12-13-2006, 04:00 PM
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Thoughts Media Review Team
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 749
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The Big Red Box for PPCs -- Pocket Mechanic Professional v2.23
Product Category: Maintenance Software
Manufacturer: Anton Tomov
Where to Buy: MobiHand (affiliate link)
Price: $24.95USD for PM Pro. A �lite� version is available for $14.95USD. A fully functioning 15-day trial is available.
System Requirements: Version reviewed was for WM5, but versions are also available for Pocket PC (Win CE3.0, ARM, SH3 & MIPS), Pocket PC 2002, 2003 and 2003SE.
Specifications: Application requires approximately 2.7Mb of memory. Benchmark folder requires approximately 250K per device. PM Pro should be installed to Program (internal) memory, since it requires exclusive access to storage cards for a number of its functions.
Pros:
Fast analysis and correction of card and memory mgmt problems;Large variety of benchmark data for cards available;If PMPro won�t fix it, it probably can�t be fixed!
Cons:
CE databases not working on WM5 (yet!);No pause button for long scans/benchmark tests;Unload apps may show it completed successfully, even though it couldn�t find the unload.exe file;Can be slow to start up.
Summary:
For those looking to keep their Pocket PC in peak operating condition, Pocket Mechanic Pro represents the ultimate in toolkits available. It�s like having one of those big rolling red toolboxes for the Pocket PC!
Read on for the full review!
Introduction
Ever wished you could spend the afternoon/weekend flipping up the hood and �tinkering� with your favourite Pocket PC the way that car guys do with a Corvette/Mustang/Dodge Pickup on the front driveway? Well, Anton Tomov has provided you with everything you need to do just that in the latest version of Pocket Mechanic Pro (v2.23.163).
Opening up the Big Red Box�
Once installed, Pocket Mechanic Pro can be started from the icon in the Programs folder. On my machine however, it took about 12 seconds to get the main screen from the initial tap on the icon.
So, what have we got in here? Pocket Mechanic Professional comes with such a wide selection of tools, it can be a little daunting at first glance.
Figure 1: Main screen of Pocket Mechanic Professional.
Here�s a short description of each of the tools in your kit:
Card Info - provides detailed information on installed storage cards (SD and CF);
Free Ram - defragments and frees up unused �Program� memory;
Card Benchmark - compare your storage card against others;
Fragmentation Status - shows a map of fragmentation on storage cards;
Defragment - remove all those nasty memory fragments on storage cards;
Slack Analysis - analyze card storage for �wasted� space due to un-filled clusters;
Format � reformat a storage card (similar to reformatting your hard drive);
Recover Bad Sectors - scan the data sectors and relocate data from �bad sectors� to healthy ones while marking the unusable ones in the FAT tables;
CE Databases - view content of WinCE databases (e.g. Pocket Outlook and others);
Find Duplicate Files - as titled, locate (and eliminate) multiple copies of the same file;
Find Invalid Shortcuts - locate and eliminate shortcuts to nowhere;
Large Files - find the files taking up the most space;
Large Folders - find folders that are taking up the most space;
Notification Queue - review the reminders on the system and eliminate duplicates;
File System Cleanup - select from a list of file types which clutter a system, and have them removed;
Registry Cleanup - analyzes the registry and (optionally) removes unused / unneeded entries;
Uninstall Apps - a more complete uninstall utility;
Relocate - move applications from Program Memory to storage cards (or vice-versa);
Storage Cache - tuning of the file system memory management to improve storage performance.
Whew! That�s quite the toolkit. You can be forgiven for not being able to remember what each application does, but that�s exactly why Anton has provided a Help/Description area at the bottom of the screen. (BTW, this can be reduced by dragging on the space between the windows, or eliminated via the Details option on the View menu).
Along the top of the main screen is a BRB (Big Red Button) for shutting off power to your unit plus a rolling CPU usage meter. I couldn�t figure out how to use the View and Shortcut drop downs, since on my upgraded-to-WM5 Axim X50V, they only show �N/A�. The menus on the bottom of the screen provide a proper exit function (i.e. actually shutting down the application); editing of settings for PMPro; formatting of the main view to shut on and off the Header line and descriptions; and rotation to any display position you want.
Which End Does the Bit Go In? Using the Tools
Generally, the interface for using each of the tools is simple, consistent, and leads the user through the various stages of analysis and results. After selecting a tool from the main menu, the next screen displays the available storage cards and allows you to select which ones to work on.
Figure 2: Picture of card selection screen.
After selecting the desired card or cards, tapping the Next button at the bottom of the screen starts the analysis. If more than one card is selected, the application will go through the first card to its final report, then proceed to the second selection.
During analysis, notifications of problems or status may be presented.
Figure 3: Notification screen. If desired, these intermediary notifications can be turned off, application by application, by selecting the tick box in the lower left of the notice screen.
Then, the results of the analysis are shown.
Figure 4: Analysis results.
Tapping the Next button again will present the analysis report.
Figure 5: Analysis report.
Most of the reports are text (as shown above) but there are variations based on what function has been selected.
Figure 6: Fragmentation status screen.
The reports and notifications are also logged as text files in a location specified in the Edit/Settings/Debug menu item.
Figure 7: Logging settings screen.
Tapping the OK button at the Report screen then returns you to the main tool selection screen. Selecting the Back button re-runs the function, and Cancel returns you to the main function screen.
How Well Do They Work?
Below are timings for each of the functions, running on a lightly loaded (not many apps) Axim X50v which was upgraded to WM5. All tests were done with the Axim on external power and with only Activesync running:
Card Info - 4.3 secs to retrieve all info from 2GB Sandisk SD; 4.4 sec to retrieve all info from 512MB Sandisk CF;
Free Ram - 1 min 22 secs to hibernate 4 processes, defrag and optimize heap of 15 processes;
Card Benchmark - 36 mins 20 secs to run all file system benchmarks on 2GB Sandisk SD card; 28.05 secs to run all low level tests on 2GB Sandisk SD card;
Fragmentation Status - 6.13 secs to analyze 2GB Sandisk SD;
Defragment - 12.3 secs to analyze and defrag 2GB Sandisk SD;
Slack Analysis - 6.13 secs to provide Slack stats on 2GB Sandisk SD;
Format � (Not run, as I didn�t have a card I wanted to blow away);
Recover Bad Sectors - 10.35 secs to analyze and recover bad sectors from 2GB Sandisk SD;
CE Databases - would not work on my upgraded Axim X50v;
Find Duplicate Files - 21.36 secs to scan 733 files and identify 16 duplicates (skips files in ROM, system and read-only files;
Find Invalid Shortcuts - 5.23 secs to scan 127 shortcuts with no invalids found;
Large Files - 8.33 secs to enumerate large files on entire device, including SD and CF cards, but skipping those in Read only, System, Hidden and ROM files;
Large Folders - 28.23 secs to scan 176 folders on entire device, including SD and CF cards, but skipping files which are Read Only, System, Hidden, and in ROM;
Notification Queue - 1 min, 33 secs to scan 76 notifications, with no duplicates found (all options selected);
File System Cleanup - 17 mins, 7 secs to find 324 files in 34 folders that matched the cleanup rules (all were selected);
Registry Cleanup - 16.40 secs to find 5 invalid keys (all options selected);
Uninstall Apps - about 14 secs to populate the list of applications;
Relocate - about 14 secs to populate the list of applications - 32 secs to move the files, update the registry and update the shortcuts for a medium-sized application (Resco File Explorer).
Of all the tools provided in Pocket Mechanic Pro, the one that generates the most information is the Benchmark testing. As you can see from the timings above, running all the benchmark tests can take considerable time, but you get back a wealth of comparative info about your card. You can even run the benchmarks against your RAM! After the benchmark tests have completed, you can view comparison graphs for your card, a number of cards, and finally a report of the results.
Figure 8: Graph of results from one of the tests.
Figure 9: Benchmark Results comparison. Using the dropdowns, you can select from a large number of other cards to compare.
You can also save the results and send them to Anton for inclusion in the next release of Pocket Mechanic.
Storage Cache is a new function added with this latest version of PMPro. It allows you to tune the memory management of the file storage mechanisms to optimize it for your situation.
Figure 10: Options available in Storage Cache. As this is brand new, some of the options selectable are a bit cryptic (e.g. the Cache Settings).
Most of the applications worked well and there was a notable improvement in overall performance of the Dell afterward. The only glitch was with the Uninstall Applications tool. After installing and successfully relocating the Resco File Explorer (approx. 960kb) to my CF card, PMPro was unable to uninstall the application. It said it couldn�t run the �uninstall.exe� file. Subsequent screens said that the application had been successfully uninstalled, but Resco was still there, working just fine.
Conclusions
Pocket Mechanic Pro provides an extensive and exhaustive set of tools to analyze and repair any part of a PPC�s memory. It's obvious Anton and his team are working hard on this application, as there were three versions released during the writing of this review! Although there are a couple of features not quite working correctly with WM5, it is certainly a worthy addition to the maintenance suite on your Pocket PC.
Don is an Associate Director with Fujitsu Consulting and a member of its Enterprise Mobility Community. He is an inveterate tinkerer, with the pile of no-longer-working PPC�s on the workbench and the oil stains on the driveway to prove it! :wink:
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12-13-2006, 07:43 PM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 116
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Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
I love to see new apps like this and I always show my support. Usually I don't even try the demo I normally just buy the darn thing if I like it that much. Unfortunately I am not willing to do so with this product.
Reason:
About a few weeks ago I choose to download the trial version of Hack Master from this vendor. I was extremely excited, you can even say than I was "super" excited, lol. So I downloaded the application (which clearly says that the only limitation is the trial period) and the UI was incredible, by far the best Interface I've seen for PPCs, but the darn thing just would not do what it was supposed to do.
Mainly I was trying to over clock my processor amongst other things and my device would just crash. My device even crashed when I tried the test with the lowest CPU speed. I have an O2 xda Exec! With a 520Mhz Intel processor (which it said it supported) but it kept on crashing on me. I tried eveything in my power to make it work correctly, man did I want to use this product! Please let me know if anyone has had a differnt experience.
I tuely believe that Anton Tomov is a tue PPC enthusiast, I can tell, but ther is just something seriously wrong with the applicaiton, which was enough to make me scepticle about all of the other application with the brand name.
Sorry for the ranting but I was extremly dissappointed and I've been dying to vent.
Thanks for Listening,
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12-13-2006, 10:36 PM
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Thoughts Media Review Team
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 749
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Interesting... I've tried HackMaster on both my old iPAQ and my Axim (on 2003SE and WM5) and it worked fine. It was a while ago, and I haven't tried the latest version.
I really don't need HackMaster, so I didn't keep a copy, but maybe a quick email to Anton would be helpful? He has been very responsive to all my questions during the review of PMPro....
__________________
/drt
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12-14-2006, 07:04 AM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Dec 2005
Posts: 172
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This looks like SKTools, except that the latter doesn't have a defragmenter. I wonder of Menneisyys'll be willing to do a head-to-head with both applications?
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12-14-2006, 01:39 PM
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Thinker
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 444
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I've been a happy PM user for years. My only problem is that, beginning with the last few versions, the registry cleanup tool totally screws my device. I think it's doing something to affect either Wisbar or Pocket Weather, but to be honest I don't have either the time or inclination to troubleshoot. So, for the time being, I don't use the reg cleaner.
Also, seems like every time I've tried the support forums lately, they've been offline. :bangin:
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12-15-2006, 06:47 AM
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Thinker
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 351
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i've tried lots of the PM and PHM trial/beta versions...but always seem to have the same problem. unit will freeze when testing speeds/defraging...or even after a few hours of use(many times data on cards disappears). I have stopped using many of these third party apps for the past 2 months, and wouldn't u know it, I HAVE NOT HAD TO HARD RESET MY DEVICE ONCE!!! i have also tried PHM's competition XCPUscaler, which actually works the second u start it, but still once in a while it would freeze up, but never had to HARD reset it, a soft reset does the trick. but the only reason i tried these apps out was to see it battery life/performance would improve and from my attempts IT DOES NOT!. PM is really a misunderstood program....yes it does do what its meant to, but do u really think it makes a difference. I tried my best to believe that FLASH memory need to be cleaned up...or defraged once in a while. but the truth is it does NOT, it actually works great from the second u add files till it full(think of ipods/mp3 players). once agian, the last 2 months without any 3rd party tweaking/cleanup apps, i have not had any major HARD reset problems(if u really want to just clean up your flash and get back a few megs of space, just copy the data to a PC, delete it off the flash and copy it back. this is basically a clean defrag, like formating a HDD). few weeks back, I thought to my self, maybe i should just do a HARD reset just for the hell of it...but its not worth the hassle.
try out this app before buying.... it does do whats its intended to do, but its up to you to decide if it actually is worth the $ / time/ effort.
and give XCPUscaler a go, its a really easy setup. INSTALL and RUN. no headaches to test and setup what mhz, memory speeds...blah, blah, blah. it just works.
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12-15-2006, 03:00 PM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 116
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XCPU Scaler
Isajoo,
Where could I find the XCPU Scaler that you mentioned in your post? Are you referring to PHM? or is this a product form another Vendor? Please let me know because I don't think I utilizing all of my cpu power.
Thanks,
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12-16-2006, 04:59 PM
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Pupil
Join Date: Nov 2005
Posts: 34
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Yes, I totally agree what isajoo mentioned. I have tried PHM and Xcpuscalar. Both of them CANNOT work flawlessly and need to soft reset after period of time. There is no gain of battery performance even these programs scaling down the speed.
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12-16-2006, 08:20 PM
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Contributing Editor
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 1,389
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I agree. Under clocking your cpu is worthless. All new mobile processors do a good job of this themselves. Now if you want to over clock these are nice programs. But keep in mind that your device and cpu were designed to run at the default clock speed. If you change that of course things are going to mess up.
I used pocket hack master since version 1.0 and primarily for under clocking. After realizing that it saved no battery life I got rid of it. I helped beta testing over clock settings on one of my pocket pcs with a new processor once. I never rebooted soo much. 
So don't bash these programs for making your device unstabe... that is what they are designed to do. :lol:
they are definitely for power users who really want to mess with their device on a hardware level.
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12-19-2006, 08:08 AM
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Thinker
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 351
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LINK
http://www.immiersoft.com/index.html
after reading somewhere on the net about how intel makes the ppc cpu chips, its clear now that even over clocking will not work smoothly over a long period. intel actually tests all cpus and grades them accordingly. like my ppc has a PXA255 series chip running at 400mhz but they test all PXA255 series chips to see which ones will be steady at that speed, one that fail at 400mhz are used as 300mhz and advertised as 300mhz, so if u think a software will really improve your ppc, it may for a short time, but within a day, sometimes hours/mins it will start to act up. its just made like that. my ppc actually has a setting in the OS that lowers the speed to 200mhz, i have noticed it does run at this speed without problems, but once again i dont see my self using it regularly, 200mhz is noticeable when loading apps. it would only benifit if no radios are on, wifi/bt. also brightness should be lowered, these 2 things alone will save more battery power than any apps will ever attempt. 200mhz is noticeable when loading apps. just use the ppc the way it was meant to be used. stock performance. i get 2 1/2 hours with wifi on regardless of whatever app attepted. u can try the trial version, but make sure to do a FULL BACKUP 1st. dont say i did not warn you.
better to spend the cash on an extra battery, ebay has many at $15-25. doubles your battery life.
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