Have you seen this page?

[crispeto]

And they're actually serious!

http://www.palm.com/products/compare/palmos-vs-pocketpc.html


Bwahahahahahahahahaha!

[dynomike27]

THOSE ARE LIES :roll:

[shawnc]

Those are DAMN lies!

[Pony99CA]

And they're actually serious!

http://www.palm.com/products/compare/palmos-vs-pocketpc.html


Bwahahahahahahahahaha!
Wow! Let's check a few of these out.


• The Pocket PC platform does not support mainstream handhelds or smart phones. Three separate platforms (Pocket PC, WinCE 3.0, and Stinger) with three unique application sets would be required to support the broad range of hardware that is supported by the Palm OS.

Ummm, what are "mainstream handhelds"? Does that mean "low-cost", like the Zire?

As for smart phones, if they count the Treo, Kyocera, etc., what about Pocket PC Phone Edition devices?


• Only Compact Flash and PC cards. Some products include an SD/MMC slot.

"Some products" include SD? Almost every Pocket PC 2002 device includes those now. And I didn't see PC card support in Palm's column.


• Limited selection of add-on hardware options.

"Limited" is of course subjective, but let's see what Palm claims for their devices:


• Hundreds of add-on hardware products exist including, keyboards, scanners, printers, cameras, GPSs, modems and voice recorders.

All of those exist for iPAQs except, possibly, scanners. If they mean low-cost text or business card scanners, those might not exist, but everything else does. I know that Symbol produces some high-end scanners for Pocket PCs.

And, of course, voice recording is standard in Pocket PCs.


• No integrated wireless Pocket PC solutions are available in the U.S. Expansion packs and/or cards must be purchased, making the Pocket PC solution even more expensive compared with Palm Powered wireless solutions.

I guess they haven't heard of Pocket PC Phone Edition and T-Mobile. :roll:

As I'm not a market researcher, I won't dispute the statistics, but if they can't get facts straight, what does that say?

Steve

[spursdude]

• Hundreds of add-on hardware products exist including, keyboards, scanners, printers, cameras, GPSs, modems and voice recorders.

All of those exist for iPAQs except, possibly, scanners. If they mean low-cost text or business card scanners, those might not exist, but everything else does. I know that Symbol produces some high-end scanners for Pocket PCs.


Well, barcode scanners, business card scanners...yeah Pocket PC has those.

For those interested, you can check out Microsoft's software comparison between the two platforms here (http://www.microsoft.com/mobile/pocketpc/learnmore/software/compare_software.asp). It's quite interesting...and mostly true.

As for Palm's thing, I find it ridiculous...their number of software titles was taken over a year ago, and only on Handango, which excludes a LOT of software.

As for software compatibility, ever since Microsoft streamlined processors by requiring ARM, it's been quite smooth sailing...I don't think there will be many compatibility problems any more. And what of those reports that some Palm OS5 users can't run most of their older software? 8O

As Pony99CA pointed out, Palm is just wrong about the expansion capabilities. TONS of models have either SD or CF, and a lot have both. The only Palm device with CF was the HandEra, which is long gone. Springboards are dead now, and the only reason they have Memory Stick is because Sony was able to manage to work it into Palm-based devices...

For connectivity, they majorly forget about CF modems / ethernet cards / wireless cards. Also bluetooth integrated PPCs...also new PPC Phone Editions...

The "PPC's are 6 to 10 oz" is a lie. Palm needs to update the PPC side of the column...

Oh and I'm sick of "typical usage scenarios." Why can't they just stick it in hours and be set? Also, I've heard that Clie's have awful battery life...

OK, if you read all that, congrats. But also, note that Palm forgot to mention a few things very dear to my heart - games and multimedia. :D

[Delta737]

Pocket PC devices range from 6 to 10 oz in weight. Add on wireless connectivity to the iPAQ and you are at 13 oz, more than twice as heavy as the Palm i705 integrated wireless handheld.

Well, I think my e310 weighs 4.7 oz! That's much less than most palms!!

Besides, what I noticed is that they compare most of this to Ipaq ONLY. They should compare it with every PPC

[Delta737]

It's funny to see what both compare. Check out what Microsoft compares:
http://www.microsoft.com/mobile/pocketpc/learnmore/software/compare_software.asp

[Solarsis]

Oh and I'm sick of "typical usage scenarios." Why can't they just stick it in hours and be set? Also, I've heard that Clie's have awful battery life...


My Clie, under "normal usage" lasted about 4 hours! sheesh! :?

[Janak Parekh]

BTW, guys, this is kind of old. For example, the weight argument is now dead.

In any case, honestly, what would you expect Palm to do? Say "Uhh, the PocketPC is superior, ignore our products"? :lol:

--janak

[BryGuy]

What a joke! :wink:

When was this article/comparison created and posted? It's obviously a very old article (notice no date on it.)

I'm wondering if ol'e Palm is feeling left out? I mean, Dell entered the PDA market in a BIG way, and guess what, they didn't put the Palm OS on their devices. Nope. They went with PPC, does that mean they see a huge (investment worthy) future for PPC and not Palm?

I've never used the Palm OS, so I can't say whether it's good or bad, but I have read many articles doing the PPC vs. Palm comparison. From what I have read, I would put my money on PPC being/becoming the leader and Palm always chasing.

My 2 cents.

BryGuy

[spursdude]

Oh and I'm sick of "typical usage scenarios." Why can't they just stick it in hours and be set? Also, I've heard that Clie's have awful battery life...


My Clie, under "normal usage" lasted about 4 hours! sheesh! :?

Maybe it does...some Palm's can blast PPC out of the water in battery life. Some have better battery life, some have awful life...I guess I overgeneralized a bit - I've heard that some Clie models have bad battery life; I'm sure some have great battery life.

[Pony99CA]

Well, barcode scanners, business card scanners...yeah Pocket PC has those.

I thought there might be business card scanners that supported Pocket PC synchronization, like CardScan (http://www.cardscan.com/products/pdas.asp), but I wasn't sure if I'd seen a scanner that actually attached to a Pocket PC.

Well, if you have an iPAQ with a PCMCIA sleeve, there apparently is. Look at the TravelScan Pocket scanners (http://www.syscaninc.com/en/products/pocket.htm). Whether those are still available (one is for OEMs only), I don't know....

Do you have links to any others?


For those interested, you can check out Microsoft's software comparison between the two platforms here (http://www.microsoft.com/mobile/pocketpc/learnmore/software/compare_software.asp). It's quite interesting...and mostly true.

Mostly. :-) Here's the one I didn't get:


Pocket PC 2002
A powerful notification engine lets users know about and gives you the opportunity to act upon new e-mail or instant messages, appointments, and critical events through displays, sounds, or integrated hardware lights. Notifications are customizable for certain applications.

Palm
Limited to simple alarms, LED and pop-up reminders. Not customizable by application.

Given that Microsoft's "powerful notification engine" doesn't work a lot of the time, I would brag too much there. :roll:

Also, what doesn't the Palm OS have that the Pocket PC does? Maybe icons in the title bar? Does the Palm support snoozing an alarm?


As Pony99CA pointed out, Palm is just wrong about the expansion capabilities. TONS of models have either SD or CF, and a lot have both. The only Palm device with CF was the HandEra, which is long gone. Springboards are dead now, and the only reason they have Memory Stick is because Sony was able to manage to work it into Palm-based devices...

I didn't mention it in my first post, but there is a Pocket PC that supports Memory Stick, too. Check out the Acer n20 Pocket PC (http://global.acer.com/products/pda/n20.htm).

Steve

[Janak Parekh]

I didn't mention it in my first post, but there is a Pocket PC that supports Memory Stick, too. Check out the Acer n20 Pocket PC (http://global.acer.com/products/pda/n20.htm).
Don't forget the CF+MS sleeve (http://www.pitech.com/hardware/iCFMS/ipCFMS_index.htm).

--janak

[handheldplanet]

This issue will never die until Palm does at the beginning of 2004 (as if M$ would).

Anyway, an entertaining read for sure!

[ExtremeSIMS]

Macintosh Support
Palm
• Native Macintosh support.
Pocket PC
• No support. Users must run a PC emulator. 3rd party software coming.


Eh, a bit true. Then again, syncing with a Clie requires 3rd party software.

[lucia316]

Found a date.

Software Developers

• Currently (01/02) over 200,000 registered developers with over 30% developing the full range of enterprise software.

• Developer enthusiasm is limited due to Microsoft's bundling of its own applications with PocketPC and its tendency of making architectures and products obsolete without advance warning.

Notice the date of 1/02 under the Palm heading for Software developers.

Also, any company is going to play up what it perceives as its strong points. However twisted they may seem.

L316 8)

[Pony99CA]

I didn't mention it in my first post, but there is a Pocket PC that supports Memory Stick, too. Check out the Acer n20 Pocket PC (http://global.acer.com/products/pda/n20.htm).
Don't forget the CF+MS sleeve (http://www.pitech.com/hardware/iCFMS/ipCFMS_index.htm).

I hadn't. I was specifically ignoring sleeves, and only counting Pocket PCs that had built-in capability for handling a given media format. Otherwise, you could probably count support if there was an adapter available that fit a slot you had -- like a CF to Memory Stick adapter or PC Card to SmartMedia adapter. I didn't want to give any Palm supporters a loophole. :-)

Steve