Dream Pocket PC

[JonnoB]

There have been lots of 'wish list' threads about what a Pocket PC should have. I want to share my wish list with others and find out what others wish they could have in their Pocket PC.... but in doing so, not wishing for things that are not available (like 640x480 resolution) but based on features already available on one Pocket PC or another brought together in one ultimate Pocket PC. Here is my dream Pocket PC.

Feature (where available)
4" screen (Toshiba e550g)
Transflective, back-lit display (iPaq, Viewsonic, Dell Axim, etc)
64MB RAM (most makes - 128MB when available)
48MB ROM (iPaq, Axim, etc)
Scroll wheel/buttons (many makes)
Voice record
5-way DPAD (most current models)
Seperate action key (Jornada, others?)
4 application buttons (most models)
Consumer IR (iPaq)
Integrated WiFi and BT (iPaq 54xx)
Integrated phone (Spaceneedle)
Multiple (more than 1) memory expandion/IO slots without sleeve - CFII and SDIO or 2 SDIO (CFII in some, SDIO in others)
Replacable battery (many models now)
Real backup battery (Jornada, etc)
Integrated cover (Jornada)
Optional sleeve expansion - not required for any of these features however :)
Small form factor (iPaq 1910, Viewsonic, etc)
Update:
Biometric features (iPaq 54xx finger scanning, etc)

Am I missing a feature that is available in a current PDA that should be in the ultimate Pocket PC?

Finally, if you could get all of these things, would you pay for them with a higher price?

[Rirath]

All this and the size of a V35 eh? :) Give me a few ghz processor and Geforce 5 CE. As for price... no, probably not. I mean, if they figure out how to do all that, chances are it'll be Dell and it'll be cheap anyhow. :wink:

[JonnoB]

All this and the size of a V35 eh? :) Give me a few ghz processor and Geforce 5 CE. As for price... no, probably not. I mean, if they figure out how to do all that, chances are it'll be Dell and it'll be cheap anyhow. :wink:

Well the point is to make a device based on technology and features already available in existing PDAs. The size may be difficult, but I think we will be surprised by the continued squeezing of features into compact devices. The few Ghz processor will come soon enough. For now, everything on my list is what is already possible.

[spg]

What about fingerprint recognition (iPaq 54xx)? To me this is a great security tool for business users who carry sensitive information on their PPC.

[JonnoB]

What about fingerprint recognition (iPaq 54xx)? To me this is a great security tool for business users who carry sensitive information on their PPC.

Good one, I can't believe I missed that one! I will edit my list. Although I do not have such a device, it does appear after reviews to be quite handy. I was skeptical at first, but I can definately see the uses for it now.

I hope someone comes up with class of service/access type features for the Pocket PC using this type of technology. An administrator for example could install apps, but users (different finger prints) would have use-only access to the device.

[spg]

I hope someone comes up with class of service/access type features for the Pocket PC using this type of technology. An administrator for example could install apps, but users (different finger prints) would have use-only access to the device.
Yes, that would be very cool. I hadn't thought of using it in that way. Maybe someone could also make it so that I could let my little sister play games on it, but do nothing else. Now that would be really cool! :lol:

[Sven Johannsen]

Maybe someone could also make it so that I could let my little sister play games on it, but do nothing else. Now that would be really cool! :lol:

Oh, My God, Microsoft Bob.Net

[justBe]

what about a pda that last a week? or more? like those old palms??? i want that!!!! :D

[mookie123]

Sporty looking h1910, (slightly larger is ok, but absolutely smaller than current 3xxx)
400mhz manual down trottle.
128mb
current sreen quality, maybe add reflectivity for autdoor use, but not milky 100% transreflective like old iPAQ.
replaceable battery,
SD/IO,
mic in/out, highquality audio.
USB on-the-go (or at least a sleeve USB)
It should have mini sleeve, like ipaq (CF, Wireless, extra battery)

[ipaq38vette]

I would like landscape support without the need for a soft reset.

While I'm dreoming,
I world like or mic in and a Midi input. :)

[JonnoB]

I would like landscape support without the need for a soft reset.

While I'm dreoming,
I world like or mic in and a Midi input. :)

I am afraid that there is no currently available midi-in capability native to the current crop of Pocket PC devices.

[shawnc]

What is probably the most purchased accessory? SD/CF card. I would add to the list 512MB of built-in storage. This would likely eliminates the need for dual-slots for the majority of users. One SDIO will suffice.

I just recieved my first SD card for my new Dell. Amazing that they can put 512MB of storage in such a small medium. Most of the size comes from the plastic case. Eliminate that, and how impractical would it be to build the memory into the PPC?

Just a non-techie thinkin out loud. You know, since we're dreaming :D !

[jornadaholic]

Seperate action key (Jornada, others?)

i love this feature of my jornada 568 i was a little shocked to see that other pocket pc oems didnt include this in any of the new models the seperate action key is a life saver if your a gamer like me
and of course the cover that it comes with this is one thing that palm has over pocket pcs as far as i know every palm comes with its own cover

[JonnoB]

Not every Palm comes with a cover, but the good ones do. The nice thing about the Jornada is that it could be removed and still look nice. It did not add bulk and you don't have to worry about scratching the screen when putting it in your pocket.

The seperate button really makes sense. On my old iPaq, I would push down on the DPad when I did not want to... and when I wanted to, I would inadvertently go right or up at the same time.

[Rirath]

What is probably the most purchased accessory? SD/CF card. I would add to the list 512MB of built-in storage. This would likely eliminates the need for dual-slots for the majority of users. One SDIO will suffice.

But what about when 512MB isn't enough to store squat anymore and 1-3GB CF cards are cheap? You don't have dual slots, so you limit yourself again. Besides that, it would up the price of each device dramatically. I'm not paying $550 for a $350 Dell just to have extra built in memory.

[JonnoB]

But what about when 512MB isn't enough to store squat anymore and 1-3GB CF cards are cheap? You don't have dual slots, so you limit yourself again. Besides that, it would up the price of each device dramatically. I'm not paying $550 for a $350 Dell just to have extra built in memory.

Right... and it is not about total memory, but sometimes portable memory. I may only need 256 of extra memory, but I need to swap out that memory frequently (MP3 files, movies, etc)... and yet, still need the IO expansion. More memory integrated (like the e750) and yet still dual expansion slots.

[Gen-M]

I want USB Host capability (Toshiba, CASIO, NEC) so I can use inexpensive USB keyboard and external hard drive.

[Rirath]

True USB would be incredible someday... oh how I'd love plugging in a USB gamepad.

[Fzara]

What is probably the most purchased accessory? SD/CF card. I would add to the list 512MB of built-in storage. This would likely eliminates the need for dual-slots for the majority of users. One SDIO will suffice.

I just recieved my first SD card for my new Dell. Amazing that they can put 512MB of storage in such a small medium. Most of the size comes from the plastic case. Eliminate that, and how impractical would it be to build the memory into the PPC?

Just a non-techie thinkin out loud. You know, since we're dreaming :D !

Please tell me you're JOKING. 512MB Ram?!? Are you drunk or stoned?
The battery would last a good 35 minutes and then die on you! haha, more RAM=Less battery life, which is why Palm and Sony decided only to put on 16mb memory, and let the user add more with the SD slot.

Geez, i cant sleep now...512mb memory...what were you thinking when you wrote that...

[Kati Compton]

Well, I have a 512MB CF card and everything is fine.

[spursdude]

Please tell me you're JOKING. 512MB Ram?!? Are you drunk or stoned?
The battery would last a good 35 minutes and then die on you! haha, more RAM=Less battery life, which is why Palm and Sony decided only to put on 16mb memory, and let the user add more with the SD slot.

Geez, i cant sleep now...512mb memory...what were you thinking when you wrote that...

Yeah, I agree with Kati, although I'm not sure what the difference is in power-consumption between internal and external RAM. However, I don't think that 512MB RAM will really take up too much battery life. Jason posted a few weeks back on how he got his PPC upgraded to 128MB internal RAM, and hasn't noticed much of a power decrease. Besides, with big batteries coming around like on the Dell, where users can get upwards of 10 hours, I don't think the extra RAM will cause that much of a battery life decrease.

And not all dreamers are drunk or stoned... :D

[JonnoB]

Please tell me you're JOKING. 512MB Ram?!? Are you drunk or stoned?
The battery would last a good 35 minutes and then die on you! haha, more RAM=Less battery life, which is why Palm and Sony decided only to put on 16mb memory, and let the user add more with the SD slot.

Geez, i cant sleep now...512mb memory...what were you thinking when you wrote that...

The battery consumption for memory is negligible if anything at all. Take a look at the battery effects of PPCTech 128mb upgrades - indications is that there is little or no change at all.

The reason Sony and Palm didn't put more memory is because they don't have a real file system, don't have powerfull applications and thus, can't take advantage of more memory. They spewed this FUD before and when it became important to play MP3 files and view images, they had to add external MP3 players with lots of memory and add SD memory slots.

I hope that you coming to this board will mean you learn to pull back the wool covering the eyes of those who have listened to this kind of PalmOS inspired mistakes.

[mookie123]

One thing I don't understand, why can't they just integrate the same Flash chip as in CF/SD card and threat it as internal Hardrive? put 128/256MB, that should be plenty enough for everybody until the end of next year.
ROM for basic OS only, big flash for storage, and RAM for running application.

must be some engineering reason.

[JonnoB]

One thing I don't understand, why can't they just integrate the same Flash chip as in CF/SD card and threat it as internal Hardrive? put 128/256MB, that should be plenty enough for everybody until the end of next year.
ROM for basic OS only, big flash for storage, and RAM for running application.

must be some engineering reason.

Sure, this can be done - but would you sacrifice the benefits of smaller size? A plug-in card that allows you much more virtual storage is better for more people. The internal RAM acts like a hard drive as well - you can install apps to it and the OS will intelligently split the space for memory and storage. More here (integrated) would mean more memory and permanent-carry storage. Add-in storage however should always be available for those more non-permanent yet high-capacity storage requirements like music, images, and videos.

[ariza1]

Give me all the the power and features of the PocketPC but give me the form factor of the new Sony Clie - PEG-NX70V

[ipaq38vette]

I read somewhere that Panasonic (I think it was Panosonic) was going to, by 2004, produce a 16gb SD card. Now i don't know what you guys do with your space, but I couldnt figure out what to do with 16 gigs of pocket pc space. Accoding to Snapstream,
http://www.snapstream.com/products/pocketpvs/faq.htm
using their TV product, you could fit 17 hours of 240x180 standary quality TV on a 1gb microdrive. Multiply that by 16gb an the result is 272 hours of video! My iPaq battery lasts only 4 hours, if that.8O

That brings me to my next point. In my dream PPC, battery life is a priority. As somebody mentioned above, I would love a PPC with a week-long battery.

Note: Sorry if the above link was long and screwed up the scrolling. Can somebody tell me how to put a link in a word, like everyone else?

[Kati Compton]

Sure, this can be done - but would you sacrifice the benefits of smaller size?

But it would probably be significantly smaller if integrated into the main PPC hardware instead of as a card. The card packaging is most likely a very significant proportion of the size. Having something like 512MB as onboard storage would be nice, but really only if there were still expansion slots for the people that always need more than what's in the hardware.

As for the other comment that ~256MB should be enough until next year - if you're just talking about program storage, I'd believe you. But multimedia storage (mp3's, movies) or downloaded web content can take up a ton of room. Which is why the removeable storage is important.

[Janak Parekh]

I read somewhere that Panasonic (I think it was Panosonic) was going to, by 2004, produce a 16gb SD card. Now i don't know what you guys do with your space, but I couldnt figure out what to do with 16 gigs of pocket pc space.
Sure you could. Why do iPod's sell in 20GB versions today? I'd love to have a 16GB SD card...

To put links inline, use the BBcode URL tag. See http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/faq.php?mode=bbcode.

--janak

[Janak Parekh]

Well, I have a 512MB CF card and everything is fine.
Of course, flash memory and low-power SDRAM are different beasts. :) Still, you could use a hybrid of flash memory and SDRAM inside a device to accomplish very low-power 512MB RAM, or by the time we get around to it the power requirements for the SDRAM will have decreased. As miniturization continues, density increases but the power requirements go up more slowly. Otherwise our P4's and Athlon's would have already burned holes through our machines, the carpets in the floor and down through the core of the earth :lol:

--janak

[shawnc]

What is probably the most purchased accessory? SD/CF card. I would add to the list 512MB of built-in storage. This would likely eliminates the need for dual-slots for the majority of users. One SDIO will suffice.

I just recieved my first SD card for my new Dell. Amazing that they can put 512MB of storage in such a small medium. Most of the size comes from the plastic case. Eliminate that, and how impractical would it be to build the memory into the PPC?

Just a non-techie thinkin out loud. You know, since we're dreaming :D !

Please tell me you're JOKING. 512MB Ram?!? Are you drunk or stoned?
The battery would last a good 35 minutes and then die on you! haha, more RAM=Less battery life, which is why Palm and Sony decided only to put on 16mb memory, and let the user add more with the SD slot.

Geez, i cant sleep now...512mb memory...what were you thinking when you wrote that...

Niether drunk or stoned, just dreaming (that was the point of the post). Can't sleep now? May I suggest a sedative (or a straight-jacket), sounds like you have some issues that extend beyond what this forum can provide.

Relax, it was just a post about dreaming!

[Kati Compton]

Well, I have a 512MB CF card and everything is fine.
Of course, flash memory and low-power SDRAM are different beasts.

I was under the impression that flash memory was what Rirath was referring to that the other poster objected to so much on the basis of power consumption.

[Janak Parekh]

I was under the impression that flash memory was what Rirath was referring to that the other poster objected to so much on the basis of power consumption.
Yes, I guess you're right. This time. ;) In that case, I guess you'd have your standard 64MB or 128MB RAM, and a massive file store alongside it.

--janak

[JonnoB]

Yes, I guess you're right. This time. ;) In that case, I guess you'd have your standard 64MB or 128MB RAM, and a massive file store alongside it.

--janak

Internaly memory (run-time memory plus some storage) should be increased in the future lines of PocketPC devices. I just wouldn't ever want people to think we could get rid of the portable memory (easy to swap out) mediums where we could exchange large amounts of data between devices or use for offline storage. Higher capacity SD cards seem to be the obvious choice for now. If SDIO peripherals become more widely available eliminating the need for CF, I can see dual SDIO slots being size friendly and getting the job done in the devices that come out over the next year.

[Fzara]

Alright, alright, I apologize for that inane comment.

Wow, two apologies today. I must have really been a diff. person last night.

I was under the assumption that more memory meant more power consumption, and thus was the reason that Palm and Sony didnt include more memory.

[JonnoB]

Alright, alright, I apologize for that inane comment.

No apologies necessary... that is what is great about these forums - a community where people can help each other and share ideas (Thoughts) about Pocket PCs.

[shawnc]

Alright, alright, I apologize for that inane comment.

No apologies necessary... that is what is great about these forums - a community where people can help each other and share ideas (Thoughts) about Pocket PCs.

I respectfully disagree! What is great about these forums is that sharing of ideas are encouraged. When someone takes an OBVIOUS personal shot at someone else simply because they can't stretch their imagination beyond the very narrow limits of their own mind, then an apology IS in order.