New Mother-of-all Pocket PCs Coming from Toshiba?

[Jason Dunn]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.pocketpcitalia.com/' target='_blank'>http://www.pocketpcitalia.com/</a><br /><br /></div>I knew that Toshiba had something cooking, but this might be the delicious high-end Pocket PC yet. The info is in Italian, but the basics are as follows:<br /><br />• Toshiba e750<br />• 400 Mhz Intel XScale<br />• 128 MB RAM 8O <br />• 4 inch Transflective screen<br />• SDIO slot<br />• Integrated WiFi (802.11b I would assume)<br />• Removable battery<br />• Q1 2003 shipping<br /><br />Sounds quite nice!

[vincentsiaw]

wow 4 inch screen! what's the resolution, a vga like the nexio? oh ya how heavy as well?

[ricksfiona]

Sounds pretty cool! I just have a couple of questions:

1) Will it have Bluetooth?
2) Will the dimensions be similar to an IPAQ especially with a bigger screen.

A bigger screen is nice, but not at the expense of size and weight of the unit. You should be able to fit a 4" screen into an IPAQ size PDA.

[sponge]

I'm wondering if this will have the new Imageon chip.

[toshtoshtosh]

Ah there it is, I meant to submit that as front page news, but I guess it's still only a rumor.

This would be a killer device. I'm assuming it's keeping the e740 form factor (since it's name e750), which is the smallest 2 slot pda available (smaller than the ipaq). Hope we hear more about it soon!!

EDIT: my bad, it IS on the front page.

[bdeli]

news was posted earlier this morning:

http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=41689#41689

[Timothy Rapson]

Cover included? No

VGA? No

New OS that uses that 400 MZ? No

Blue tooth AND WiFI? No

Camera built in? No

New smaller size for a dual slot" No

Breakthrough price like the Axim?No

What's new? 128 meg ram. Yawn. 64 is lots with the easy seamless integration of Flash cards for either storage or programs.

It sounds like a nice enough Genio or E700 series, and it is nice that you told us about it, but unless there is something unreported there's not much to get excited about.

[toshtoshtosh]

Cover included? No

[...]

but unless there is something unreported there's not much to get excited about.

Sorry If I'm more excited about a 4inch transflective screen than a plastic cover :D. One step at a time people!

[portus]

I'd rather not have so many stuff built into a single device. The more functions you build into the device, the more possible points of failure. Hence the less reliable a device becomes.

[ECOslin]

Translation from 'freetranslation.com'.
An authoritative ours source overseas anticipates us in exclusive those that will be the features of the new Pocket PC of Toshiba initialed e750. The endowment of next questo produced some Japanese business is announced still a time to the avant-garde. - Processore Intel XScale to 400mhz - 128MB of RAM - Display LCD Transflective of 4 thumbs - Slot Compact Flash and SD THE/OR - Wi-Fi integrated - Battery removibile From an immediate analysis is noted immediately the presence of 128MB of Ram and of a display LCD of 4 thumbs with technology transflective. It is assumed it is able to be then prodotta a version with Bluetooth integrated. The date of throw of the product is expected for the first months
of 2003. The price is all still to define but, to the light of the last developments in commercial subject of politics aside of the varied brand and of Toshiba particularly, would have to be very interesting.

Is that 4 thumbs tall? The features sound like what I would look for in a PDA. Wi-fi integrated, CF, more memory.

Edward



http://www.freetranslation.com/

[Jonathon Watkins]

DARN it sounds good. :D OK - I would love a VGA screen - but 4 inches of backlit transfexive love won't go ammis! :wink:

[Jason Dunn]

news was posted earlier this morning:

http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=41689#41689

I had to go eat lunch before I posted - is that ok with you? :wink: :lol:

[bdeli]

Is that 4 thumbs tall? The features sound like what I would look for in a PDA. Wi-fi integrated, CF, more memory.

Edward



Edward, in Italian they use pollici for inches and thumbs. So it is 4 inches...

[bdeli]

news was posted earlier this morning:

http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=41689#41689

I had to go eat lunch before I posted - is that ok with you? :wink: :lol:

oh yeh! sure!!!

hopefully will get a glimpse of one of these devices soon. Man we pressed the the guy from Toshiba Canada too much yesterday....

[Jonathan1]

No BlueTooth....no thanks. I've come to the firm conclusion that my next PDA needs to have 802.11 AND BT. While the iPaq is tempting I want CF built in as well Hopefully Toshiba is going to see the new iPaq series and the wireless options available and up the ante by integrating both as well.

One other thing. 4" screen. That's all well and find but if its the same resolution all I can say is..... :roll:

[Jason Dunn]

Cover included? No
VGA? No
New OS that uses that 400 MZ? No
Blue tooth AND WiFI? No
Camera built in? No
New smaller size for a dual slot" No
Breakthrough price like the Axim?No


You'll be able to buy a case for it, right?
You can get VGA out solutions for CF and SD, right?

Do you know when the next-gen Pocket PC OS is coming out Timothy? No, you probably don't...so perhaps you shouldn't speak on things you know nothing about. Please. :wink:

[tj21]

No BlueTooth....no thanks. I've come to the firm conclusion that my next PDA needs to have 802.11 AND BT. While the iPaq is tempting I want CF built in as well Hopefully Toshiba is going to see the new iPaq series and the wireless options available and up the ante by integrating both as well.

One other thing. 4" screen. That's all well and find but if its the same resolution all I can say is..... :roll:

You could always add Toshiba's SD Blutetooth card and you'd have BT, 802.11b and the CF card slot still available. Price would likely be similar to the HP 5450.

I agree about the resolution though. 240x320 needs to go and a 4" screen just makes the low resolution even more obvious.

T

[Bob Anderson]

I'd rather not have so many stuff built into a single device. The more functions you build into the device, the more possible points of failure. Hence the less reliable a device becomes.

I have to disagree, electronics are more and more reliable, in fact, some electronics outlive their useful lives. The statement above once reminds me of what a car dealer told me once when I wanted a car with power windows and the like: he told me in no uncertain terms I should take the car they had in stock (without those options) because, if I got that car with the accessories "there's just that much more that can go wrong with the car."

Wow... 8O That inspired a lot of confidence in that make of car!!! (That quote is exact ... I'll never forget it, or the flim flam sales approach I got that day :wink: ) (And no, I didn't buy that car from that dealer!!)

Plus, I'd rather have bluetooth and 802.11 built in to my device so I'm not fumbling around with all the cards/cables/etc. that just always seem to get left behind just when you need them most!

Way to go Toshiba... but I think I'll stick with the iPaq 5450 "dream machine!" :D

[st63z]

Anyone remember the dimensions of that Toshiba e550G w/ the 4" screen and how it compares to the e740? Just curious...

I'm also wondering, can PPC 2003 REALLY be released Q1 next year as Toshiba implied???

And the QVGA PPC res is definitely becoming dated. That Palm 320^2 (or Clie 480).. ALL those numerous 4" VGA screens (even that Zaurus 3.7" VGA).. the Nexio 5" WVGA. Argh.

[R K]

Wow, it's good to see that Toshiba won't sit behind while HP tries to take on the high-end PPC market. The e740 was once a candidate to step in as my next Pocket PC, but the small screen and weak battery was the limiting factor. Now they've conquered the screen limitation with a brilliant 4" transreflective screen. We will have to see how good the battery is though.
I'm not too sure that this will retain the old e740 form factor because of the new screen. A move from 3.5" to 4" tends to force a lot of moving and shifting in the form factor camp. Hopefully this might mean that it will come with a battery that competes with the iPAQ H5450's 1250mAH replaceable battery and the iPAQ H3900's 1400mAH internal battery.

Integrated Bluetooth would be nice, but two integrated card slots will be enough to make up for it. However, I didn't see anything about a CF slot. I guess people are guessing that since it is called the e750, that it will retain the e740's form and keep the CF slot as well.
Only time will tell.

[toshtoshtosh]

Anyone remember the dimensions of that Toshiba e550G w/ the 4" screen and how it compares to the e740? Just curious...

e550g: 3.1 x 4.92 x .62
e740: 3.1 x 4.9 x .6

Integrated Bluetooth would be nice, but two integrated card slots will be enough to make up for it. However, I didn't see anything about a CF slot

The rumored specs do mention a CF slot actually. But then again, rumors!

[st63z]

Thanks toshtosh (toshtoshtoshtosh?). I saw them dimensions from CompUSA online before posting, but wasn't sure they were accurate...

[JonnoB]

I'm also wondering, can PPC 2003 REALLY be released Q1 next year as Toshiba implied???
.

Yes, at an earlier trade event (MEC), I was told that PPC 2003 was scheduled for Q1 and would still fit in 24mb of ROM.

[st63z]

^ So buyers of new 32MB-ROM PPCs this holiday season (especially the 5450) don't need to be concerned about this?? Maybe Jason et. al can look into this?

[bdeli]

I'm also wondering, can PPC 2003 REALLY be released Q1 next year as Toshiba implied???
.

Yes, at an earlier trade event (MEC), I was told that PPC 2003 was scheduled for Q1 and would still fit in 24mb of ROM.

That's what the guy from Toshiba said - PPC2003 is expected in Q1 2003...but i will not bet on that!

[Kirkaiya]

This sounds a lot like a cross between the Genio e550 series (4" screen) and an E740 (integrated wireless).

In fact, this could very well be a new version of the Genio, which already has a 4" screen, with the current Polysilicon reflective swapped out for a transflective. The new Genio e550G already has a 400 MHz Xscale, and dual-slots, and 4" screen... So really, just a bump in screen type, and a bump to 128 MB. Nice, but not revolutionary.

See http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?product_code=294962 (CompUSA page for the Genio) for details on the current model.

[Jeff Rutledge]

I'm also wondering, can PPC 2003 REALLY be released Q1 next year as Toshiba implied???
.

Yes, at an earlier trade event (MEC), I was told that PPC 2003 was scheduled for Q1 and would still fit in 24mb of ROM.

Q1, really? That's earlier than I would have thought. Did they give any indication of what might be included?

[David McNamee]

... and a free upgrade for existing e740 owners?? :-)

[Jason Dunn]

All the writers on this site are MVPs and we're under NDA, so you won't find us talking about the next OS at all - and Microsoft doesn't talk about unreleased Pocket PC OS' at all, so you're going to be in the dark for a while longer...other than those Microsoft people at trade shows that give away info a little too easily. ;-)

[don dre]

for anyone who doesn't know, an inch is equal to the distance between the joint on your thumb and its end. I know them English talk funny but they had some pretty common sense idears when it comes to measurement.
Cheers sucka
Viva le Ipaq

[st63z]

So to reiterate the "rumor", the PPCs we buy this holiday season will be the very last PPC 2002 models, until early next year...

We better hope there aren't any unforeseen gotchas in flash upgrading to the PPC 2003 OS come Q1 next year. Especially for high-ticket items (5450) that would only be a couple of months old...

But I'm blindly guessing that since Toshiba seems easygoing about loading PPC 2002 or 2003 on their e750, that there really aren't any new hardware requirements/recommendations for the new CE .NET?

Darnit people, let's all PM Jason to death until he spills...

[Pony99CA]

Anyone remember the dimensions of that Toshiba e550G w/ the 4" screen and how it compares to the e740? Just curious...

I'm also wondering, can PPC 2003 REALLY be released Q1 next year as Toshiba implied???

And the QVGA PPC res is definitely becoming dated. That Palm 320^2 (or Clie 480).. ALL those numerous 4" VGA screens (even that Zaurus 3.7" VGA).. the Nexio 5" WVGA. Argh.
I read that the Pocket PC OS only supports 240x320 video. If that's true, the Pocket PC design team made a short-sighted decision. Windows CE certainly supports higher resolutions.

Is there information that leads you to believe Pocket PC 2003 will support higher resolutions? If not, I guess most Pocket PCs will still seem dated. :-(

Steve

[Pony99CA]

^ So buyers of new 32MB-ROM PPCs this holiday season (especially the 5450) don't need to be concerned about this?? Maybe Jason et. al can look into this?
The 5450 has 48 MB ROM (as does the 3970). In fact, I had assumed support for future operating systems is why HP increased the ROM size.

If Pocket PC 2003 fits into 24 MB ROM, that's great -- more room for iPAQ File Store. :-)

Steve

[Pony99CA]

All the writers on this site are MVPs and we're under NDA, so you won't find us talking about the next OS at all - and Microsoft doesn't talk about unreleased Pocket PC OS' at all, so you're going to be in the dark for a while longer...other than those Microsoft people at trade shows that give away info a little too easily. ;-)
If Microsoft doesn't talk about upcoming Pocket PC OS releases, it must be the only product they don't talk about before release. :-D

We knew about Smartphone a long time ahead of its release, we know about the upcoming releases of XP (Longhorn, et al.), we knew about Windows CE .NET and so on.

I understand that you guys can't talk about them due to non-disclosure agreements (a lawsuit would not make your day :-)), but that doesn't stop Microsoft.

Steve

[Pony99CA]

I'd rather not have so many stuff built into a single device. The more functions you build into the device, the more possible points of failure. Hence the less reliable a device becomes.
Pick your favorite snappy answer:

1. I'll trade you your Pocket PC for my four-function calculator.

2. How is your Pocket Abacus doing?

3. You could always get a Palm.

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Steve

[st63z]

The 5450 has 48 MB ROM (as does the 3970). In fact, I had assumed support for future operating systems is why HP increased the ROM size.

If Pocket PC 2003 fits into 24 MB ROM, that's great -- more room for iPAQ File Store. :-)

Yeah, I was just paranoid that PPC .Net may have other minor/subtle hardware changes recommendations for 100% optimization...?

[Timothy Rapson]

Cover included? No
VGA? No
New OS that uses that 400 MZ? No
Blue tooth AND WiFI? No
Camera built in? No
New smaller size for a dual slot" No
Breakthrough price like the Axim?No


You'll be able to buy a case for it, right?
You can get VGA out solutions for CF and SD, right?

Do you know when the next-gen Pocket PC OS is coming out Timothy? No, you probably don't...so perhaps you shouldn't speak on things you know nothing about. Please. :wink:

It sounds like a nice enough Genio or E700 series, and it is nice that you told us about it



Special thanks to ToshTosh

[Rirath]

Do you know when the next-gen Pocket PC OS is coming out Timothy? No, you probably don't...so perhaps you shouldn't speak on things you know nothing about. Please.

I have to agree with Timothy on this one. I don't see how this thing is so impressive at all. "The mother of all pocket pc's"... I was expecting something truly exciting. More than just a slightly bigger screen and a little dab more of ram. As far as "speaking on things you know nothing about", oh come on... people do that in these forums 24 hours a day.

[Timothy Rapson]

So to reiterate the "rumor", the PPCs we buy this holiday season will be the very last PPC 2002 models, until early next year...
...

In spite of being warned not to speak about what I know nothing about, 8) I can say that I have an upgrade disk up there on the shelf with my Ipaq 3135. I have not installed it. I waited until I knew that I could upgrade the Ipaq from PPC 2000 to 2002 before I bought it. It was one of the selling points.

Nonetheless, the number one feature I wanted from PPC 2002 upgrade was the PocketWord spell checker. Guess what did not make it into the upgrade CD? Right.

I would not buy a PPC this Christmas betting on it running PPC 2003. Even more stupid, is the report over at PocketPCPassion that the latest Ipaq, the h1910 ships with this same crippled spell-checkerless OS. What is HP thinking? The $175 Dell looks like an irresistable bargain, but I wonder if anyone is going to be satisfied with any PDA buy this Christmas.


If Toshiba is going to release this new model, I hope it does have that new OS and the metal cased e330-740 design. It fits very nicely in the hand.

[Timothy Rapson]

[quote]As far as "speaking on things you know nothing about", oh come on... people do that in these forums 24 hours a day.


I swear it's true! I made it up myself!


:way to go: Thanks Rirath

[jefito]

Pony99CA said:

I read that the Pocket PC OS only supports 240x320 video. If that's true, the Pocket PC design team made a short-sighted decision. Windows CE certainly supports higher resolutions.

Is there information that leads you to believe Pocket PC 2003 will support higher resolutions? If not, I guess most Pocket PCs will still seem dated.


The Pocket PC OS certainly does support resolutions higher than 240x320, else how would the various resolution extenders work? On the other hand, some apps do not plan for there being anything other than 240x320, and so they don't operate as well in higher rresolutions.

[toshtoshtosh]

Special thanks to ToshTosh

No problem, that's what I'm here for.

[GO-TRIBE]

Sorry, but this doesn't sound like any iPaq killer to me. I mean look at the specs/featured in the 5xxx series! HP already says models with 128MB of RAM are on the way, and at least for the commercial market, HP has delivered the killer device (for now).

[rudolph]

One thing the e750 better have is: Working buttons!

I don't think it'll cost as much as the 5450 tho unless it has all the little things the 5450 has (vibrating alarms, mic line in, rom filestore, charging thru usb, remote control, etc., etc., etc.) and integrated BT. I bet it'll cost as much as the e740 does now, or maybe even a bit less.

5450 will probably still be the "killer" device... except for me who wants an intrgrated CF slot.

[toshtoshtosh]

In related news,

Toshiba has stated that the e750 will be painted completely yellow!

[Timothy Rapson]

In related news,

Toshiba has stated that the e750 will be painted completely yellow!


Will it be the Yellow of the old M500Y. I want one blue, one green, and one silver with red, white and blue stripes that is endorsed by that new Chinese basketball player and marketed by Legend Enterprises.

[Kati Compton]

In related news,

Toshiba has stated that the e750 will be painted completely yellow!

Why would they do that when they know the best color is BLUE?

[Pony99CA]

I would not buy a PPC this Christmas betting on it running PPC 2003. Even more stupid, is the report over at PocketPCPassion that the latest Ipaq, the h1910 ships with this same crippled spell-checkerless OS. What is HP thinking?

You didn't learn not to talk about stuff you didn't know about? :lol:

As I've posted in two different iPAQ threads off the main page, HP says that the 1910 will support spellchecking. Did the user at Pocket PC Passion actually have hands-on experience with the device to disprove what HP says? As you didn't post a link to the appropriate place, who knows?

For those who missed my previous posts, here's the iPAQ 1910 Quick Spec (http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/newsroom/press_kits/2002/ipaq/h1910quickspecs.pdf). Here is a quotation from the relevant section:


Applications on Device:
Powered by Microsoft Windows for Pocket PC 2002

Calendar, Contacts, Tasks, Voice Recorder, Notes, Pocket Word (with Spellchecker), Pocket Excel, Pocket Internet Explorer, Calculator, Solitaire, Inbox (with Spell Checker for email), File Explorer, VPN Client, Infrared Beaming, Clock, Align Screen, File Explorer, Memory, Volume control, Asset Viewer

So spellchecking is included in both Pocket Word and Inbox.

If the 1910 actually doesn't have spellchecking, that will cause another PR nightmare like their color screens did on the old Jornadas.

Steve

[Pony99CA]

Pony99CA said:

I read that the Pocket PC OS only supports 240x320 video. If that's true, the Pocket PC design team made a short-sighted decision. Windows CE certainly supports higher resolutions.

Is there information that leads you to believe Pocket PC 2003 will support higher resolutions? If not, I guess most Pocket PCs will still seem dated.


The Pocket PC OS certainly does support resolutions higher than 240x320, else how would the various resolution extenders work? On the other hand, some apps do not plan for there being anything other than 240x320, and so they don't operate as well in higher rresolutions.
The key word in my post was "supports". There's a difference between having the technical capability to run in other video modes and officially supporting that. It's often possible to hack something together, but whether it's supported or not is another issue.

Does Microsoft officially support other screen resolutions on Pocket PC platforms? If so, that's great, and I'm guility of talking about something I didn't know about. :-)

Steve

[st63z]

As I've posted in two different iPAQ threads off the main page, HP says that the 1910 will support spellchecking. Did the user at Pocket PC Passion actually have hands-on experience with the device to disprove what HP says?

That user.. :?: oh, you mean DALE!? :)

Totally unrelated, but Duncan had told me in another thread that HP's 5450 specs page is incorrect and that it does support BT headset profile...

[lllean]

Why is it that there're always people who like to post just to put others
down? It seems to be only a couple of them, and they are usually the
ones who think they know a lot when they really don't. I don't think it's
nice to post like that to put people down.

Someone asked about the 4" screen. The 4" screen on the
Toshi 550g is very nice when compared to some other non-transflective
screen. Since the 550g also has about the same physical dimensions
as other PPC, it means the physical border surrounding the LCD is
very slim. Somehow, that makes the whole unit very pleasant looking,
and the screen really stands out. Unfortunately, the 550g's LCD is
not transflective, just the regular reflective TFT. When placed next to
an iPAQ 3975, it pales in comparison. I guess the analogy would be
like a sunny day (for transflective) and a hazy day (for reflective).
(By the way, CompUSA has both the Toshi 550g and iPAQ 3900 series,
in case anyone is interested) So a 4" screen sure is nice. If the
Toshi 750 has a 4" transflective as reported, it should be really
wonderful.

If Microsoft ups the resolution to 480x640 and it's on a 4" transflective,
it will be really amazing. I always wonder what the next resolution will
be when Microsoft does increase it.

Happy PPCing, everyone.

[FredMurphy]

Whilst "Mother of all Pocket PCs" is probably pushing it a little, it's good to see another high end device coming out to give HP some competition. Personally, I've got a lot of CF cards and would be reluctant to junk them and don't like the idea of having a sleeve to double the size of a PPC. The screen may tip the balance.

Some people will choose the 5450; some people will prefer the e750. Not sure exactly where I fall 'til I see both in the plastic, but it's got to be good to have the choice.

Hmmm.... it seems this post is far too well balanced and inoffensive. :? Better sort that out. First thing I'll do with either is paint it PURPLE. Why would you want a spell-checker? Can't you spell?

[kamodt]

Toshiba's LCD group does have a 4" diagonal display which supports full 640x480 resolution. This display was used in the PC-ePhone product, the Bsquare "Maui" reference design, and a couple of other devices. These products have used the Windows CE.Net OS for two basic reasons. 1) the Mobile team restricts the Pocket PC spec to QVGA because these displays are cheaper and more readily available, but mainly so they don't have to redesign the UI for all of their apps. 2) MS is "particular" about whom they license their code to and what hardware it is being used on.

This doesn't mean that they won't ever increase the resolution of Pocket PCs, it just means there has to be a compelling reason to do so. WCE has supported unlimited resolutions since version 2.0, but the work involved to support multiple display resolutions on PPCs is too great. They stick to what works and what they hear back from their user interface research team. They would prefer to not duplicate the Palm-size PC days. Who can blame them?

KeithA

[enemy2k2]

This thing sounds awesome, too bad about no bluetooth. It's becoming more and more popular lately I've noticed, probably be a year or two until it's very common though. Seems like the 5450 has found itself a competitor even before it's release date. For those who don't care about finger-print scanner and bluetooth I think the choice would be obvious in favour of the 750, unless they have IPaq accessories. There would definitely be cost savings involved, not to mention a slightly larger screen. Sounds like these two companies in particular know what they are doing with their machines, still too steep for my pockets though :(

[Merlion]

The e740 was once a candidate to step in as my next Pocket PC, but the small screen and weak battery was the limiting factor.
Kinda the same for me, for me it's mainly the short bty life, & the unevenly lit screen. Many reports of its inferior or inconsistent built-quality also steered me away from the e740. :(

Now they've conquered the screen limitation with a brilliant 4" transreflective screen. We will have to see how good the battery is though.
I'm not too sure that this will retain the old e740 form factor because of the new screen. A move from 3.5" to 4" tends to force a lot of moving and shifting in the form factor camp. Hopefully this might mean that it will come with a battery that competes with the iPAQ H5450's 1250mAH replaceable battery and the iPAQ H3900's 1400mAH internal battery.

The H3900's 1400 mAH bty is not user-replaceable. The H5450's bty is user-replaceable but it's capacity is reduced to 1250 mAH to make it user-replaceable.

The Dell Axim's built-in bty is both user-replaceable & 1440 mAH, the highest capacity of any consumer PPC yet. So their's the bty to compete with, not the iPaq's. :)

The Axim's bty is fairly huge. A smaller sized device does come at the expense of a larger bty capacity. So if the e750 is going to match or beat the Axim's bty capacity, it's size will probably match that of the Axim as well. If it does, I hope its sides taper down & also has rubber grips like the Axims to make it more ergonomic. :)

[Merlion]

Pony99CA said:

I read that the Pocket PC OS only supports 240x320 video. If that's true, the Pocket PC design team made a short-sighted decision. Windows CE certainly supports higher resolutions.

Is there information that leads you to believe Pocket PC 2003 will support higher resolutions? If not, I guess most Pocket PCs will still seem dated.


The Pocket PC OS certainly does support resolutions higher than 240x320, else how would the various resolution extenders work? On the other hand, some apps do not plan for there being anything other than 240x320, and so they don't operate as well in higher rresolutions.

When the LCD resolution is 360 x 240, it means that there are 360 horizontal lines of color pixels, & 240 vertical lines of color pixels. You can't increase that resolution without replacing the LCD. Video utilities that increase the virtual resolution did just that, they faked an increased resolution by virtually displaying the content of a higher resolution screen on the actual screen by fudging the details. Obviously, the pixels of a QVGA screen cannot display the details of a screen with more pixels, so some to a lot of the video information is lost.

If you used these utilities, you'd find that when the virtual resolution is increased, or when the screen orientation is changed, many of the screens of the Pocket PC GUI didn't display properly, especially in many of the Settings' screens. That showed that the Pocket PC software is not designed for resolutions that deviated from QVGA. Software such as pWord or pExcel is designed for a relative resolution so they displayed properly in portrait or landscape mode. :)

[Merlion]

Since the 550g also has about the same physical dimensions as other PPC, it means the physical border surrounding the LCD is very slim. Somehow, that makes the whole unit very pleasant looking, and the screen really stands out.

I do think so too! :) If that screen is a good quality transflective screen, or even a good quality reflective screen like those of the iPaq 3800/3900s', the e550G would be a really attractive buy.

If the e750 could have a similar design, but a better screen quality, that would be great. But then the e750, e330, et al., & the e550G, e550GS, e550GX, ... are manufactured by different external commissioned companies, & are even under different Toshiba depts. So, the e750 will probably not look anything like the Genio series, & will probably look more like the e740. :)

[Merlion]

This thing sounds awesome, too bad about no bluetooth. It's becoming more and more popular lately I've noticed, probably be a year or two until it's very common though.

A yr or 2? :roll: &nbsp :D
If that's the only reason to get BT, then you're probably off not paying extra for it coz the PPC field is such a dynamic arena that your current device will definitely be outdated in a yr, not to mention 2 yrs! ;)

But yeah, I do think that by end of next yr, all PPCs will have built-in BT. BT'll eventually replace IrDA as the wireless connectivity device. BT doesn't require line-of-sight, has a longer range, & can connect multiple devices at the same time, so it can also form a PAN. :) It can serve as a very flexible I/O port to connect to all kinds of BT devices like a BT GPS device (avail.), a BT modem, a BT headphone (avail.), a BT scanner, a BT digicam (avail.), etc. Of course, CF can serve all those functions & more, but the device'll probably have only one CF-slot. It'll probably take quite a while before BT can completely replace IrDA though, coz many other devices that depended on IrDA will have to be converted as well. :)

[jngold_me]

The Dell Axim's built-in bty is both user-replaceable & 1440 mAH, the highest capacity of any consumer PPC yet.

Sorry, the Jornada 560 series came first. :)

Oh and btw, if the 750 retains it's "slim" form factor with the 4" transreflective screen that would be awesome. What will make it the "mother of all PPC's" will be at what price range it comes in at. If it retails at $599 or less it will be cheaper than the $699 5400 Ipaq and have more features than the less expensive Axim X5.

[enemy2k2]

A yr or 2? :roll: * :D
If that's the only reason to get BT, then you're probably off not paying extra for it coz the PPC field is such a dynamic arena that your current device will definitely be outdated in a yr, not to mention 2 yrs! ;)

hahah, good point! That totally slipped my mind. If the average user on this site is to be taken into account, they go through their PDAs in six month or one year cycles. I wouldn't be able to justify that to myself.

Bluetooth does look to be the future though, you are also right about that. I personally think that IRDA should be abandoned ASAP, unless they're going to include consumer grade IR. Otherwise don't bother at all.

Preferrably though, with HDTV and HD-DVD all set to come out as the next generation, i believe that their controls should be by bluetooth as well, get rid of that annoying IR. About time consumer electronics received a fresh dose of technology.

What do you think?

[Pony99CA]

When the LCD resolution is 360 x 240, it means that there are 360 horizontal lines of color pixels, & 240 vertical lines of color pixels.

Technically, you got that backwards. 360 x 240 means there are 360 pixels in each horizontal line, which is 360 vertical lines, and 240 pixels in each vertical line, which is 240 horizontal lines.

So the Pocket PC resolution of 240x320 is 240 pixels horizontally and 320 vertically.

Steve

[Merlion]

Technically, you got that backwards. 360 x 240 means there are 360 pixels in each horizontal line, which is 360 vertical lines, and 240 pixels in each vertical line, which is 240 horizontal lines.

So the Pocket PC resolution of 240x320 is 240 pixels horizontally and 320 vertically.

Steve
Oops! My bad! Yeah, the PPC's screen should be portrait rather than landscape oriented. :roll: &nbsp :oops: &nbsp :)

[FredMurphy]

Really off-topic but can someone in the States explain where "my bad" has sprung up from? Does it just mean "my mistake"?

If so, you guys need to stop defiling OUR language - bad is an adjective. :wink:

[Jonathon Watkins]

I'm with you 100% Fred. :D What a use of the Queen's language! 8O What a to-do what what. :wink:

[Pony99CA]

Really off-topic but can someone in the States explain where "my bad" has sprung up from? Does it just mean "my mistake"?

If so, you guys need to stop defiling OUR language - bad is an adjective. :wink:
Yes, it means "my mistake". I think it came from hip hop/urban culture, which is notorious for butchering the language. So don't holla at me, G, or I'll have to drop by yo crib and bust a cap in yo ass. :-D (Just kidding, of course. I don't want the cops coming over saying I threatened you. :-))

Steve

[FredMurphy]

Thanks for the info Steve. Good to know you can find out about more than just Pocket PCs here! 8)

[Pony99CA]

Thanks for the info Steve. Good to know you can find out about more than just Pocket PCs here! 8)
Well, I was just guessing that "my bad" was from hip hop/urban culture. That's where I first heard it, but that doesn't mean it really originated there. It is consistent with what I've seen in the past, though.

(Disclaimer: Being a white, middle-class, suburban guy, I know very little of urban culture. :-))

Steve

[enemy2k2]

I feel use of the word culture in such regard is a euphamism :P

[Steven Cedrone]

I bet you can't guess why I'm posting. :wink: What do you say we get back on topic...

Steven Cedrone
Community Moderator

[Merlion]

Sorry for the diversion Steven. :( I'll get back to topic after replying this post. :)

Really off-topic but can someone in the States explain where "my bad" has sprung up from? Does it just mean "my mistake"?

If so, you guys need to stop defiling OUR language - bad is an adjective. :wink:
:D I was as perplexed when someone (a Ph.D. holder no less) used that to respond to my statements a while back. :D It's an American slang & I've no idea of its etiology. It was used many times in online discussions that I've participated in & this is the first time in my life I've used it, & look at the response! ;) Hmm ... nobody said anything when others used it .. :)

Personally, I do consider American English as a different language to English. Their phonology, vocabulary, syntax, & spellings are different enough to warrant considering them as different languages. If I consider them as distinct, it's also easier for me to switch between the two, & to justify using Am. Eng. when in the US. ;)

English is my first language, not American English, but I've lived in Can. & the US for well over a decade after my 'A' levels. So, I use English for personal, family, & non-American matters, & since my daily milieu is American, I use American English on all other matters - when in Rome, or in the US, ... :)

Regardless, "my bad" wasn't proper Am. Eng. as well, it's just a local colloquialism at best, or broken English/Am. Eng. at worst, or maybe it's just a euphemism, as Enemy2K2 euphemistically puts it. ;)
But the use of colloquialisms could sometimes be expected when we're using the vernacular for casual conversations/discussions, whether they're verbal or written. If it caused any confusion, I apologise (apologize ;)), but you could also ask or comment about it, as in any other casual conversations. :)

And to get back to topic, since HP US said that they can't deliver the H5450 till Dec 27, that's as good as next yr. So, I'm thinking that power users who're waiting for the H5450 could perhaps wait a couple of wks more if in the coming wks, there're announcements that there're more high-end models like the e750 or Axim X7 to be released early next yr, since there're already rumours (rumors ;)) to that end. Then, there could be more high-end models with built-in Wi-Fi to choose from. :D