Thinking of switching to ppc...but what about my mac?

[questionfear]

So after reading up for quite a bit on what Palm has been doing lately, I am looking ahead with more trepidation regarding the future of that OS, and honestly feel like there's more options on the Win Mobile side right now...I have a few questions.
Do all new PPCs run Win Mob 5.0?
Is the opportunity cost significantly higher than the device itself (by that I mean, how much extra would it probably cost me in terms of cases, programs-the biggest thing i love about palm is Agendus, games, etc). I do have a tungsten C, which i bought just a few months ago off ebay, but the wifi doesn't work and I am questioning how long the OS will really keep me happy.
Finally, the biggie: I am a mac user, I love my ibook. I know mark/space and pocketmac have programs that allow you to sync a ppc to a mac, but how are they in real world testing? Which is more reliable? Do they replace activesync or allow activesync to work on the mac? Do they sync the ppc with ical or do I have to use an MS provided calendar?

A little about me and what I use my palm for: I work in retail, I am an assistant manager in a fairly large book/media store. I use my t|c to track my tasks and the tasks my employees are working on, and I carry it with me throughout the day to take notes and update projects. I also use it for e-books, a few games (Astraware Sudoku should be illegal, its so addictive) and general entertainment value.

So I guess this post has many questions....hopefully there are a few answers?

-Carly

[Darius Wey]

Welcome to Pocket PC Thoughts. :)

Do all new PPCs run Win Mob 5.0?

Not all, but I'd say 99% of new Pocket PCs do.

Is the opportunity cost significantly higher than the device itself (by that I mean, how much extra would it probably cost me in terms of cases, programs-the biggest thing i love about palm is Agendus, games, etc). I do have a tungsten C, which i bought just a few months ago off ebay, but the wifi doesn't work and I am questioning how long the OS will really keep me happy.

The cost of extra accessories would be roughly the same, whether you purchase a Palm OS device or a Windows Mobile device. They're all generic accessories, really - e.g. cases, screen protectors, memory cards, etc. Some manufacturers bundle a basic case with the device, but if you're after something a little more solid, there are plenty of third-party cases available.

As with software, all Windows Mobile devices include Outlook Mobile, so contacts, appointments, notes, tasks, and email are all natively handled by the device. Of course, there are third party applications available which include more features. Examples include Pocket Informant and Agenda Fusion.

Finally, the biggie: I am a mac user, I love my ibook. I know mark/space and pocketmac have programs that allow you to sync a ppc to a mac, but how are they in real world testing? Which is more reliable? Do they replace activesync or allow activesync to work on the mac? Do they sync the ppc with ical or do I have to use an MS provided calendar?

ActiveSync doesn't run natively on a Mac (unless you set up a Windows environment in Virtual PC), so you'll need a third-party application such as the ones you've just mentioned which replace ActiveSync altogether.

As for the reliability and performance, I'll let a Mac user comment on that. I have no experience with either of the two applications to know which is better, though I have heard good things about The Missing Sync (from Mark/Space).

A little about me and what I use my palm for: I work in retail, I am an assistant manager in a fairly large book/media store. I use my t|c to track my tasks and the tasks my employees are working on, and I carry it with me throughout the day to take notes and update projects. I also use it for e-books, a few games (Astraware Sudoku should be illegal, its so addictive) and general entertainment value. So I guess this post has many questions....hopefully there are a few answers?

If you pick up a Pocket PC, you'll be able to do all of that, and maybe even more. They are powerful tools with huge potential, and as you use it, you might even stumble upon some neat tricks you thought were never possible on a PDA. :)

[Janak Parekh]

Do all new PPCs run Win Mob 5.0?
No, some WM2003SE devices are still on the market.

Is the opportunity cost significantly higher than the device itself (by that I mean, how much extra would it probably cost me in terms of cases, programs-the biggest thing i love about palm is Agendus, games, etc).
It depends on what you do with the device. It's hard for me to give you a straight answer on that. ;) I've spent a fair amount of money on Pocket PC software and accessories over the years.

Finally, the biggie: I am a mac user, I love my ibook. I know mark/space and pocketmac have programs that allow you to sync a ppc to a mac, but how are they in real world testing? Which is more reliable? Do they replace activesync or allow activesync to work on the mac? Do they sync the ppc with ical or do I have to use an MS provided calendar?
I've used Missing Sync with my Powerbook G4, and it's decent. I've colloquially heard that Missing Sync is more reliable than PocketMac, but I don't have any definitive data for you, and it's possible PocketMac has since improved -- so you might want to do some further research on this. They're replacements for ActiveSync, although you may want to keep access to a Windows machine handy for ActiveSync for ROM updates, etc. Missing Sync syncs with Address Book/iCal or the Entourage equivalents. There is a big problem, however: Missing Sync and Pocket Mac do not yet support WM5. Worse, AS 4.x doesn't seem to work under Virtual PC. They're hoping to get it working "soon", but that's not today. :( If you're interested in a WM5 device, you may want to hold onto your T|C a bit longer until this support is added.

--janak

[questionfear]

Wow, some great quick responses!
One more mac sync q's, Janak Parekh;
They're replacements for ActiveSync, although you may want to keep access to a Windows machine handy for ActiveSync for ROM updates, etc.

Does this mean those updates cannot be done without a windows machine?

[Janak Parekh]

Does this mean those updates cannot be done without a windows machine?
Not easily, for sure. Most ROM upgrade programs require ActiveSync and do a special transfer through it. The good news is that you don't need to do that often.

The other thing I forgot to mention is that some applications only come as an .EXE download, which extract and install on Windows. The easiest way to install these is through ActiveSync, although I've heard about (but haven't tried) tools that will extract the Pocket PC installation files (typically in a .CAB file) that you can manually transfer over to the Pocket PC.

--janak

[Guest979]

I'm a Mac+PocketPC user. I use The Missing Sync, but I only have an iPaq 1940 with WM2003FE (the others are right about WM5 being unsupported for now).

I like it, but I must admit that having Virtual PC has been critical every once in a while. Many PocketPC installers are Windows XP executables that require you to let them extract and configure themselves in whatever way the author(s) decided. Getting ActiveSync working under Virtual PC is a pain, but it is possible, contrary to some earlier reports.

I would actually not recommend even attempting ROM updates using Virtual PC. I tried it with my iPaq, and although I established the connection and began the update, there was some sort of crash and my iPaq was basically destroyed. HP was kind enough to do a free warranty replacement, even though I bought it on eBay! The replacement even had the new ROM version pre-loaded!! (Say what you will about HP, but I think that's better than what Palm support would've done.)

[pocketpcadmirer]

This is because on the manufacture's site, they recommend windows xp to upgrade ROMs of PPCs.

Sunny

[Janak Parekh]

Getting ActiveSync working under Virtual PC is a pain, but it is possible, contrary to some earlier reports.
That's true for ActiveSync 3.x, but as far as I know, ActiveSync 4.x does not work under Virtual PC 7. It certainly doesn't work under my setup where 3.8 worked fine.

I would actually not recommend even attempting ROM updates using Virtual PC.
Agreed, although a colleague of mine was successful, I wouldn't risk it for fear of bricking the device.

--janak

[Janak Parekh]

This is because on the manufacture's site, they recommend windows xp to upgrade ROMs of PPCs.
Well, many of us are running Windows 2000 or XP under Virtual PC. It's just that the extra layers of emulation/virtualization can add timing issues to the USB connection that can make a ROM upgrade problematic.

Of course, with the new Intel Macs, and the possibilities of XP boot, life may be easier.

--janak

[questionfear]

Well, I decided to test the waters, and just won an auction for an Axim X30 from ebay...we'll see where this takes things...I figure if I don't like it, back on ebay it goes.

Thanks for all the great advice thus far!

[Darius Wey]

Well, I decided to test the waters, and just won an auction for an Axim X30 from ebay...we'll see where this takes things...I figure if I don't like it, back on ebay it goes.

On a positive note, the X30 runs Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition, so you won't have to deal with compatibility issues with the third-party Mac sync utilities, plus you'll be able to run ActiveSync 3.8 in Virtual PC (as Janak has suggested).