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View Full Version : BargainPDA Reviews The Viewsonic V36


Janak Parekh
11-06-2003, 02:45 AM
<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.bargainpda.com/default.asp?newsID=1720' target='_blank'>http://www.bargainpda.com/default.asp?newsID=1720</a><br /><br /></div>BargainPDA has written up a pretty complete review of the V36, one of the few Pocket PCs available with a built-in camera. Overall, they like the unit, but do note that the battery (which is now removable) is lacking:<br /><br />"A welcomed change in the V36 is its user replaceable battery. However, based on the Spb Benchmark battery test results, the V36 battery life seems to be fairly poor in comparison to the average 4-5 hours that most Pocket PC's in this price range achieve. ViewSonic does not disclose the exact milliamp hour rating, they do claim "up to 10 hours" of use on one charge. I guess that means in order to get that much use, there can be no sound, backlight or pushing of the buttons!"<br /><br />It looks like we're all still looking for the perfect Pocket PC, although this one seems pretty decent overall.

Timothy Rapson
11-06-2003, 03:44 AM
From what I read, ViewSonic is offering a $50 rebate on this V36 right off the bat. Maybe they had to cut the most subjective quality (screen quality) to make their budget/price objectives, while keeping all the hard specs competitive. With the threat of Dell's super low prices dominating everything while this ViewSonic model was being designed, they wanted something that could sell for less than anyone expected. I know I didn't expect the first PPC camera PDA to open with a price of $229 after rebate.

As it is, this might be a good model for me. Full RAM, speedy enough, AND a simple web-quality camera. Though, from the review, they may have put an extremely cheap camera into it. In fact, it may be only a 320 by 240 camera with extrapolated VGA resolution. There is a big difference between Clie and Zire VGA cameras from all I have heard. The Zire model looks to me no better than my older sub-VGA Clie camera.

I wonder if these will sell well? If they really bomb because of the poor screen or battery life, I might like to pick one up for a real low price when ViewSonic exits the PPC arena. It would be sad though if a bad fate for the first PPC camera model led Dell, HP, and Toshiba away from camera models for mainstream users.

robeauch
12-03-2003, 12:51 AM
From what I read, ViewSonic is offering a $50 rebate on this V36 right off the bat. [...] I wonder if these will sell well? If they really bomb because of the poor screen or battery life, I might like to pick one up for a real low price when ViewSonic exits the PPC arena.
The rebate is now $100. Buy from Amazon ($279) and the after-rebate price is $179. Starting to look very attractive to me too.

I played with one at a retail store today. It's smallish and very light-weight. The camera is only 0.3 megapixels, so the pictures are fair-to-middling. But it's still a sweet feature to have available. (On the plus side, the camera's software interface is nicely done and easy-to-use.)

The LCD screen is good, but not great. There are better ones out there, but I was relieved to find it wasn't all that bad. (I did have to set the brightness to maximum before I was happy with it, though.)

After the rebate, the V36 is comparably priced to Dell's Axim X5 Basic, which has the same processor speed. But the V36 has twice the RAM, and it's smaller and lighter. (And, of course, it also has a camera.) On the other hand, most reviewers say that the X5 has a better screen, and much better battery life.