Mitac Mio 558 - A Powerhouse Pocket PC? [Archive]

Jason Dunn

08-14-2003, 06:19 PM

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.mio.com.cn/product/productpda338plusprm.php' target='_blank'>http://www.mio.com.cn/product/produ...a338plusprm.php</a><br /><br /></div>Mitac is a curious manufacturer - they seem to make really interesting device, but we never see them in North America. They're an ODM, but they also seem to sell direct in some markets. The Mitac Mio 558 is a device I wish we'd see over on this side of the world - it has a Intel XScale PXA263 (!?) 400Mhz CPU, 32 MB of ROM, 64 MB RAM, WiFi, Bluetooth, SD (with SDIO support), CF type II, and full USB host capabilities. Check out this picture of a USB flash drive being plugged into the bottom of the device:<br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/usb-host.jpg" /><br /><br />They even seem to have special software - <a href="http://www.mobile-touch.com/pic/0308/mio11.JPG">take a look at this picture</a>. From top to bottom, the menu options in that photo are close, WiFi, Bluetooth, USB dongle. Zhuyi also suggests that with the USB capabilities, it might be possible to use the Pocket PC as a Bluetooth dongle for a notebook, and use it to bridge to a GPRS Bluetooth phone. How's that for cool? :way to go: And hey, what about <a href="http://www.mobile01.com/iopiop/mio558/usnmouse.JPG">using a mouse with it?</a> Why? Because We Can! <br /><br />If your Taiwanese is any good, you can <a href="http://www.mobile01.com/iopiop/mio558.htm">check out a full review</a>

dean_shan

08-14-2003, 06:30 PM

And hey, what about using a mouse with it? (http://www.mobile01.com/iopiop/mio558/usnmouse.JPG) Why? Because We Can!

Yeah that is fun. I do that with my e740 using the Deje Mouse Driver (http://www.deje.gmxhome.de/software.html).

David C

08-14-2003, 06:34 PM

Wouldn't it be intresting if you can use a blutooth mouse with a bt pocket PC. I mean, not that you need to do that, but just to prove it can be done.

David C

08-14-2003, 06:40 PM

Come to think of it. I know that someone has gotten the Microsoft Bluetooth Mouse/Keyboard to work with linux. http://klausler.com/msbtkb-linux.html Any one got it to work with Pocket PC yet?

portus

08-14-2003, 06:55 PM

That was a pretty good Web site with lots of useful info! Thanks!

ricksfiona

08-14-2003, 07:04 PM

Come to think of it. I know that someone has gotten the Microsoft Bluetooth Mouse/Keyboard to work with linux. http://klausler.com/msbtkb-linux.html Any one got it to work with Pocket PC yet?

That would be cool. I have the new Stowaway XT keyboard for my IPAQ 3870. It's better than the Compaq, but I HATE having to use the different colored FN keys for numbers and characters.

jaja_75

08-14-2003, 07:09 PM

Review of Mio 558 (http://www.mobile01.com/iopiop/mio558.htm)

Conclusion translated by Hungster10 (http://discussion.brighthand.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=85736):

"Strengths:
1. Built-in dual card expandability (SD/CF)
2. Two wireless protocols built-in (wifi/bluetooth)
3. PDA shape is thin and light
4. Batteries are replaceable
5. Directional pad and buttons are well-suited for game play
6. Built-in USB host
7. Long-range IR (commercial IR)
8. Usable ROM space is large
9. Moderately expensive, but cost/performance ratio is high

Weaknesses:
1. The jog wheel is placed too high up on the machine
2. It uses 2.5mm earphone plugs
3. Slow SD Card performance"

Mio 558 at PDAking (http://www.pdaking.com.tw/cgi-bin/shop/shop.cgi?action=category&cid=15&file=20020901125522&cart_id=010424) : TW$ 16800 (US$ 480)(428 euros).

The Half-Ling

08-14-2003, 07:52 PM

i just got a stowaway xt too...WM2003 drivers where are you???

:-p Jake

08-14-2003, 08:08 PM

...If your Taiwanese is any good, you can check out a full review (http://www.mobile01.com/iopiop/mio558.htm)
Actually it's Chinese, but in Traditional Chinese Characters. Just wanted to keep things technically correct. :lol:

PJE

08-14-2003, 08:11 PM

Weaknesses:
1. The jog wheel is placed too high up on the machine

The Jog wheel is in the right place (as anyone with a Dell Axim will know)... how can this be a weekness??

MichaelA

08-14-2003, 09:22 PM

Wow, I'd love to get one of these, but the lack of an English OS scares me. Might be worth it though! 8O

Actually, the jog dial does look like it is slightly higher than the one on my E-125, but I don't see that as a problem. If this thing had a d-pad and button layout like an E-125, then I'd get it, English or not!

jgrnt1

08-14-2003, 09:30 PM

Until two weeks ago, I had a Toshiba Genio e550g, which has USB hosting capabilities with a short cable adapter. I had a 20GB Archos MiniHD attached when it was in my car. It has about 16GB of mp3's on it. I just bought an iPAQ 2215 and am missing my music (I am on the road a lot). If the 2215 was running PPC 2002, I could use a CF to PC Card adapter and the PC Card cable from the drive, but TJ Otala's driver (http://www.tjotala.com/hardware/storagebrick/default.htm) doesn't work with WM2003. There is also a CF to USB host adapter (http://shop.store.yahoo.com/firewireshop/newusb11hosa.html), but again, the driver does not work with WM2003 (never mind the $139US for the thing). Ratoc says they are working on a current driver, but could not give me an ETA. For any of you with a CF slot and PPC2002, though, this should give you a USB port.

SandersP

08-14-2003, 10:04 PM

If your Taiwanese is any good,

What's taiwanese? Is that like Canadianese?

jgrnt1

08-14-2003, 10:13 PM

What's taiwanese? Is that like Canadianese?
Well, that depends on whether you speak Canadianese with a French accent or an English accent....which, I understand, is very similar to Americanese and Australianese.

beq

08-14-2003, 10:25 PM

I'm lazy and don't speak much Chinese, can someone post this PDA's dimensions (preferrably in inches)? And weight?

moaske

08-14-2003, 10:33 PM

Wow, I'd love to get one of these, but the lack of an English OS scares me. Might be worth it though! 8O
I'd contacted the dutch distributor for availability just a month or so... And i got the answer that it would probably be available over here around the end of september. That would be the UK edition of course :D
Anyway; does anyone know what the advantage is of the PXA263 over the PXA255/250 ? Higher busspeed ?

jaja_75

08-14-2003, 10:39 PM

I'm lazy and don't speak much Chinese, can someone post this PDA's dimensions (preferrably in inches)? And weight?

Weight : 150 gr

Some English specs: :lol:
http://mitac.mic.com.tw/product/showcase2003/files/pda/mio558.pdf
http://65.115.69.88/mio/products_mio558.asp

jaja_75

08-14-2003, 10:48 PM

Anyway; does anyone know what the advantage is of the PXA263 over the PXA255/250 ? Higher busspeed ?

Same internal bus speed than PXA255 ! 8)

Intel® PXA26x Family Processor FAQ:
http://www.intel.com/design/pca/applicationsprocessors/faq/pxa26x_faq.htm

"What are the differences between the Intel® PXA26x and Intel PXA255 processors?

The Intel PXA26x processor has a smaller package (13x13x1.4mm for the PXA26x vs 17x17x1.8mm for PXA255)
The Intel PXA26x processor has K3 Intel StrataFlash memory stacked
The Intel PXA26x processor has all features of the Intel PXA255 processor, plus the following new features:
Single ended Universal Serial Bus (USB) transceiver interface
New Audio Synchronous Serial Ports (ASSP)
Additional GPIOs

Intel PXA263 processor: 200/300/400 MHz applications processor with 2pcs 128 K3 Intel StrataFlash memory - 32 bit processor with a 32 bit internal and external memory bus. "

According to the Intel(R) PXA26x Processor Family Developer's Manual, the PXA263 PXbus (internal bus) can be clocked at a max 200 MHz.
http://www.intel.com/design/pca/applicationsprocessors/manuals/278638.htm

moaske

08-14-2003, 10:49 PM

Ya know whats interesting? the specs state: LED light source LCD :rock on dude!:
I guess that would mean an OLED display, right ? :D
That would be the coolest feature of all ! And offcourse the PXA263 chip and the 64Megs of ROM which makes for a big filestore. I also like the RAM-speed ! Looks like that's capable of FAT32 formatting.

And thanks jaja_75 for the explanation on the PXA263 :D

fletch

08-14-2003, 11:45 PM

Hi,

whats the disadvantages of a 2.5mm headphone jack? whats the alternative?

fletch

paulv

08-14-2003, 11:48 PM

Sorry moaske

Led light source LCD doesn't mean OLED. It just means that the lighting source for their LCD (Liquid Crystal Display - not OLED) is a bunch of LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes) - nothing special at all.

The rest of the specs sound unreal though!!

jaja_75

08-15-2003, 12:01 AM

Hi,

whats the disadvantages of a 2.5mm headphone jack? whats the alternative?

fletch

Standard headphone jack : 3.5 mm.

@lexis

08-15-2003, 12:03 AM

whats the disadvantages of a 2.5mm headphone jack? whats the alternative?

The standard size is 3.5mm, that means you need a adaptor that is usually bundled (like the iPAQ 1940).

beq

08-15-2003, 01:23 AM

Weight : 150 gr

Some English specs: :lol:
http://mitac.mic.com.tw/product/showcase2003/files/pda/mio558.pdf
http://65.115.69.88/mio/products_mio558.asp
Thanks jaja! So from bottom link, dimensions are: 4.88" x 2.83" x 0.60". But they also say 170g weight (6 oz)... Amazingly compact for all the features!

jaja_75

08-15-2003, 01:56 AM

They say 150 gr in the review in Chinese and in the Mitac .pdf spec. :?

huangzhinong

08-15-2003, 02:47 AM

It is 150g only. The 170g is the prototype mio558 which has been modified a lot.

whydidnt

08-15-2003, 03:06 AM

This looks extremely cool. It seems to me they just need a US distributor. It also seems to me that Gateway is looking for a better PPC to market. Seems to me this should be a match made in heaven.

Why doesn't Gateway rebrand this as the Gateway PPC. Ready-made, no quality issues and in time for the Holiday season! :D

Whydidnt

hkpocketpc

08-15-2003, 03:10 AM

Weaknesses:
1. The jog wheel is placed too high up on the machine

The Jog wheel is in the right place (as anyone with a Dell Axim will know)... how can this be a weekness??

Since the review is written by a Chinese and we (Chinese) usually got a smaller hand. So the jog wheel may be OK to a American but a little bit high to Asian user.

BTW if you could read Chinese, there is a excellent review of this machine in here.
http://www.mobile01.com/iopiop/mio558.htm

In the review, there is a photo which shows that user can use a mouse in Mio 558 since Mio 558 have a mini USB host. In the same review, the writer also test the ability of 558 as a Wi-Fi USB Dongle.

This machine is highly expected in Taiwan. I think there will be a English version shortly after the lunch in Taiwan.

A Pocket PC user in Hong Kong

Gremmie

08-15-2003, 03:20 AM

http://65.115.69.88/mio/products_mio558.asp

This website as the headphone jack pinned at 3.5mm, not 2.5.

maximus

08-15-2003, 03:33 AM

Weaknesses:
1. The jog wheel is placed too high up on the machine
2. It uses 2.5mm earphone plugs
3. Slow SD Card performance"

Actually I consider the 2.5mm headphone plug a plus.
Being able to use my 2.5 microphone headphone on both the GPRS CF and the PPC's audio out is definitely a plus. One headphone for all.

Launch that mio 728 already.

maximus

08-15-2003, 03:38 AM

If your Taiwanese is any good,

What's taiwanese? Is that like Canadianese?

He was referring to one of the several thousand dialects of the chinese language. There are actually several dialects of the chinese languages that are so different, that they dont understand each other.

Gremmie

08-15-2003, 03:50 AM

The SD slot is on the left side, it's great that the device is SDIO compliant, but having an SDIO card which sticks out might be a little bothersome.

kinged

08-15-2003, 03:59 AM

So someone from Gateway should jump on this!!! This device is revolutionary!! That is if Gateway wants to have a shot at Pocketpc market.

Prevost

08-15-2003, 04:09 AM

maximus

08-15-2003, 07:22 AM

Does anybody here know if this device's charger goes with 110V or 220 V outlets?

Believe me, this IS an issue. I am going to Europe and have to leave my Palm back instead of taking maps on it with me just because I don't know if I would find AC power adapters - 220V is the norm in Europe.

The asian version will definitely handle 220V, because that is also the norm here. I am a bit curious why your palm cannot accept 220V. The power adapter of my axim mentioned 100-240V 50-60Hz, which means, I can safely plug that thing to an outlet everywhere on earth (provided if I have a properly shaped jack, of course).

beq

08-15-2003, 07:51 AM

Actually I consider the 2.5mm headphone plug a plus.
Being able to use my 2.5 microphone headphone on both the GPRS CF and the PPC's audio out is definitely a plus. One headphone for all.
Hmm, are you saying their 2.5mm jack is a (stereo) headset jack? I thought from the complaints here that it's just a stereo headphone jack that's 2.5mm (no mic input).

I wish the headset and headphone had standardized on the same size (maybe 2.5mm). Then a universal jack can support stereo headset (i.e. where the plug has 3 bands), or you can plug in any headphone also if you don't need mic, or any mono headset if you don't need stereo listening. Would make things much simpler...

08-15-2003, 04:02 PM

08-15-2003, 04:07 PM

Does anybody here know if this device's charger goes with 110V or 220 V outlets?

Since it is a Taiwan Manufacture and if they market to Taiwan first then it is definately 110V since Taiwan uses 110V. But I have to believe they will make a 220V version just to cover the rest of Asia.

daveshih

08-15-2003, 04:29 PM

I had thought that you guys have posted this, but just in case...

At the same time Mio 558 was introduced, Mio 339 was also introduced:
http://65.115.69.88/mio/products_mio339.asp

Some highlights:

Spec:RAM/ROM: 64M/32M
CPU: Intel PXA-255 400MHz
Weight: 120g, Size: 121x72.8x13.8 mm
Camera: 300K CMOS + built-in flash + video mode
Expansion: SDIO (compatle also with MMC)
Audio: built-in MP3 playback and recording + wired remote

pictures:

http://mitac.mic.com.tw/digiwalker/products/339/339-1.jpg
http://mitac.mic.com.tw/digiwalker/products/339/339-3.jpg

http://mitac.mic.com.tw/digiwalker/news/images/339-1.jpg

rhmorrison

08-18-2003, 05:00 PM

I am going to Europe and have to leave my Palm back instead of taking maps on it with me just because I don't know if I would find AC power adapters - 220V is the norm in Europe.

Most PocketPC chargers work with 110 to 220 volt AC input you just need an adapter for the outlet - costs maybe $ 1.00!