New to Ipaq. Need Expansion help.

[rhasan]

I was given an Ipaq 3765 and now I'm really trying to get some good use out of it. I'd like to get an expansion pack to help with battery life and to add functionality to it but but I have no idea which to get. Compact Flash? PCMCIA? I've searched the web for pros and cons of each but with little to no luck. Any light you can shed on this somewhat dim issue I woud greatly appreciate it.

rhasan

[manywhere]

I suggest you go with Compact Flash. CF card tend to use less power than PC-cards (aka. PCMCIA) and they usually have drivers for Pocket PC available. I've been borrowing a PC card plus expasion sleeve for my iPAQ 3870 and I can tell you that finding working drivers for a WiFi PC card is really hard whereas finding drivers for CF is easy as pie.

So, go with the CF expasion sleeve... :wink:

[rhasan]

thanks a lot. Watch out Ebay here I come. :D

rhasan

[Janak Parekh]

Just one other note: there are two different CF sleeves: the "original" and the CF+ sleeve. I recommend the CF+ sleeve, as it's only fractionally thicker than the original and supports a supplemental battery which will increase device life. It also integrates a hard front cover, which is nice.

--janak

[Kowalski]

i dont use a sleeve but i can say that cf would be better in some reasons.
1-pcmcia uses more power than cf
2-size
3-pcmcia is an old technology compared to cf
4-since you'll use this with your ppc youll dont have diffuculties finding drivers for your peripheral.

[rhasan]

What if I have a PCMCIA sleeve with the CF adapter. If I use the adapter for CF am I still using more power or is it strictly when I'm using PCMCIA? Thanks!

rhasan

[markcrump]

What if I have a PCMCIA sleeve with the CF adapter. If I use the adapter for CF am I still using more power or is it strictly when I'm using PCMCIA? Thanks!

rhasan

yes.. since the transport mechanism is still the PCMCIA card; you're still drawing PCMCIA power.

[rhasan]

ok thanks. Do you have any links on the PCMCIA power draw compared to CF? Thanks again.

rhasan

[markcrump]

Sorry, I don't.

I have the PCMCIA one, and I get what I consider to be "acceptable" usage where I could go through the weekend w/o needing a charge unless I used the sleeve as an MP3 player a lot.

I think the battery on mine is getting ready to die, so I might replace it with a CF sled.

[rhasan]

CF sled?

rhasan

[Chris Spera]

yes.. since the transport mechanism is still the PCMCIA card; you're still drawing PCMCIA power.

Mark,

are you certain..? This doesn't make any sense if its true. The adapter doesn't require any power to run. If this is true, then the unit is bleeding power all over the place and/or it is pushing too much power thru the adapter and is risking damage to the CF card.

I've been using my PC Card Sleeve on my iPAQ's for YEARS and have not had ANY issues with bleeding power, or damaged CF Cards. I have an old style PC Card Sleeve (not the +), and am using an older Type 1 CF Adapter.

Respectfully, if this were true, I think there would have been a great deal of commotion made over this, and I don't recall any threads to that effect here on Thoughts. Can you confirm this?

Kind Regards,


Christopher Spera

[markcrump]

These observations are from my memory, so they could be mistaken. Unfortunately, my PCMCIA sleeve is acting funny, so I can't do a test.

I'm think that using either my Orinoco card, or my CF adapter to listen to MP3s, my battery life was roughly the same. I could Wardrive on the my commute to work (about 2 hours) or take a long walk (1.5 hours) listening to music, and I would be roughly around the same battery level.

Like I said, It looks my sled battery is hosed, so I can't test out my numbers.