The PocketPC of your Dreams

[Bruno Figueiredo]

Just wonderin'...

What would be the PocketPC of your dreams?

Mine would come with:

- 256Mb RAM, 64Mb ROM.
- CF (Type II) and SD (SDIO) Slots.
- Built in WiFi and Bluotooth (and maybe GSM).
- Built in 1.3MPx swivel lens Digital Camera (with ability to make 320x240 videos)
- PXA 255 400Mhz (or the next faster one... :) )
- Cradle with de-attachable sync&charge cord (with small form factor - or maybe built in)
- Transreflective (200candelas) screen with 640x480 resolution.
- Abilty to easily put & remove acrilic screen protectors (dust proof).
- A slide away keyboard just like nokia's 7650 phone, or just like zire 71
but with a full keyboard.
- At least a switchable 4000Ma battery to last 32h of median use and 8 intensive use.
- Rocker switch and audio recording button.
- A series of buttons to switch from (maybe a 20pc set). A button mapped with MediaPlayer that looks like contacts its a pain.
- Full size jog to play games.
- Stereo speakers (a mini boom box... eh eh)
- a transparent screen cover that slides evenly to the back.
- a stilo with a real pen on the other end (with a cap)
- 2 leds (configurable)
- a swith on button that turns the backlight off with another press, and with another switching off the screen entirely.
- a lock buttons switch.
- a built in 2.5Gb hard drive.
- Full metal body (maybe titanium)

All this and a 6Gb CF and 1Gb SD Card... Sweet...

Wheight: no more than 120grams
Dimensions: like an ipaq 1940 (maybe a litlle bit more but not a brick)
Price: No more than $400

Oh... Drooling...
:Fade-color

(PS: Hey you missed a drooling emoticon!!!)[/list]

[Bruno Figueiredo]

So, no one ever thought of this?

[aroma]

It's not that no one ever thought of this... it's that this same post comes up about once every week or two... :wink:

[GoldKey]

I want full Office compatibility, CF, SDIO, Built in Bluetooth, Wi-f, phone, GPS and camera, but those are common. I want to just carry my PDA and that is it. I want my car to be bluetooth enabled so I can use it to unlock my doors, start the engine, etc. I want it to control my garage door so I can get into my house without keys, I want it to be able to do electronic transactions at the store so I don't have to carry credit cards. I want it to pick up TV broadcasts, I want web access everywhere for cheap. I want a 640X480 display with landscape support. With all this stuff, I want biometric security. How about a highly efficient solar panel built in so that it can recharge whenever you have it out? I want the size of a 1910, I want the battery capacity of the Dell, I want a 4 inch screen. Maybe one of those projection keyboards. I want tons of storage. Oh and a flip cover :wink: And I want it cheap.

[Bruno Figueiredo]

Oh yeah... I forgot the projection keyboard. And maybe one of those new microengine batteries. And those litlle scub-and-print printers built in too...

[KayMan2k]

Oh, why the heck not?

In 5 years....
-640x480 Tactile OCD Screen
-1Ghz X-Scale 3 Processor (with 400mhz FSB)
-1Gig internal XDR memory
-2 multifunctional radios (can be used for wifi, bluetooth, rf control, cell phone. fm radio, etc...)
-1 integrated satellite reciever for GPS and satellite phone
-24 hour battery life
-A/V in to be used as a portable TV (for gaming console, or the such)
-ATI Imageon 500 (with 3D accelerator capabilities)
-a LOUD speaker (h5xxx losses right here!)
-some sort of small expandabiltiy port - possibly SD/IO
-CONSUMER INFRA-RED!!!!!!

Price $549.99 (with Windows Mobile 2008/Linux dualboot and Palm 7.0 Emulator)

[KayMan2k]

Oh yeah... I forgot the projection keyboard.

I wa also thinking that but forgot to post it... hey, maybe even holographic keyboard in time?

[Bruno Figueiredo]

Hollographic... Say, that sounds great. You could project your favorite keyboard. Maybe the keys when pressed could load a keypressing sound.

Like your specs though...

It'll be cool if we could get anywhere cable and net access. Like we do with cellphones.

Though, i prefer to have a cellphone separate. I thinks it's more convenient.

[Bruno Figueiredo]

About software:

MS Reader:
- Faster Search
- Full Screen Capability
- Text-to-Speech

Pocket Word:
- Tables and Image Support

Pocket Outlook:
- Send Mail / Open Homepage in Contacts
- HTML e-mail

Pocket IE:
- Full screen and Zoom
- Landscape Mode
- No degrading

Other Office Apps:
- Pocket Powerpoint
- Pocket Access

Owner Info:
- A send vcard button right there. Maybe on the today page too...

Task Bar:
- A down arrow that taskswitched just like Pelmarinc Wisbar

[dh]

Call me a boring old git if you want, but I would be happy if Dell would make a new version of the X5 but with 802.11b and BT embedded. (X7?)

The Axim basically does everything I need and does it very well. My only issue is that I swap out my CF memory card with my WiFi card many times a day and it would be very nice not to have to.

I don't need BT right now, but I'm sure I'll get a BT phone at some point so it would be good to have BT capability just in case.

Of the current PPCs the one that comes closest to my ideal is the Tosh e550. I don't think I'm excited enough about it to actually buy one at this point though. I'm sure that if I bought one today, Sprint would have a BT phone tomorrow.

I'm absolutly not a sledder so no Ipaq 5550 for me!

[solus]

Being that I really can't get much use out of a pda if its ungodly large (i.e. can't fit in pocket), I probably won't be able to experience integrated wifi and bluetooth w/ both expansion slots for a while. the 2215 is the closest so far, I'd say. Stupid finger-prints on back do seem like they'd get on my nerves...couldn't have hurt to put some of that coating that the Axim's have on them :mrgreen:

[KayMan2k]

How about the 1945 (with built-in bluetooth) and later this summer get the WiFi SD card? Its still very small and you would get the WiFi BT experience.

[Excalliber]

How about the 1945 (with built-in bluetooth) and later this summer get the WiFi SD card? Its still very small and you would get the WiFi BT experience.

Or you could wait for those wonderful WiFi + 256 meg SDIO cards (if there was a drool smilie, insert here... Jason, we need more smilies! :D ). If those were out now, I'd spring for a 1940 in a heartbeat.

[takotchi]

Well, I'm not going to post everything, but something I'd like is to have *two* or maybe even three SD I/O slots. They are so tiny, so you'd think they'd be able to put more than one of 'em in a PPC. That way, you could have multiple cards installed, but not have either of them be bulky CF...

Just a thought. It might not even be possible... but I figure since the iPAQ has a dual CF sleeve, dual or triple SD I/O would be possible.

[Skitals]

-half-vga resolution
-1gb ram
-512mb rom (~450mb file store)
-SDIO
-CF typeII
-bluetooth
-wifi
-cdma/1x (helluva lot faster then gsm/gprs and much much better coverage here)
-gps (bluetooth lets the gps be used on other bt devices like your laptop)
-a single fold design like the clies with the rotating screen to use in tablet mode. but with a better keyboard then the clies. Also smaller... size of the 2210 when folded.
-4" screen

[Skitals]

How about the 1945 (with built-in bluetooth) and later this summer get the WiFi SD card? Its still very small and you would get the WiFi BT experience.

Or you could wait for those wonderful WiFi + 256 meg SDIO cards (if there was a drool smilie, insert here... Jason, we need more smilies! :D ). If those were out now, I'd spring for a 1940 in a heartbeat.

Or how about just wait for a 1900 series with SDIO + CF type 2. They can make it fit... oh they can make it fit. While there at it, add more ram. Oh... and move the ir port to the top. And get a better dpad. Actually, integrate WiFi while your at it. Then you will have both the SD and CF open for other things. Oh... and put in a 3mp digi cam... lense on the back.

then you will be set.

[jaybird]

A decive the size of contact lense with the power of a desktop and a seemless input device using voice comands and hand gestures.

Maybe I'll see something like this before I die :)

[Kati Compton]

-half-vga resolution
Um..... Why not the full 640x450, may I ask?

[GoldKey]

The prob is we want the power of a desktop in a pda. By the time the miniturize it that much, our desktops will so much more powerful and then we will want that level of power. I still am amazed that my office issue laptop is like 400mhz. I keep telling my boss that it is pitiful that I have that speed in my pda and that considering I am an IT auditor the office can't provide the equipment I need (or at least want :wink: ). I bring in my own equipment to do scans for wireless networks on audits and brought in my own PC to experiment with tools I can't have on the network.

[Thinkingmandavid]

I like real estate, so I want my pda to have more screen space. I am thinking about maybe five inches. I want the option of having one that has more wiidth which to me is much more practical for reading excel and word sheets, playing games, writing, and whatever else i want to do. NO less than 1 gig in speed and 1 gig of ram. I want that baby to scream with speed:) I like the idea of a sliding out keyboard, that was a tight idea;)
If we cant get everything already built in, then it should be there is everything in sd size and wiht increased speed. I like the gsm,gprs,wi fi, bt, radio, heck sounds to me it could be a tazer, haha
maybe a little bit of ai????hehe
Most I venture to say I would like to see this offered in the MS OS and in the Symbian OS, and why not the Linux OS as well:)
And a decent price? well no more than four hundred in my opinion. They are makign these and they are greater, butr todays economy, I think they are just too much. The 2215 is a good idea because of what you are gettting for the price, but then again, how about 299 for it?!:)
Ok, I could keep going on and on...next post:)

[Skitals]

Tell someone the size and specs of the 2210 only two years ago. Think about how far we have come. Twice the processing power, twice the ram, twice the rom, twice the expansion slots, more then twice the number of colors. Now imagine in two more years, if all the specs double again. 800mhz baby :P

[mpda]

Come on, folks, its a dream ppc:

-Unlimited RAM, Preloaded with every song ever made, every game ever made.
-Unlimited ROM, preinstalled with Windows XP, Apple OSX, Suse Linux, and of course PPC 2005
-10GHz Processor speed
-Up to 1024x768 Resolution (For amazing game play)
-Unlimited graphics RAM
-Free internet access, at 10mbps
-Bluetooth
-GPS
-Built in phone that lets you make unlimited free calls anywhere
-A very small form factor, made of strong aluminium with scratch resistance (0.25cm thick, with the width and height of the current ppc screen).
-Price: Free

[Darius Wey]

Wow - you certainly dug this thread up! It's interesting reading some of the earlier posts and seeing how some of today's devices have features which are very similar to what people put in their wishilists.

[Stephen Beesley]

Wow - you certainly dug this thread up! It's interesting reading some of the earlier posts and seeing how some of today's devices have features which are very similar to what people put in their wishilists.

But also interesting to see the features that have not made it into today's PPCs. In particular I am thinking about how battery technology has still not given us the types of "run time" that people seem to want, and also the pre-installed "Pocket Office" apps really have not changed since the original PPC OS (although there are of course rumoured to be changes in WM2005...)

[PDANEWBIE]

1024x768 Resolution for gameplay you forgot to mention so tiny you need to get one of those old people's magnifying glasses to play :)

Heck I can live with just about any PDA form factor... the only thing I can't stand is the PDA's lack of ability to do PIM profiles and hot swap between them to be able to sync 2 different functioned information onto the same device simply and easily.

All I want is some button to change profiles allow me to pick between work or home and then sync accordingly :(

There is no need to have 2 PDA's one for home and one for work just to keep the data seperate.

[Cybrid]

1024x768 Resolution for gameplay you forgot to mention so tiny you need to get one of those old people's magnifying glasses to play :). Ever watch the movie "Brazil"?

[PDANEWBIE]

Nope - Should I? :)

[Typhoon]

Just wonderin'...

What would be the PocketPC of your dreams?

Mine would come with:

- 256Mb RAM, 64Mb ROM.
- CF (Type II) and SD (SDIO) Slots.
- Built in WiFi and Bluotooth (and maybe GSM).
- Built in 1.3MPx swivel lens Digital Camera (with ability to make 320x240 videos)
- PXA 255 400Mhz (or the next faster one... :) )
- Cradle with de-attachable sync&charge cord (with small form factor - or maybe built in)
- Transreflective (200candelas) screen with 640x480 resolution.
- Abilty to easily put & remove acrilic screen protectors (dust proof).
- A slide away keyboard just like nokia's 7650 phone, or just like zire 71
but with a full keyboard.
- At least a switchable 4000Ma battery to last 32h of median use and 8 intensive use.
- Rocker switch and audio recording button.
- A series of buttons to switch from (maybe a 20pc set). A button mapped with MediaPlayer that looks like contacts its a pain.
- Full size jog to play games.
- Stereo speakers (a mini boom box... eh eh)
- a transparent screen cover that slides evenly to the back.
- a stilo with a real pen on the other end (with a cap)
- 2 leds (configurable)
- a swith on button that turns the backlight off with another press, and with another switching off the screen entirely.
- a lock buttons switch.
- a built in 2.5Gb hard drive.
- Full metal body (maybe titanium)

All this and a 6Gb CF and 1Gb SD Card... Sweet...

Wheight: no more than 120grams
Dimensions: like an ipaq 1940 (maybe a litlle bit more but not a brick)
Price: No more than $400

Oh... Drooling...
:Fade-color

(PS: Hey you missed a drooling emoticon!!!)[/list]

Shez, how big and thick is your dream PDA?? lol sounds like 1 inch... all this won't happen for $400 unless they make laptops the exact same size for $600.

[ethancaine]

I like the feel and look of my X50v, so all the following are above and beyond the specs for that device:

-ActiveSync that works (multiple computer email sync, at least two)
-Windows XP port (I'm tired of these half-arsed attempts at an OS) with a fully compatible version of office (maybe not fully functional, but it should never remove formatting or render macros defunct)
-We're almost there, so a 1GHz processor seems acceptable
-RAM is cheap, dump it in: 512mb seems acheivable and ample
-ROM... hello? is anyone there? give us a Gig
-Expansion slots: with all the marvelous engineering in our society, don't you think someone could come up with a slot that accomidates both SDIO and CF? If they did, and we had 512Mb RAM and 1Gb ROM, how many of us would need to use both types os slot at the same time?
-Wireless, how do you say, oh yeah, G! 802.11g (or that new crap)
-Battery Technology: The Lost Art
-I think native landscape mode including an appropriate button layout (with the ability to rotate to portrait) would be great, and having the same machine available in both form factors would be awesome.
-speaking of screens, how about one that pops up and over (kinda like those portable DVD players) to reveal a keyboard underneath.
-Headphone / ext. microphone combination jack
-CPU speed indicator, something that visible at all times that quickly indicates the cpu speed stepping (maybe series of blinks in red on the wireless LED... one red blink is low power mode, two is is a step above that, etc.) that is on/off configurable

That's it for now... at least while I'm awake enough to keep my expectations realistic.

BTW: I think the LED blinker idea would be feasible for those of you with the know how... just change the curent 'WLAN On' blinker to blink multiple times. Could be a great freeware idea or an addition to SPB PocketPlus

[rocky_raher]

1024x768 Resolution for gameplay you forgot to mention so tiny you need to get one of those old people's magnifying glasses to play :). Ever watch the movie "Brazil"?

Good reference!!

For those who haven't seen it, Brazil is a movie that takes place in a future dystopia. One of the nice touches was that their computers were so primitive. Desktop computers had tiny screens (about 3" square or so, IIRC), and were equipped with large lenses propped in front of them.

I recommend the movie, BTW. I don't know if it's out on DVD yet.

[rocky_raher]

1024x768 Resolution for gameplay you forgot to mention so tiny you need to get one of those old people's magnifying glasses to play :). Ever watch the movie "Brazil"?

Good reference!!

For those who haven't seen it, Brazil is a movie that takes place in a future dystopia. One of the nice touches was that their computers were so primitive. Desktop computers had tiny screens (about 3" square or so, IIRC), and were equipped with large lenses propped in front of them.

I recommend the movie, BTW. I don't know if it's out on DVD yet.

[surur]

Kind of like this?

http://www.ahleman.com/Props/ElectriClerk.gif

http://www.ahleman.com/ElectriClerk.html

My ideal pocketpc would be one that combines the features f the MPx, MDA 4, the Loox 720 and the Dell x50v. That would be a clamshell design, with external screen and keyboard, fast processor with video acceleration, good battery life with USB host (but port built into the device) plus all the available win ce drivers (and apparently there ARE plenty available) installable from windows update.

Plus of course a 60GB hard drive and keys for multimedia playback on the side of the device would not be amiss either.

Lastly a docking station with 1024x768 resolution screen and keyboard/ dvd player etc and processor which scales to 2 Ghz when docked (and includes a floating point co-processor) and software that does into "desktop mode" when so docked.

And of course the bluetooth must work as expected, and wifi version n needs to be included :)

Surur

[Typhoon]

I want a PDA that has the ultimate power to rule the world!

[surur]

I want a PDA that has the ultimate power to rule the world!

Do you mean Real Ultimate Power (http://www.realultimatepower.net/index4.htm)?

Surur :)

[Typhoon]

lol that could be what powers the PDA! I want that!

[dhpss]

PocketPC of my dream?

PocketPC with "NO SOFT-RESET-REQUIRED"! :(

[Typhoon]

PocketPC of my dream?

PocketPC with "NO SOFT-RESET-REQUIRED"! :(

what ppc do you currently have?

[KimVette]

Just wonderin'...

What would be the PocketPC of your dreams?

Mine would come with:

- 256Mb RAM, 64Mb ROM.
- CF (Type II) and SD (SDIO) Slots.
- Built in WiFi and Bluotooth (and maybe GSM).
- Built in 1.3MPx swivel lens Digital Camera (with ability to make 320x240 videos)
- PXA 255 400Mhz (or the next faster one... :) )
- Cradle with de-attachable sync&charge cord (with small form factor - or maybe built in)
- Transreflective (200candelas) screen with 640x480 resolution.
- Abilty to easily put & remove acrilic screen protectors (dust proof).
- A slide away keyboard just like nokia's 7650 phone, or just like zire 71
but with a full keyboard.
- At least a switchable 4000Ma battery to last 32h of median use and 8 intensive use.
- Rocker switch and audio recording button.
- A series of buttons to switch from (maybe a 20pc set). A button mapped with MediaPlayer that looks like contacts its a pain.
- Full size jog to play games.
- Stereo speakers (a mini boom box... eh eh)
- a transparent screen cover that slides evenly to the back.
- a stilo with a real pen on the other end (with a cap)
- 2 leds (configurable)
- a swith on button that turns the backlight off with another press, and with another switching off the screen entirely.
- a lock buttons switch.
- a built in 2.5Gb hard drive.
- Full metal body (maybe titanium)

All this and a 6Gb CF and 1Gb SD Card... Sweet...

Wheight: no more than 120grams
Dimensions: like an ipaq 1940 (maybe a litlle bit more but not a brick)
Price: No more than $400

Oh... Drooling...
:Fade-color

(PS: Hey you missed a drooling emoticon!!!)[/list]

Here is what I would add:

* a slot for expansion for a device such as a sled or sleeve to use PCMCIA devices
* 128MB of ROM, with 80MB usable as a file store
* 600Mhz
* Accelerated video
* speakers at LEAST as loud as and good fidelity as the iPAQ 36xx/37xx series
* transflective screen with outdoor performance at LEAST as usable as the iPAQ 36xx/37xx reflective screens
* a stylus which slides into a slot (like the original Palm Pilot) with no button/latch/etc to wear out
* A sync program which works with Linux, and will synchronize with your choice of Ximian Evolution, KMail/KOrganizer, or Thunderbird
* Camera should be OPTIONAL and user-removable (for those who need to occasionally visit classified/restricted facilities)
* Microphone should be OPTIONAL and user-removable (for those who need to occasionally visit classified/restricted facilities)
* Keyboard, if any, should be on an external sled/sleeve (since miniature keyboards tend to be fragile at best - needs to be easily replaceable)

As far as stereo speakers are concerned - the speakers on a handheld device are too close together for proper stereo imaging so I'd rather have a PocketPC which downmixes cleanly to mono without any resampling/mixing artifacts, but retain a high-fidelity line-level or headphone-level stereo output.

[KimVette]

PocketPC of my dream?

PocketPC with "NO SOFT-RESET-REQUIRED"! :(

The only way you're going to get that is if you go with a computer system which will run ONLY embedded software which has been fully profiled to check for race conditions, memory leaks, etc. - until that day comes and you have a system where you can install untested configurations/combinations of software packages, you are going to continue to need a reboot mechanism. All soft reset does is the equivalent of XP's "Start -> Shutdown -> restart your computer" or *nix's (and now Windows Server's) "Shutdown -r now"

[dhpss]

PocketPC of my dream?

PocketPC with "NO SOFT-RESET-REQUIRED"! :(

The only way you're going to get that is if you go with a computer system which will run ONLY embedded software which has been fully profiled to check for race conditions, memory leaks, etc. - until that day comes and you have a system where you can install untested configurations/combinations of software packages, you are going to continue to need a reboot mechanism. All soft reset does is the equivalent of XP's "Start -> Shutdown -> restart your computer" or *nix's (and now Windows Server's) "Shutdown -r now"

The difference:

On my XP, I "Start -> Shutdown -> Restart your Computer" may be once a week or a couple of weeks, and it is just because I WANT TO.. And this is not only "embedded software"...

On my PPC, I have to soft-reset several times a day b'cause I HAVE TO....

BTW: I point is not to have the way to reboot...Just not to reboot so often to make it to work! (e.g. Bluetooth & WiFi, etc..) :cry:

[Ward]

I just want the "End Task" button to actually work and that annoying please wait animation to be cancelleable.

[mpda]

What I'd really like is for the pocket pc to be automatically detected by the PC and seen as a drive (like those usb thumb drives) without any software installation requirement.

I would love to be able to just browse through the files on my ppc the way I could on any usb memory stick. Then there could be drivers on the ppc that automatically install when you connect it, which allows the activesync functionality.

I just hate it when I take my ppc somewhere, and dont have my activesync cd to connect it to a pc elsewhere.

[ethancaine]

* Camera should be OPTIONAL and user-removable (for those who need to occasionally visit classified/restricted facilities)
* Microphone should be OPTIONAL and user-removable (for those who need to occasionally visit classified/restricted facilities)


Very, VERY nice... I hadn't thought of that, but it would definitely help those of us in the Military. I hate transcribing UNCLASS notes to my pda from paper just because I happened to be in a classified meeting when the notes were taken.

Matter of fact, I'd like to see a site dedicated to removing microphones. It won't happen, but I'd still like to see it.

[Ratel10mm]

1. About the thickness of a Palm V.
2. Dual slots. SDIO x 2, or SDIO & one of the new formats.
3. 128 / 128 memory
4. VGA screen
5. Latest standard of BT & WIFI
6. Phone might be nice, but I'm not too fussed carrying a seperate phone.
7. I agree with the removable optional camera. Perhaps eventually SDIO cameras will get useful.
8. BT & WIFI that just work. I'm tired of having to do resets & such! And if the hub is open, let me through! If it isn't, tell me! I hate not knowing if the WIFI isn't working, or if I'm doing something wrong. I am not a WIFI geek.
9. Buttons placed for gaming.
10. Minimal wasted space around the screen. If tha means putting the buttons on the side, then fine. I want a unit that fits in a jeans pocket without bothering me.
11. A screeen cover that flips right round to lie flat against the back of the unit.
12. Software that lets me use the full unaltered versions of my Excel & Word documents.