Let VGA sit out for another round?

[Chucky]

Well I am thinking of getting a second hand 12" iBook G3, for not much more than what I expect I would pay for a high end VGA pda. However my old 3870 is well old, battery life isn't great and the thing is basically a brick. I was all keen for a VGA pda as a must have - however now I am doubting this.

So just wondering what new PDA's will be around the 4000 series size and weight, but with a new processor and possibly a CF slot, a small screen is a must, QVGA is getting to the point where on the 3870 it is quite low quality (esp considering the old school backlight).

Cheers mates.

[Ripper014]

Before you make any kind of decision... make one thing clear in your mind. A PocketPC is not meant to replace a laptop. Unfortunately the PocketPC has grown more adaptable than it was ever really meant to be. Be thankful for that and don't think any less of it because it can not compete with a laptop.

And MHO... is that my next PocketPC will have VGA... it is at the top of the list of requirements... otherwise I will just stay with my Hp2200...

[Kati Compton]

I'm not sure how small a screen you need in VGA to "look good". I think VGA looks pretty darn good on a 4" screen. That's like a 2" screen in QVGA. So any of the VGA ones would "look good".

If you really want the smallest, the Loox is 3.6, the Asus is 3.7. The ipaq is 4.

[Chucky]

Well thats all good and well, but a good light laptop will release all but the most basic tasks away from the Pocket PC (ie. the pda will take notes, pim features and mp3 playing). So I what I would like now is a small, light PDA that can do these basic tasks without all the bloat of a high end VGA device.

Once the next generation of iPaqs come out I reckon I will get a second hand 4150 or something. Cheap as chips :D

[juni]

Cheap as chips

From one of my favorite TV-shows :D

"...it is a name to conjure with..:"

http://www.david-dickinson.net/

[newst]

Before you spend any money on a VGA pocket pc make sure you've had a chance to play with it a bit to decide if it does what you want. WM2003SE does not provide true VGA (by that I mean it does not provide additional screen real estate over a QVGA screen). Microsoft decided that we didn't need to see more on our PDA screens, but what we really wanted was to see a more refined QVGA screen. Therefore HiDPI (which is what Microsoft calls their implementation of 640x480 pixel screens) gives practically the exact same screen as QVGA does (same number of lines and letters on the screen) but uses the additional pixels to smooth everything out and make it all look very good.

There are good points to the Microsoft approach, and many users will find it to their liking, but if you are looking to see more of your spreadsheet, or an entire Word page on the screen on a WM2003SE pocket pc-it's not going to be there.

[Chucky]

Well I hope your wrong. I know what your saying is true in the default installation, however I had hoped that in control panel there would be a scaling tool so Toshiba 805 users wouldn't fell so cramped ;)

If not, well the technology must already be there, it would only take someone to make an OS hack so that we can take advantage of it. Excel already has a zoom feature, most internet browsers do also, in fact any application that relies on a lot of screen space would also implement such features.

[Mark Johnson]

Before you spend any money on a VGA pocket pc make sure you've had a chance to play with it a bit to decide if it does what you want.


Did F/S ever have the Loox on display in retail stores? I've never seen one in BestBuy, Circuit City, Fry's, Compusa, etc.

[Kati Compton]

There are good points to the Microsoft approach, and many users will find it to their liking, but if you are looking to see more of your spreadsheet, or an entire Word page on the screen on a WM2003SE pocket pc-it's not going to be there.
I thought maybe the latest Tweaks2k2 helped with that...