Should the Pocket PC OS support VGA?

[Cortex]

So I'm sick of looking at dinky 3.5 to 4 inch screens and using sliders to read a sentence.

Its time for Pocket PC OS to support VGA and above, even if the devices are slightly larger.

How do others feel?

[ECOslin]

Along with my Audiovox Maestro, I've also an IBM z50 with 640 by 480 resolution. 6.5 inches wide by 5" high. Other than being out of date with WinCE 2.1(something or other) it does most anything I need with a near full size notebook keyboard. It also has an external VGA out, suitable for monitors and overhead projectors. Compact Flash, PCMCIA -that I've never used and infra-red. The 16 hour battery helps along with the sub $200 ebay price. I use it mostly to read ebooks and text files. I've occasionally used the keyboard to create files in PocketWord and PocketExcel.

I'd love to see a current PocketPC device that does as much for three times the price.

Edward

[vincentsiaw]

i wish they could make the resolution higher, but i don't want a bigger device, the ipaq is hard enough to carry around inside jeans pocket! :lol:

[spursdude]

i'm waiting on those roll-up screens...that will be the day. laptop sized screens fitting into a pocket pc sized device. mmmmm... :D

[ECOslin]

I'd seen the prototypes of the roll up screens, worked but the pixels seemed a little large. They were sprayed on the polymer backing.

I'm wonder how to support it open without scrape-ing the surface or bending it the wrong way? How would you hold it and enter data, other than voice?

I like my z50, I do have to carry it in a bookbag.

Edward

[Kati Compton]

So I'm sick of looking at dinky 3.5 to 4 inch screens and using sliders to read a sentence.

Its time for Pocket PC OS to support VGA and above, even if the devices are slightly larger.

How do others feel?

I like the looks of the 4" screen on the e550g, but don't want to have to upgrade my purse size to carry a PDA. ;)

Incidentally, I could see a problem at 640x480 with text being too small to read comfortably, so if the 4" screen were to be at that resoluion, I'd want an option to increase the font size, much like in a browser. My eyes, having looked at computer screens for 14 hours a day for many years, aren't all *that* great. ;)

[enemy2k2]

Oops, I didn't see the option of larger screens but devices same size. I would have picked that had I not already picked vga but no larger with same sized screen. I personally think they can push screens further out to the edges while at the same time reducing the size of the 'frame'. The Toshiba E550G looks to manage it well. The new Ipaq1910 is pretty much there too. Portable graphics processing units would have to be beefed up significantly though to display decent video with higher res'. Either way, I hope by my next PPC upgrade they would have higher resolution as standard, that's what it would probably take to get me to upgrade.

[jizmo]

I suppose that VGA is a thing that won't happen that soon. As many may have noticed PPC really isn't an ideal device if you are going to read longer text files, but vga resolution wouldn't really help this. It'd just cost more and make the devices bigger.

If one wants to read without having to scroll around all the time, there are programs that let you use the PPC in landscape mode (as you propably know). The resolution on 3"5 screen is more than sufficient for a little smaller fonts, and there are many good and readable fonts optimized for 6-8pts in the internet.

I'm not against it, but I wouldn't buy a VGA-device because it'd propably be just too expensive and the current resolution works just fine for me.

/jizmo

[KyleC]

Ther was a time when Pocket PC users bashed Palm (and friends) users when they had 160x160 greyscale and we had 320x240 12-bit color. Not, the new sonys come with 320x480 resolution, and Palm users are bashing us. I think that it's time to get a 640x480 or 640x960 to really blow the socks off the Palm OS community. Also, let's see if we can't get 24-bit color on PDAs... :)

[enemy2k2]

Ther was a time when Pocket PC users bashed Palm (and friends) users when they had 160x160 greyscale and we had 320x240 12-bit color. Not, the new sonys come with 320x480 resolution, and Palm users are bashing us. I think that it's time to get a 640x480 or 640x960 to really blow the socks off the Palm OS community. Also, let's see if we can't get 24-bit color on PDAs... :)

Competition.... I love it :twisted:

[Jonathon Watkins]

640x480 is the way to go. Then we can run all of our current apps with quad pixels, or run new high res versions. It's about time really.

Some new designs would be good as well - will someone other than HP PLEASE produce a clamshell design!

[Fishie]

640x480 is the way to go. Then we can run all of our current apps with quad pixels, or run new high res versions. It's about time really.

Some new designs would be good as well - will someone other than HP PLEASE produce a clamshell design!

Intermec has a cool looking one wich can double as a tablet type thingy, its called the Intermec 6651 and I have one on order, ill post my impressions about it once ive spend some time with it.
Also NEC also has its 790 wich has a killer screen from what I remember.

[Jonathon Watkins]

In fact, the 1.9 pound 6651 pioneers an entirely new form factor
But with a $1,325 price tag that only a corporate IS person could love

8O Ummm, thanks for the heads up Fishie, but I wanted something a bit lighter thatn 1.9 pounds and cheaper than $1,325! :D

http://www.pencomputing.com/frames/intermec_6651.html
http://www.cewindows.net/reviews/intermec6651.htm
http://computers.cnet.com/hardware/0-2709830-404-4772568.html

[Fishie]

In fact, the 1.9 pound 6651 pioneers an entirely new form factor
But with a $1,325 price tag that only a corporate IS person could love

8O Ummm, thanks for the heads up Fishie, but I wanted something a bit lighter thatn 1.9 pounds and cheaper than $1,325! :D

http://www.pencomputing.com/frames/intermec_6651.html
http://www.cewindows.net/reviews/intermec6651.htm
http://computers.cnet.com/hardware/0-2709830-404-4772568.html

Heh, I know its pricey but its exactly what I need.
Sold my ipaq already and my Axim will have to wait for a lil bit.
The Intermec will be severely roadtested next month when im in tokio and nagoya.

[Fishie]

Resolution 800by480, integrated swivel cam, can be used in tablet mode and even tough I searched around I havent found a single negative review yet, only complaints are the price.

[Janak Parekh]

Unfortunately, the Intermec is not a PPC, but rather an HPC... and not so new at that.

It's a competitor to HP's Jornada 728...

--janak

[Jonathon Watkins]

Unfortunately, the Intermec is not a PPC, but rather an HPC... and not so new at that.

It's a competitor to HP's Jornada 728...

--janak

Indeed - but some 'out of the box' thinking would be nice. It would be good to have more devices like the 728 .... please?

[Fishie]

I agree and as I mentioned before this sorta device is exactly what im looking for and the popularity of devices like the 720 on ebay and the prices they fetch shows that there is indeed sufficient demand.
Now with Samsung and a few others showing similar reference designs build around ce.net we might see a small resurgence of this type of unit.
I for one welcome them with open arms and meanwhile ill see if the Intermec fullfills my need sufficientlty.

[Janak Parekh]

Indeed - but some 'out of the box' thinking would be nice. It would be good to have more devices like the 728 .... please?
HPC's are hardly "thinking out of the box". There were a ton out there back in the WinCE 2.0 days. Basically, the public didn't buy them. Most people found them too big and laptop-like. MS gave up and keeps it primarily for vertical markets and such.

--janak

[ECOslin]

Indeed - but some 'out of the box' thinking would be nice. It would be good to have more devices like the 728 .... please?
HPC's are hardly "thinking out of the box". There were a ton out there back in the WinCE 2.0 days. Basically, the public didn't buy them. Most people found them too big and laptop-like. MS gave up and keeps it primarily for vertical markets and such.

--janak

That's exactly why I like my HPC, an IBM z50. I bought it after the big dump of IBM selling a $1400 product for less than $200. The 640 by 480 screen is good for reading. Not exactly right for using the internet but ok enough for checking my Hotmail. Built-in 33.6 modem does it's job. It's battery life is the best of my CE family devices.

True, it's bulky, basically it's a mini-notebook with a keyboard 95% the size of IBM's Thinkpad line, of which it has the appearance. I modified a bag to carry it around, like a notebook, but, I had to make a snugger pocket to fit it in, in the bag. It's day has past, there is little software out there and you really have to search for it or use a chat board.

It's currently semi-retired to a bedside table, where I jam CF cartridges into it with Baen e-books to read. The alarm is good and the initial screen I've used to find out what time it was. It's nice and lightweight and doesn't get hot like some notebooks do.

Edward

[Janak Parekh]

That's exactly why I like my HPC, an IBM z50.
Those are really nice units, I wish IBM didn't abandon them. Not only did they have what you mentioned, they had instant-on, which no laptop has, even with standby mode.

I saw someone at the GDC using it 2 years ago, and he could just literally flip the cover open and start taking notes, and then flip it closed the moment he was done. That's truly handy computing. :)

--janak

[Gen-M]

I'm happy with the current screen, but I wish my PPC supported a heads-up display at VGA or better resolution and USB or Bluetooth keyboard/mouse. That way it would still fit in my pocket, but I'd be able to browse the web and create documents when needed.