I have to disagree with some of the points made both here and in the article. I'm not sure about the Sony hardware as the poster child for OS 5. The writer took issue with the Sony memory stick and lack of CF support -- clearly a brand-based issue that has nothing to do with OS 5.
I have been using a Tungsten T in tandem with my iPAQ 3835. I haven't had the thumbnail rendering slowness on my Tungsten that was seen on the Sony -- storing the photo files on the SD Card BTW.
The PIM features render lightning fast compared to my iPAQ. The unit recovers from beaming much faster as well. The simple web browser screens through my Sony-Ericsson T68i Bluetooth/GPRS connection is smaller than Pocket Explorer because of the hardware, but the pages render more quickly.
Granted, I'm using a non-XScale unit, but the demo 3955 in my shop produces much the same results.
Multimedia rendering with the Kinoma Player is as quick as Windows Media Player. A drawback on the shipped units so far has been a lack of OS 5 compatable MP3/WMA player -- which time will solve I'm sure.
The PPC platform and hardware can "multitask". Of course, on a 4" wide screen, you can only view one window at a time anyway. The Palm's, other than running utilities in the background, tasks applications as well as PPC's. That's a big "other than" for some, but in reality, I can switch from app to app as fast on a Palm as I can on a multitasking PPC -- if not faster. For instance, I can work on a QuickWord file, switch to my email to cut and paste a block of text, switch back to the QuickWord file -- right where I left off -- switch to the calculator to compute some numbers, switch back to the email to send a reply with the numbers and the wordprocessing file as an attachment -- with my Bluetooth-based GPRS connection enabled the whole time. That's pretty multitasking to me.
I don't know, maybe I'm missing the point on multitasking, but I've been a "Power" PDA user since 1998 -- with both Palm's and PPC's -- and I haven't done more of a multitask than what I just walked through in all that time.
One VERY positive utility that hasn't been pointed out is the Phone Link app that ships with the Tungsten. If the PPC Connection Wizard was as easy and intuitive I would have never even looked at a Tungsten. I have never, after 4 months of trying with hours of invested time, gotten a reliable connection with Bluetooth through my T68i. The best I ever did was a single page view in Pocket Explorer. I would have to disconnect the T68i from the GPRS and reinitiate a new connection FOR EACH SUBSEQUENT PAGE VIEW! I had the same issue with the Palm m515 / SD I/O card too, so it wasn't platform specific. The phone was suspect, the AT&T service was questionable, but in the end, the Tungsten handled the set-up and worked the FIRST TIME I TRIED!
I really have found that both platforms have strengths and weaknesses. That's why I use both. I do have to say that the new Tungsten is getting more of my attention these days than my m515 did just two weeks ago.
My iPAQ is spending most of its time as a MP3 player in my Jag -- a noble service since most people who know me know how much I LOVE to drive my Jag. I'm actually thinking of adding a GPS attachment to the iPAQ as Radio Shack has these $99 GPS attachments. I can probably sync my iPAQ with my home network without even taking it out of the car as I have WIFI set-up already. I COULD do the same with the Tungsten, but I'd have to either move my access point closer to the driveway, add a BT access point or set-up a PC with BT dongle closer to the driveway for access to the network (30 foot range issues.) The GPS works with the Palm's too BTW and the MP3's are a week or two away.
So, to round this up. Pocket PC's are great, so are Palm's. OS 5 isn't a major departure from OS 4 on the surface, but the new hardware certainly is -- in a positive way. OS 5 paves the way for a new generation of Palm hardware and software capabilities that will help its users become more productive, effective and efficient. Like every other product in this world, you have choices -- and I'm glad, in whatever iteration it comes in -- that handheld users have choices too.
I have been a long time CE/PPC user and a fairly recent (1 year) user of the Palm OS device. I still use both platforms,l and can say both platforms have their advantages.
Multitasking -- Palms can emulate multitasking using DAs (Desktop Accessories). I can listen to music while doing other things on my NR-70 thanks to the separate DSP chip which runs independantly from the Dragonball processor (2 tasks - 2 processors). Works fine! There are times I find a lack of true multitasking a pain, but it's not really a devestating thing -- more an annoyance.
RAM on a palm device is pretty much one big folder containing everything programs, DB, files, etc. (there are no subfolders). VFS on the MS is just like what you'd find on a SD/CF on a PPC device with folders and subfolders. Accessing and organizing these files would be horrible if it weren't for 3rd party file managers like McFile, Filez, etc. You cannot install programs on MS/SD on a Palm device like PPC -- you must use a special program PiDirect to emulate RAM and you also must manually start the program everytime you soft reset the device otherwise programs will not be 'seen' by the Palm OS.
All in all I'd say the audio on my 3835 beatss the Sony by a fair margin in both richness and bass response. The NR does beat the 37xx and all other PPCs in audio, but the 38xx and 39xx have the best sound on any PDA on the planet.
The guy in the article was 100% wrong about music files. All Clies can play music while reading Ebooks. He was also wrong about multi-tasking. Honestly, I have had a PSion Mako that did multi-task (at least I assume it did as you had to leave the datebook program open when you went to another program if you wanted the alarms to actually alarm you). I had a mono IPaq that surely did multi-task, but I don't know what I cared. I was not downloading pages or printing them while running other programs. You can't even have two pages open in PocketWord, but since you don't have the screen space to do so with any purpose, what difference does it make?
No difference at all. Oh, wait! Wouldn't a lack of multitasking make using GPS while playing MP3s on my iPAQ 3870 while driving a bit difficult? (If you can play MP3s while using GPS on the Clie, replace "playing MP3s" with "playing Audible books".)
Steve to self: "I'd better stop this song and switch to the GPS to see where that next turn is. DAMN!"
I don't know, maybe I'm missing the point on multitasking, but I've been a "Power" PDA user since 1998 -- with both Palm's and PPC's -- and I haven't done more of a multitask than what I just walked through in all that time.
Maybe -- see below.... :-)
Quote:
Originally Posted by SuccessWizard
My iPAQ is spending most of its time as a MP3 player in my Jag -- a noble service since most people who know me know how much I LOVE to drive my Jag. I'm actually thinking of adding a GPS attachment to the iPAQ as Radio Shack has these $99 GPS attachments.
If you saw my "Multi-Tasking (Part II)" posting, you'll get the pont now. If you want to play MP3s and use GPS at the same time, you can do that on the Pocket PC. I do that occasionally without any problem.
Can it be done on a Palm? (I'm not asking to be coy; I really don't know.) If so, what about Audible content? I can also download a Web page or check E-mail, then switch away to play a game while I wait.
The review seemed fairly positive on the Pocket PC (whether that's a bias, I don't know). However, I loved this line:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter Svensson
Thanks to the new OS, the Clie's processor is several times faster than the fastest old Palm. This allows the Clie to use its little camera to record video.
I didn't realize that an operating system could actually speed up a processor. Maybe I need to get a refesher course in Computer Science. :roll:
The review seemed fairly positive on the Pocket PC (whether that's a bias, I don't know). However, I loved this line:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter Svensson
Thanks to the new OS, the Clie's processor is several times faster than the fastest old Palm. This allows the Clie to use its little camera to record video.
I didn't realize that an operating system could actually speed up a processor. Maybe I need to get a refesher course in Computer Science. :roll:
Steve
Well Microsoft consistently manages to slow hardware down with an OS upgrade. OK so the CPU doesn't go slower but it does less for you the user. :?
OS 5, hmm...still no Multitasking, still need to convert all data to pdb files, I can't understand why?
For the guys who don't understand MultiTasking, Multitasking is not simply switching from one application to another or back and forth. To do task switching you only need task manager. If your Palm can Multitask, then you can download email and sync your AvantGo channels simultaneously.
While waiting for them to finish you can play a bit of Bejewelled. That's Multitasking
STILL no multi-tasking! :twisted: There is nothing worse, IMO, than needing to close every application before trying to use another.
Not that I want to defend much the Palm OS but since I use both operating systems here are my thoughts:
I have never used multitasking on my PPC exept for MP3 and the Clie can have the audio player open at the same time as another program. On the Palms programs close automatically when you open another and also open instantly yo won't notice any difference.
Document handling:
That's why I still have to toot around a PalmOS based Clie. On Pocket office tables and other formatting are removed, with Documents to Go on the Clie nothing is lost from office documents (by the way the program is free with the Clie and Tungten). Also on the handheld Documents to go is way better and more capable than Pocket office, it even supports power point. I consider a pitty that Microsoft has not given enough juice to Pocket Office.
Multimedia:
Palms have higher resolution screens (Os 5 supports 320x320 and 320x480). But the Palm OS has a very long way to go in terms of entertaintment, they need games specially 3D games (I don't know if the OS is powerful enough for that). And they need Divx.
For the guys who don't understand MultiTasking, Multitasking is not simply switching from one application to another or back and forth. To do task switching you only need task manager. If your Palm can Multitask, then you can download email and sync your AvantGo channels simultaneously.
While waiting for them to finish you can play a bit of Bejewelled. That's Multitasking
Exactly. When I get online, Messenger automatically connects for me. I then fire up Inbox and begin a sync via VPN to my email server. While that is happening I can do whatever I want. If I am on a WiFi connection, I'll sync Avantgo and Pocket RSS.
All the while, music or Audible can be going on in the background.
Different View
Linear Mode
