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!"
:roll:
Steve
You're asking if you can play MP3s and Audiobooks on the Clie at the same time the way you can on the PPC? How does one speaker play music and read aloud books at the same time? Without skipping or such? Anyway, the downloading is the best example of where multi-tasking could be helpful and this would only suit me for wireless duty. I don't use my PDA while it is in the cradle. I use the desktop. Like many of the others in this thread, I have used both PPC and Palm OS daily extensively and just don't see multi-tasking as very important until wireless or some other killer app that requires it is out. Now, when that comes PPC is already for it and Palm is not. Palm is leaving it's options closed and itself vulnerable. Their Tungsten W, for example, must be a big problem to use without M-T. I suppose they have some desk accessory sort of hack running to allow it to recieve calls or download "files" (more correctly called databases on the Palm OS) while doing other things. But this is not the optimal way to do it.
RE the first example. Yes, you can run any program that uses any port (except the stereo speaker, of course) while you are listening to music. Just like you could on a desktop before the OS was multi-tasking (when was that Windows 95? I know the Commodore Amiga had it first for consumers, but I don't think Windows had it until Win 95 and I don't know about Mac.)
The NX series and the other high-end Clie models can play music in the background but you have to enable this feature. It isn't hard, just a checkbox in the preferences for the application, but he isn't the only person to miss it. I'm going to strongly suggest to Sony that the change this in future versions of MP3 player. I don't understand why "Enable Background play" isn't the default.
So I'm not giving Mr. Svennson a hard time about that; however, there are other areas where I think he fell down on the job. He didn't mention parts of the NX70V that put it on par with Pocket PC handhelds, like the MPEG player and the Flash player. He should have brought up the 320 by 480 screen. He should also have mentioned the disappointing amount of RAM in both the Tungsten T and NX70V.
I agree with what other people have said; each platform has its strengths and weaknesses. The best current trend for us handheld users is that both platforms are increasing their range. With the release of OS 5, the Palm OS will be more competitive in features. With Dell and other companies releasing more mid-range and even low-end models, the Pocket PC is becoming more competitive in price. This leads to more choices for us and a better chance of finding a handheld that exactly fits our needs.
I agree with Ed that both platforms have their strengths.
I have, however, decided that I'm going to pass up on the Palm OS and go for a newer Pocket PC (I currently own 2 Palm OS and a Casio EM500). The biggest problem for me, with regard to the Palm, is the short-sightedness on how their notetaking and clipboard is implemented. You just cannot copy a great deal of text into the clipboard to move it to another application. On my Casio, I used my pen scanner to scan in pages of text. I then simply beamed it all to my PPC, copied it from the note app and into TextMaker. No hassles, no worries.
As for people who love to point out how poor Pocket Office is and that Docs To Go is better, well, they're right. BUT, you have to add Docs To Go to RAM and for the high end version you do have to pay. I'm using TextMaker for PPC (still in beta) and it's a wonderful, fully capable word processor. At a suggested price of $49.95 USD it's still cheaper than Docs To Go. Finally, the ability to use Transcriber or Calligrapher is a major coup. Learn to use them and you'll get close to 100% accuracy.
For me it's going to come down to price and the features you get for your money. With DELL and Viewsonic coming out the playing field is going to start to tip toward the PPC side. If Palm and Sony follow suit we're all going to win.
So I'm not giving Mr. Svennson a hard time about that; however, there are other areas where I think he fell down on the job. He didn't mention parts of the NX70V that put it on par with Pocket PC handhelds, like the MPEG player and the Flash player. He should have brought up the 320 by 480 screen. He should also have mentioned the disappointing amount of RAM in both the Tungsten T and NX70V.
there is no such thing as .mpeg1 player for NX70. you have to convert it through Sony's format. So the question about quality of .mpeg1 between NX and any PPC is bunk.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ed@Brighthand
I agree with what other people have said; each platform has its strengths and weaknesses. The best current trend for us handheld users is that both platforms are increasing their range. With the release of OS 5, the Palm OS will be more competitive in features.
what feature would that be? Sliding D-pad sold at $250 premium? eh hemm... where is the media player? Let's face it Tungsten is only Clie T655 running on ARM at this moment.
Also can brighthand explain how they got The iPAQ vs. Tungsten battery test result indicating TT last 1 day longer consistantly? NO other test in the entire net (be it on PIC, infosync, NG, etc) can duplicate this result.
several possibility:
1.you have broken iPAQ (please post comparative data under Dale's battery test configuration to assure the iPAQ does indeed have same battery performance)
2.the text is not done properly, tho' nobody knows since the process is not described.
I hope Brighthand can reasonably explain their review quality.
-------------- (exact copy of your article, just incase old habit of changing article without telling flare up again @ brighthand)
Power. Battery life remains a cornerstone of the Palm philosophy and the Tungsten T is no exception, thanks in strong part to the stinginess of TI's OMAP processor. The T's rechargeable lithium ion battery should get the typical user about a week's worth of usage between charges. In our casual testing, we found that under identical processing patterns we achieved 1-2 more days of battery life from the Tungsten T than from a Compaq iPAQ 3970 Pocket PC. Unfortunately, the T's battery is not user replaceable, and it can only be charged through the serial port (there's no separate AC port), so you'll either have to charge it through the cradle or purchase a travel charger.
He should have brought up the 320 by 480 screen. He should also have mentioned the disappointing amount of RAM in both the Tungsten T and NX70V.
Ed, other than the SIP the NX series has, what, if anything, does the NX70/60 series with OS5 have over the NR70 series/OS4.x device?
Quote:
I agree with what other people have said; each platform has its strengths and weaknesses. The best current trend for us handheld users is that both platforms are increasing their range. With the release of OS 5, the Palm OS will be more competitive in features. With Dell and other companies releasing more mid-range and even low-end models, the Pocket PC is becoming more competitive in price. This leads to more choices for us and a better chance of finding a handheld that exactly fits our needs.
I can't wait until the sub-$300 Pocket PCs hit the streets. If the OEMs release quality products, it will definitely give Palm a run for the money. And if Sony keeps pushing the envelope and as OS6 rolls out, it will only push MS to work harder on their mobile device platform. The consumer is the winner in that battle. I firmly believe we have Sony to thank for the HP 1900, ViewSonic V35 and Dell Axim coming in at the price points they are.
I didn't hear any discussion on battery life. I can use my old clie every day for weeks and it never has to see the cradle. This seems to be a huge advantage of the old palms vs ppc.
Any word of battery life on the new palms?
CF definitely not a problem on palms, old handsprings have CF slots... as for how big of a CF card they can handle, I do not know.
I think as it stands now, the PPC is definitely a lot more versitile, but if you need something done quickly and RELIABLY, palm seems to have that. (Docs to go does eat PocketOfffice alive)
I just don't understand why palm would try to sell a 600$ device, I'm sure a lot of people think "I can buy a PPC for that much."
The only reason for buying a palm is because you don't have enough money for a ppc right? *coughsarcasmcough*
__________________
Palm m100(100$) to Sony Peg-s300(75$) to Toshiba e740(540$) Also AcerTMC100Cti
-Palm says it lasts approximately one week, while iPAQ last 2 weeks, (before they change the comparison table to 10 hrs) NX60 last 10 days (half hr/day backlight off. ie 5 hr)
-The Tungsten T lasted 2 hours 48 minutes before throwing its first battery warning, and finally shut off after 3 hours 24 minutes. It also automatically reduced the backlight to 33% when the battery started to run low, and we left it at its reduced level. http://www.infosync.no/news/2002/n/2495,2.html
-some post in NG, about 3-4hrs depending on backlight.
make it what you want, but I don't see how Tungsten can outlast iPAQ3975
Someone wrote that the only reason someone would buy a Palm is because they can't afford a Pocket PC. Well, that's not true on any level.
I happen to own an iPAQ 3835 with PC Card Sleeve and a 5GB PC Card drive. I also own a Socket CF Bluetooth Card for the iPAQ. I think I've bellied-up a nice chunk of change for that system. I found that the iPAQ offers me little advantage over the Palm when the best I could do was an m515. Now that I have a Tungsten T, I have solved the main problem I've had with ALL THE PDA'S I'VE RECENTLY OWNED -- reliable data communications via Bluetooth through my AT&T Sony Ericsson T68i. I tried for three months to get it to seemlessly and regularly work. The Pocket PC is supposed to have the power and the ability, but it can't keep a connection open. Ed, our host here at PPC Thoughts has had the same configuration issues with his Bluetooth set-up -- so I feel like I'm in good company.
The Tungsten T's Phone Link and the new driver system works for me and has won it's place as my everyday PDA because of that one feature. The benefits of the PPC are dwarfed by this single issue for me and will continue to be until someone can produce a reliable solution that makes my iPAQ's browser and email work through the Bluetooth connection on my T68i.
Also, quite frankly, I like Palm -- I'm comfortable with it and it works for me. Like Martha says, "That's a good thing."
Ed, our host here at PPC Thoughts has had the same configuration issues with his Bluetooth set-up -- so I feel like I'm in good company.
The Tungsten T's Phone Link and the new driver system works for me and has won it's place as my everyday PDA because of that one feature. The benefits of the PPC are dwarfed by this single issue for me and will continue to be until someone can produce a reliable solution that makes my iPAQ's browser and email work through the Bluetooth connection on my T68i.
Just to clarify, my setup was a 3870 and t68 (not "i") and is now a 3970 with the same t68, so the iPAQs have integrated bluetooth. My connections are rock solid once established and have had to soft reset the iPAQ or power cycle the t68 about equal times (say, 15% of the time?) before that connection is established. Going the CF route I can see would be a bit more hassle - you've introduced a third set of variables and gets into my whole gripe with bluetooth.
I have seen people with identical M515s and SD Bluetooth cards able to sync all day long with their PC but they couldn't get them to talk to each other without reseting the 515 and reseat the cards half a dozen times. When it is integrated as with the 3x70s and Tungsten, it is bound to be better, and that has been my experience with the iPAQs.
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Also, quite frankly, I like Palm -- I'm comfortable with it and it works for me. Like Martha says, "That's a good thing."
Martha Stewart? I wonder if she'll be saying that after her conviction and during her time in the pokey? :wink: :lol:
Re: Multi-Tasking (Part II)
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