or strategy games (as opposed to First Person Shooter games) these considerations don't matter.

To me, the (lack of) x50v battery life kills the deal for me. For many people, the cheap price of the x50v compared to other VGA devices makes it worth the cost.

You mentioned the x50v as being expensive. There are sometimes deals for the x50v for $370. Other competing VGA devices are as much as $600. I think this means you may want to look at QVGA devices. The other big factor is how do you want to get email? If you use ActiveSync, then any will work. If you want internet access, then WiFi or Bluetooth over a cell phone works well. If you want WiFi and if you want a memory card inserted at the same time, this leaves you with a dual-slot device. I like the iPAQ 2215 (it's what I have) because it has a Compact Flash slot (for WiFi and GPS and Memory card) and it has an SDIO slot which I use for a memory card.

If your main use is bluetooth/cell phone, you might look at the iPAQ 1945. It's a well regarded form factor.

You have many choices, you will get much advice. A lot of this advice will differ!

Good luck!

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

[surur]

Hi,

I am thinking about buing an pocket pc (perhaps x50v) but I have never had one and I have some questions:

- can I run programs from an sd card without instaiilng them in the ROM??
Yes
if yes, why do manufacturers insist so much in big ROMs and not in big RAMs which is more important??
Who knows. There is speculation that the next windows mobile OS will use this ram/rom partitioning in a different way.
- If microsoft releases a new OS can I change the existing one??
In theory yes, but only if the manufacturer releases it for your device. Often they dont.
can I do it by myself or should I take my pda to the manufacturer again??
You would do it at home from your pc.
- how important is the CPU speed?? I want it to see some videos smoothly, listen mp3, read the email, gaming, surf the web, do some office work on the fly and something more
Faster is better, accept for the impact on battery life. The Dell x50v can do all the things you wish to do superbly.
- I choose x50v due to its graphical processor, its VGA screen and its CPU speed. is it better to buy it now or wait few months to see if the new devices from the other manufactures include the graphical processor??
No devices are speculated to be released in the next 3 months. Depends how long you wish to wait.
- for what I want a PDA, would be enough with 32MB RAM??? I ask this because perharps I do not really need the expensive x50v
32Mb is too little for anything. 64 just barely makes it.

If you are concerned about the future, but still wish to buy now, buy the VGA device, for better future proofing. Better to spend an extra $50 now than another $300 in a year's time.

Surur

[Menneisyys]

can I run programs from an sd card without instaiilng them in the ROM?? if yes, why do manufacturers insist so much in big ROMs and not in big RAMs which is more important??


You can run most apps off a storage card. You may want to read http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=36674 on the subject.


If microsoft releases a new OS can I change the existing one?? can I do it by myself or should I take my pda to the manufacturer again??


1, hopefully, x50v will also receive the op. system upgrade. Dell (as with all the other PPC manufacturers – see for example http://pocketpcmag.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=13898 on this) doesn't have the best upgrade record.
2, if the op. system upgrade gets released, you'll be able to install it yourself.


how important is the CPU speed?? I want it to see some videos smoothly, listen mp3, read the email, gaming, surf the web, do some office work on the fly and something more


Not that important – as has already been pointed out, the difference between 624 MHz and 520 MHz isn't very big.


I choose x50v due to its graphical processor, its VGA screen and its CPU speed. is it better to buy it now or wait few months to see if the new devices from the other manufactures include the graphical processor??


The x50v is pretty cheap and it's still unknown exactly when the new VGA devices hit the shelves – at least 3-4 months, I'd say. Therefore, I'd buy the x50v right now.


for what I want a PDA, would be enough with 32MB RAM??? I ask this because perharps I do not really need the expensive x50v


Now, with WM2003(SE) devices, definitely not. The main reason for this is the fact that the operating system alone needs half of the RAM for itself. That is, you can only have some 15-16 Mbytes at your disposal. Even if you don't install anything in the main memory (which, in cases, can't be done) you will have problems with lots of current, memory-intensive programs.

Fortunately, very few WM2003(SE) devices come with 32M RAM only – the low-end iPAQ rz17xx (which also sports a very slow processor) and the Motorola Mpx200.