03-07-2003, 05:00 PM
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Contributing Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 8,228
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The PDA Upgrade Nightmare
http://techupdate.zdnet.com/techupdate/stories/main/0,14179,2912182,00.html
Buying a new PDA isn't at all like buying a new computer in many cases. Chances are, your new PDA won't work with your old keyboard, custom stylus or sleds and there is a good chance it will use a different memory card.
David Berlind of ZDNet recounts some of the costs he has incurred upgrading from his Palm Pilot of the "early to mid 1990's" (despite the Palm Pilot 1000 not being released until March 1996) through the iPAQ 3600 and now the iPAQ 5450. His exploits in moving from the 3600 to the 5400 would be funny if not so frustrating. As he points out, he has contacts at HP, Intel, Sierra Wireless and Microsoft that us mere mortals do not, so he is at least getting information. You and I would be told to do a hard reset and be on our way. :roll:
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03-07-2003, 05:11 PM
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Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 15,171
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I think his problem here lies with Sierra Wireless. They are making lame excuses pointing the finger at the PXA250 processor. My suspicion is that they simply don't want to spend money to fix an incompatibility in their driver.
HP is not entirely blameless either -- why the 3900-series driver wouldn't work is a legitimate question... it seems the 5450 is quite a different beast in the first place. There are other sleeves that outright don't work with the 5450 and apparently never will.
--janak
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03-07-2003, 05:31 PM
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Sage
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 713
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I've always thought that accessories were the biggest drawback to the Pocket PC. I bought a keyboard, extra cradle, etc. for my old Jornada, but when I switched to an Audiovox Maestro and then to a Toshiba e740 I simply did without. I would like to buy an extended battery ($129) and the expansion pack ($99) from Toshiba, as well as the Targus thumbpad keyboard ($40), and perhaps a Bluetooth SD card ($100+) as well, but I have no way of knowing how long they'll be useful if I switch PPCs - even with the upcoming Toshiba e750 its not a sure thing yet.
With MS dictating the standards PPCs must adhere to (minimum requirements), form factor is the one distinguishing charcteristic among PPCs. This is also the one factor that keeps accessories from working across devices. Cases, cradles, stylus, batteries, covers, and cables all depend on the shape of the device, the connectors' type and placement, and the position of controls. I think that manufacturers could ease a lot of concerns by assuring users that they are sticking with a particular design for a partuclar time period. I don't expect cross manufacturer consistency, just throughout a product line.
To their credit, Toshiba seems to be sticking with the same form factor for their next gen devices, and HP seems to be keeping the iPaq form factor as well (for the most part). Neither company has made any statement to the fact that we can depend on this in the future, though, and I haven't heard any pledges of making sure accessories continue to work. As for me, I'll wait and see and probably keep putting off those accessory purchases.
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03-07-2003, 05:41 PM
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Executive Editor
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 29,160
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As much as I'd like to say that we'll see a "standard connector" sometime soon, it's not going to happen for a while - right now accessories have hugely fat margins, and the OEMs love it. In a sagging IT economy, they're trying to squeeze margins from wherever they can, and that includes PDAs. I'm ticked the 1910 can't use an iPAQ Stowaway keyboard...
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03-07-2003, 05:43 PM
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Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 15,171
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Jason Dunn
As much as I'd like to say that we'll see a "standard connector" sometime soon, it's not going to happen for a while
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I am working on a rant on this, though -- as it is, a LOT of Pocket PCs have the same physical connector, so it would be really nice if we could have standardized cradles. Long-term, I think it would help Pocket PC adoption if you could go to any friend's house and just plug in your PPC even if the manufacturers are different. Right now, I end up spending ~ $50-100 on new cables/cradles/AC adapters every time I switch Pocket PCs.
--janak
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03-07-2003, 06:25 PM
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Thinker
Join Date: Apr 2002
Posts: 437
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Jason Dunn
I'm ticked the 1910 can't use an iPAQ Stowaway keyboard...
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I think the problem is that the iPAQ H1910 can't use any keyboard period since it doesn't have a serial port controller like other Pocket PCs do. That's one corner they cut to make it cheaper I guess.
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Originally Posted by Janak Parekh
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Originally Posted by Jason Dunn
As much as I'd like to say that we'll see a "standard connector" sometime soon, it's not going to happen for a while
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I am working on a rant on this, though -- as it is, a LOT of Pocket PCs have the same physical connector, so it would be really nice if we could have standardized cradles. Long-term, I think it would help Pocket PC adoption if you could go to any friend's house and just plug in your PPC even if the manufacturers are different. Right now, I end up spending ~ $50-100 on new cables/cradles/AC adapters every time I switch Pocket PCs. |
Do a lot of Pocket PCs really have the same connector? I thought only Pocket PCs from the same manufacturer had the same connector.
Anyway, standardizing on cables will come much sooner than standards on cradles. Cradles have to be molded to a Pocket PCs form, so unless every manufacturer decides to start releasing rectangular Pocket PCs, you probably won't be able to use the same cradle.
I think USB would be a nice standard of manufacturers would use it. At least then we could swap our keyboards and cables without problems.
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03-07-2003, 06:29 PM
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Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 15,171
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by R K
Do a lot of Pocket PCs really have the same connector? I thought only Pocket PCs from the same manufacturer had the same connector.
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The iPaqs, the Pocket PC Phone, and the XScale-based Viewsonic/Medion/PocketGear units all have the same physical connector. The pinouts are not necessarily the same, though. 
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Cradles have to be molded to a Pocket PCs form, so unless every manufacturer decides to start releasing rectangular Pocket PCs, you probably won't be able to use the same cradle.
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Agreed, but keyboards, cables, and AC adapters would be a nice start. 
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I think USB would be a nice standard of manufacturers would use it.
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They can't - Pocket PCs uniformly need to be USB hosts. You can't have guest-to-guest communication. USB-to-Go and Firewire fix this -- i.e., you can have peer-to-peer communication.
--janak
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03-07-2003, 06:36 PM
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Philosopher
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 545
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I was thinking about this as well
I have a e740 and will probably stick with the Toshiba's. My wife just broke her palm and I was thinking about getting a e335 for her. Then I could swipe her cradle and we could use mine to sync at home and I could use hers at work!  I have bought a USB dongle and a USB to Serial Adapter. If I get a keyboard, it will likely be a USB Minivik rather than the belkin one. Why? COMPATABILITY! I can use the USB one with either a desktop, my PDA or my laptop. If I get a new PDA, if it does not have USB host abilities, I will buy the CF to USB card. Then I should be able to use it. I think they need to standardize connectors. Make the cradle have a USB B type end. Either the large USB B or the mini USB B and make them also include a USB host port along the bottom (NO DONGLE NEEDED PLEASE!). Sure, this may not be possible for very thing PDA's, but my e740 should definitely have been able to just put the damn USB port on the bottom. There's plenty of room. I would even do without some of the hardware buttons or a different button arangement just to have this. Also, Bluetooth may make this a moot point too. Just if the use only Bluetooth for syncing, give us a USB port....PLEASE?
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03-07-2003, 07:11 PM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 53
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Jason Dunn
As much as I'd like to say that we'll see a "standard connector" sometime soon, it's not going to happen for a while - right now accessories have hugely fat margins, and the OEMs love it. In a sagging IT economy, they're trying to squeeze margins from wherever they can, and that includes PDAs. I'm ticked the 1910 can't use an iPAQ Stowaway keyboard...
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I think you hit the nail on the head - the margins are higher in the peripherals than the machine, so they want to sell you new ones. There is very little upside to selling a machine and not getting the other purchases. It also means they can avoid competing on price for peripherals, since other manufacturers stuff won't work, maintaining margins.
It also makes switching more expensive - if manufacturer X uses a standard (to its machines but not other manufactirers) connector across its line it increases the chnaces you'll upgrade by buying one of their machines and not somebody elses.
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03-07-2003, 07:18 PM
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Mystic
Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 1,608
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Jason Dunn
As much as I'd like to say that we'll see a "standard connector" sometime soon, it's not going to happen for a while - right now accessories have hugely fat margins, and the OEMs love it. In a sagging IT economy, they're trying to squeeze margins from wherever they can, and that includes PDAs. I'm ticked the 1910 can't use an iPAQ Stowaway keyboard...
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I thought I read that the 1910 uses the same connector, but that it was flipped around? If that is the case, couldn't there be adapter made for it?
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