PPC 101

[od1]

Hi everyone,

I bought a PPC quite sometime ago (Axim X30). I'm not sure why exactly I bought it, but it did seem cool at the time. I haven't picked it up for almost a year now ...and I'm finally thinking I should do my best to get my money's worth :P (even if I am uncool and lacking in technology).

So... I guess first of all I want to get it up and running - nice new and fresh... So firstly, I was wondering if there are any updates of the MS Operating System (as you would have on XP). Another question I have is whether or not it would be possible to install a different operating system such as Linux, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

Then, what would you recommend I install as standard utilities? I've heard that AV software would be rather pointless. I have Pocket Mechanic installed but that only really seems to want to do anything to the SD card.

And finally if any of you are bored enough could you recommend some other applications that might spark my attention? I have standard email and internet (as everyone does...), I'd rather use Mozilla but I'll have to look into that. The X30 doesn't make playing games too easy. But maybe I'll find something worth playing. I have movie software already, and I won't be listening to music. Some sort of map application would be nice. And I'm not sure if anything exists to level the sound of the X30, as it's not the best, but that I'll have to see. I was disappointed to hear that a remote control program wouldn't work with my PPC, but if you can prove me wrong, I'll be your best friend!

Anyway, thanks for reading! Sorry my thoughts are a tad scrambled today, but any replies to any of my rambling would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks again

[Don't Panic!]

TCPMP (http://tcpmp.corecodec.org/about) is Audio/Video Software that will turn your X30 into a multimedia machine when used in conjunction with the fairuse wizard light (http://www.fairusewizard.com/lang_en/fairuse_wizard_dvd_divx_xvid_backup_tool_light_edition.html) dvd ripping software and a large SD card. TCPMP is also going to give you a much wider array of palyable music and video file types that the built in WMP just can't handle.

There aren't any OS upgrades but there have been several ROM updgrades (http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/download.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&releaseid=R101483&formatcnt=1&fileid=131500) made available by Dell since you put your X30 away.

[Cybrid]

Hi everyone,
So firstly, I was wondering if there are any updates of the MS Operating System (as you would have on XP). Another question I have is whether or not it would be possible to install a different operating system such as Linux, but I'm getting ahead of myself.
Nope, upgrading a pocket pc is more complicated...and there are linux port attempts but nothing stable


Then, what would you recommend I install as standard utilities? I've heard that AV software would be rather pointless. I have Pocket Mechanic installed but that only really seems to want to do anything to the SD card.
And finally if any of you are bored enough could you recommend some other applications that might spark my attention? I have standard email and internet (as everyone does...), I'd rather use Mozilla but I'll have to look into that.
Netfront 3.3, Pocket Informant, Mapopolis, Egress, Pocket TV listings, Total Commander, Skype, Mobipocket, Sprite, Minimo, WebIS mail
Google and try them. All have demo's or are free.


The X30 doesn't make playing games too easy. But maybe I'll find something worth playing. I have movie software already, and I won't be listening to music. Some sort of map application would be nice. And I'm not sure if anything exists to level the sound of the X30, as it's not the best, but that I'll have to see.Rom updates



I was disappointed to hear that a remote control program wouldn't work with my PPC, but if you can prove me wrong, I'll be your best friend!

Anyway, thanks for reading! Sorry my thoughts are a tad scrambled today, but any replies to any of my rambling would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks againI thought X30 shipped with CIR?

[nic]

I've actually been in the same boat recently. I hadn't touched my iPaq 1945 since I purchased a shiny new iPod last February...now I've been checking out the new software that is available and trying to see what else I can use it for, and I think I have a pretty good list of installed programs.

First of all, my life really isn't that hectic. I think that a Pocket PC targets people with hectic lives that have tons of meetings and places to be day after day. My life isn't like that, and beyond the contacts and a few tasks I enter in my pocket pc, the appointments really aren't useful to me. I may make 1 entry every month (if even).

So what is left? Well, my pocket pc can still be really entertaining and just plain handy. (btw, you'll need to add about a 1gig of storage, if you haven't already).

I think my favorite and most useful app to date is Phatpad. Nothing like having a digital piece of paper to write stuff down on.

Next, eBooks are really cool. MS Pocket Reader is kinda slow, but renders text really well and is very readable, Adobe Reader is excellent. I can't stand thick paper back books. My Pocket PC stays stationary, feels nice in my hands, and is always well back lit. Has increased my reading pleasure considerably. You never know when you will have 5 to 10 minutes to kill, and reading is useful then. But how often do you have your book handy? I always have my Pocket PC handy, so I always have the novel i'm reading handy. Pocket PC++. There are a lot of pdf documents from work I have on my Pocket PC and, dang do they come in handy. I also picked up a dictionary, and an engineering dictionary (i'm an engineer) both have come in handy on occasion. I think it is worth getting a dictionary that covers your profession.

Video and TV Episodes are fun. I just use the DivX Converter with the Mobile player profile. BetaPlayer is good, or whatever the heck it is called these days. Windows Media Encoder also has good results when converting video to a pocket pc friendly format. WMP on my Pocket PC crashes more often then I would like it to. I'm pretty impressed with Real Player for pocket pc. I'm surprised how good a TV episode (20 mins typically) looks in Real format weighing in at around 35 megs.

What sucks about your pocket pc and game playing? If it is performance I find that my pocket pc (at a mere 266mhz) plays games very well. My complaint is that the buttons weren't made for game playing. If you have the same problem, I would recommend the game Snails by PDAMill. You don't use buttons in that game...it is all with the stylus. It is a lot of fun. There are a lot of games that you can play with just the stylus. Check out clickgamer for demos. Install about 5-10 game demos and you will be entertained for a few weeks. Then buy the ones that you like to continue playing. I do like some of the shooters like G-Prime and SkyForce. But both use buttons for control. Still fun. Pocket Nester is a must. I don't know how many of my old Nintendo games i've relived because I had them on my pocket pc.

Another suggestion I have is to install all your applications onto a storage card and not in main memory (if the program will run). Even the big ones like Pocket Informant (which I don't get a whole lot of use out of), I install on my 1gb sd card. Why? Because my Pocket PC has shared program and storage memory. The more program memory you have available the better your pocket pc will run.

I don't find the "Internet" very useful on my device. Maybe I would like it more if I had 802.11 connectivity. All my pocket pc came with is bluetooth which is painfully slow. I have it setup through activesync to get the Internet, but it doesn't compare to just using my laptop or desktop when it comes to web browsing. I wish Opera Mobile would come out with a Windows Mobile 2003 edition. Last I checked, all they supported was smartphones. If you are into RSS check out FeederReader. It works pretty good... but I'd rather be playing a game or reading a book on my pocket pc then "surfin."

I hope some of that helped.

Nic

[Nurhisham Hussein]

I don't find the "Internet" very useful on my device. Maybe I would like it more if I had 802.11 connectivity. All my pocket pc came with is bluetooth which is painfully slow. I have it setup through activesync to get the Internet, but it doesn't compare to just using my laptop or desktop when it comes to web browsing. I wish Opera Mobile would come out with a Windows Mobile 2003 edition.

Nic, I think the slowness you're seeing is more Activesync than bluetooth. You should get better results with a bluetooth network connection (rather than activesync), and ICS activated on your desktop. Also, opera mobile for WM is available as a beta (it's somewhere, but I can't remember the link, sorry).

@od1

Have a look at what I use my PDA for (fourth post from the top):

http://forum.mypdacafe.com/viewtopic.php?t=4443&highlight=