e550g owners out there?

[isrjt]

I think that this will be my next machine after the tax money the government has wrongly stolen from me is returned. I really like the idea of the 4" screen. Anyone have one of these, or have an opinion on them.

I looked at the 740 today at bestbuy, but beyond wireless (which I don't have set up, I do not seem any better than my 568), and I have never liked the Ipaq line - esp with that oval button pad.

CompUSA is advertising the e550 for 599 with 100 rebate in store. That seems like a pretty good deal to me.

[jimH]

:D There are quite a few of us 550G owners out here. You might want to visit www.pocketpcpda.com and the e550G Fan page at www.mobilecomputingsig.com/GenioE/index.htm.

Jim

[isrjt]

thanks

[Stake]

Though I am a proud owner of the e550G, I wouldn't get one now. There are a fair amount of problems that seem to go unanswered from Audiovox.

I believe that the iPaq 5400 series is king...for now...it's a bit expensive in the retail shops. I think there was a CostCo post that sold it for $580 (while supplies lasts) and at that price, it's a MUCH better deal. While it has Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, biometric reader and not to forget, the kick-ass screen and removable batteries, there are a few bugs that need to be fixed. People are complaining about them and it shouldn't be too hard to find on the iPaq forums.

My two co-workers liked what I got and bought e550Gs but returned them for a 5400 because of one major reason, dust under the screen. After about 2 weeks, you'll start to get a collection of dust that cannot be removed. And since it's a side-lit display, you'll see white specs in no time. I decided to crack my PDA open and seal it before it got worse but you shouldn't have to do that. The screen should be sealed in the first place!!

The only advantage the Genio has is that it's in a very thin form factor that includes a CF slot. The iPaq does not and requires a slightly bluky sleeve for expansion. It's a pain in the butt to keep the thing in your pocket with a sleeve. Though, if you don't use a MicroDrive (which will go up to 4GB this year) I don't think it'll be a big issue. By the way, the iPaq changed the directional pad to a round shape...

So to sum up, if you really want to get one, I would suggest the iPaq because of the "everything but the kitchen sink" factor and there's A LOT of accessories for it. Not to mention the bright screen with the rich colors. I'm bothered by the low brightness on the Genio and it's not really great for watching movies. Take a look at the screen side by side. You'll know what I'm talking about.

Lastly, if you really hate the iPaq, the Dell is also something you should consider since it's only $300 for the 400Mhz version.

Don't get a Genio...

[Pony99CA]

I think that this will be my next machine after the tax money the government has wrongly stolen from me is returned.

I think you mean the money that you foolishly lent the government interest-free by not taking enough time when filling out your W-4, right? :lol:

By the way, when is something rightfully stolen? ;-)

We now return to our regularly scheduled topic.

Steve

[isrjt]

Amazing how silly it is to allow the man to borrow money from me all year only for me to work so hard at my taxes to get it back. I try and make it around 0 or owe a 100 bucks, but it just did not work out that way this year.

Regarding the e550, that is depressing about the dust. I had that problem with the 568 in the beginning. It took me 3 before I got one that was and has remained clean. I like to unit and the d-pad. I will check one out this weekend.

Ipaqs, are just not for me

[thefidhler]

I purchased a iPAQ 5455 and found that
- I didn't really need Wi-Fi or Bluetooth.
- The IPAQ was huge with a CF plus expansion pack.
- The speaker was poor and not load enough to hear much.
- Bright screen - but the colors were faded out like the
brightness turned up too high on a tv.
- Great software and accessories available.

So I returned it and got a Genio.
- Great speaker, much louder. (Important for a fiddler that uses it to listen to music and GPS directions to fiddling events!)
- Large screen to put more stuff on today screen!
- Thinner to fit in purse with all other "must-have" electronic toys.
- I'm saving money because of limited accessories!

I've never had software or hardware problems and I still
can't see much of the dust they talk about.

So like everyone says, just find the right PDA for your needs.
The iPAQ is a great PocketPC, just not right for me.

PocketPCMagazine had an article about how to pick the right PDA for you.

[spursdude]

- Large screen to put more stuff on today screen!

Well, the resolution of all PPC devices is the same, so technically you can't fit more stuff on a Today screen...the Genio's larger screen is great on the eyes though. :)

[Pony99CA]

- Large screen to put more stuff on today screen!

Well, the resolution of all PPC devices is the same, so technically you can't fit more stuff on a Today screen...the Genio's larger screen is great on the eyes though. :)
I was going to point out the same thing regarding resolution.

I wonder where the point of diminishing returns for screen size is, though. Clearly, a 24" screen with a resolution of 320 x 240 would suck. The pixels would either be huge or the space between them would be. :-D Let's do some math!

In the PC world, I seem to recall people saying anything with a dot pitch of more than 0.28 mm (or was it 0.35 mm) was bad. To simplify things, I'll assume dot pitch on an LCD is equivalent to the number of millimeters per pixel.

My iPAQ 3870 has a 3.8" screen, and, assuming square pixels, that works out to a dot pitch of 0.18 mm. A 4" screen, like the Toshiba e550g, would have a dot pitch of 0.20 mm. To achieve a dot pitch of 0.35 mm, the screen could be about 5.51" diagonally.

Steve

[Janak Parekh]

In the PC world, I seem to recall people saying anything with a dot pitch of more than 0.28 mm (or was it 0.35 mm) was bad. To simplify things, I'll assume dot pitch on an LCD is equivalent to the number of millimeters per pixel.
Nowadays, it's more like .20-.25mm as the maximum you want. .28 is tolerable, but anything above looks fuzzy at high resolutions.

Of course, we're not really talking about dot pitch the same way they're on CRTs -- that refers to the precision of the electron beam in the monitor, irrespective of resolution. But your post makes sense, I believe -- you just need to invent a new term. How about "Pony Pitch"? ;)

--janak

[AndrewShuttleworth]

I really like the idea of the 4" screen. Anyone have one of these, or have an opinion on them.

I'm a very happy e550G owner, but I'm living in Japan and have the Japanese version so have the advantage of the support and resources of Toshiba (www.genio-e.com) rather than Audiovox who seem to get a lot of bad press. In addition to the good web site accessories are available here and Japanese OS upgrades are released quite quickly. I would certainly hesitate before investing in an English version for this reason.

As for the Japanese version, Toshiba have really stormed the Japanese Pocket PC market with the Genio and are king here in terms of market share. In overall PDAs sales the Genio is usually third after the Clie of the day and the Zaurus of the day.

For me the 4" screen was a big bonus and I as much as I like the look of the latest iPAQ I don't think I could go for anything without two slots built in. For one Bluetooth and 802.11x are evolving and I think it is somewhat risky to have them built into the device and secondly not having a CF slot rules out other options such as CF modems (wireless or wired), LAN cards, IR boosters, GPS cards, VGA adapters and digital cameras. SD is catching up and there are digital cameras and wireless modems on the market, but even if they had the full range available I'm sticking with SD for storage and need to keep the spare slot for that.

I've never had a problem with dust under the screen since I bought mine in June last year. I bought a screen protector which is almost a perfect fit and had worried about getting dust in the tiny gaps that weren't filled but it seems okay so far. In terms of hardware the only weak point I have found is that the top of the case has splintered close to where the two sides are held together. I put the device in a bag in the slip in case which leaves the top exposed, but still haven't handled it in a way that I would have expected this.

There are a small number of other e550 users in the small Pocket PC Japan Yahoo! Group linked from my humble site at www.pocketpcjapan.com.

Andrew

[Pony99CA]

Of course, we're not really talking about dot pitch the same way they're on CRTs -- that refers to the precision of the electron beam in the monitor, irrespective of resolution. But your post makes sense, I believe -- you just need to invent a new term. How about "Pony Pitch"? ;)

Yeah, LCDs work differently, which is why I put in a disclaimer stating, "I'll assume dot pitch on an LCD is equivalent to the number of millimeters per pixel. "

While I don't want to discourage a new term, "Pony Pitch" sounds like something disgusting or something that would get PETA people nervous. :lol:

If pixels are tightly packed, then millimeters per pixel (mmpp) should be sufficient, or simply "pixel size". :-)

Steve

[Ekkie Tepsupornchai]

Hmmm... I liked "Pony Pitch" better...

[octop8]

Well, I've had my e550g for more than 5 months now, and while there are some specs of dust under the screen, it is not as bad as what people would have you believe. In fact, I have a worst dust problem with my O2 xda and my SE T68i! As I understand it, all pdas would get dust under the screen - the only issue is whether you can see it. I guess for side-lit screens they become a little more visible.