How Long Have You Owned a Pocket PC?

[Jason Dunn]

As I look at our forums, I see a range of questions: some simple questions, coming from new users, and some complex questions coming from people who are on their second or third generation of Pocket PCs. I'd like to get a feeling for how long you've owned your Pocket PC. This survey is particularly important because it helps me to know who "you" are when I talk about the community here and it being a blend of new and experienced users. If everyone reading this could answer the poll (it's completely anonymous), I'd really appreciate it!

[piperpilot]

So far, with 3 votes in, everyone has been in the PPC world for 2+ years. That's cool!

[Vincent M Ferrari]

Not only have I been a PPC user for longer than two years, but I blame it all on you guys :lol:

[Ketsugi]

53 votes for 2 years+ and so few for the other options? That seems a little warped; has someone been padding votes somehow?

I remember my first Pocket PC: an HP Jornada 540. Yum!

[yawanag]

Not only have I been a PPC user for longer than two years, but I blame it all on you guys :lol:

My feelings exactly!

[allenalb]

what this poll is telling me is that jason needs to get out there more and evangelize this site :)

[Kowalski]

only 11% of people using ppc less than 1 year,
i call this an experienced community!!!

[hamishmacdonald]

Here's the chronology of the devices I've owned. (Just writing them out here for my own sake, and to shock myself when I think about how much all this has cost me.)

Newton 2100
Jornada 545
(Jornada 568 - briefly, had dust issues)
iPAQ 3850
Fujitsu Siemens PocketLoox 630
iPAQ 2210
(Fujitsu-Siemens PocketLOOX 720 - broken screen, replaced, sold on eBay)
(Dell Axim x50v - filestore memory fault, replaced, sold on eBay)
Asus MyPal A730W (bought while waiting for the LOOX and Axim repairs -- turns out I really, really like it. It's my favourite of the three VGA Pocket PCs I tried.)

PocketPCThoughts consistently proves to be the best resource when it comes to getting answers about issues I have. I think it's the best thing going, whatever level you're at.

[gt24]

what this poll is telling me is that jason needs to get out there more and evangelize this site :)

Actually, it might indicate something else. If you purchase a pocket pc because you found it to be nifty in a store (like Circuit City) or because a website inticed you (Dell.com), you will have a new device and you won't have a tremendously great idea as to what your device can do.

True, on some of the vendor CD's that come with pocket pcs, there are inticements to check out Handango (can anybody else comment on their CD experiences?!) however other than this, there isn't any generic resource, for a new pocket pc user, that allows them to learn more.

Yes, if new users Google Search, they can run across this site and others, and maybe even run into the Pocket PC Mag. best links website. However, this could take quite a bit of time (which means that newer users aren't here to add to the poll). While I suppose it is up to the user to learn about what their device can do, I can see how it would be much harder to learn about these devices if you didn't know a friend or two who owns one.

Unfortunately, the learning curve problem here... I'm not too certain how it can be solved... other than by linking to prominent sites, but those links will severely benefit certain websites and harm others. So, in the end, I'm not too sure what could work to solve that issue...

[rlobrecht]

I'd love to see a further breakdown of that more than two years option. My first actual pocket PC was an iPaq 3630, but I had two Palm Sized PCs before that, and an HP 95LX before that.

[karen]

This poll would have been really interesting if it included higher numbers than 2+ years.

Maybe another one in the Just Chattin about who has been using some sort of portable e-organizer device that was 'connectable' in some way?

K

[dwarchbold]

Well, now's a good time to come out of lurkering. I apologize in advance for the long-winded post :D

I've owned by iPaq 4150 for about 10 months now. Previously I was a die-hard PalmOS fan. I absolutely wouldn't have anything to do with a PPC. I considered them to be the bane of existence (okay, not quite, but you get the picture). I had several PalmOS based PDAs:

Visor Deluxe -> Visor Prism -> Clie N710 -> Clie T615 -> Clie NX70

I had been debating between buying the Clie UX50. I played with it for awhile at the store and I simply hated everything about it. The form factor, the display, the goofy "docking" station, etc. Then for some reason I wandered over to the PPCs and saw the 1910. I was like "Wow, if only they had a higher end model with bluetooth and wi-fi". Then lo-and-behold, the 4150 caught my eye. Everything I wanted in a form factor that rivals the Palm V.

I debated a few days, between giving up all my PalmOS stuff for a "crappy" PPC. In the end, I figured "what the heck" and made the plunge.

So far (10 months), it's been the best PDA purchase I've ever made. Prior to it, I heard all the horror stories like "Oh, you can't close applications directly!", "The (OK) button doesn't close an app!", "ActiveSync sucks!" and "PPC's crash daily!" and "Alarms never go off". In my experience, everything is exactly the opposite. It's very weird - just about everything I hear people complain about on the PPC on these forms I find to be a benefit rather than a hinderence:

1) I love how apps minimize instead of closing using the (OK) button and the ability to multi-task apps, especially with wi-fi. Though it's handy to have iTask around to close all other running apps if you need RAM, I rarely use it and find that the OS does a decent job of closing apps I haven't used in awhile to make room.

2) Activesync rocks compared to Hotsync. Hotsync is a lot faster, but it is so limited. Activesync has nicer integration with the OS, pass-thru network support, and seems to be far more reliable than Hotsync for me. (If Hotsync was ever interrupted on my Clie, I would have to restart both Hotsync and soft-reset the Clie in order for them to "See" each other again. And don't get me started on the "USB Serial Converter" that the N710 came with).

3) My iPaq is fairly stable. It crashes about as much as my Clie NX70 did. That might sound odd, but I had to load my Clie up with tons of extra "hacks" and rigged drivers (for CF support) just so it met my growing demands. That contributed to the decline in reliability. Out of the box though, both units are amazingly stable. Except that out of the box, the iPaq is far more usable than the Clie was.

4) Alarms - had some trouble in the beginning. Since the latest OS patch from HP though I haven't missed a single one in several months. (in fact, one just went off as I was typing this!).

Now for some extras -

1) Development on the PPC is far nicer than Palm. eVB and .NET are pretty cool. Palm devel seems so limited in resources.

2) The file system on the PPC rocks. Storage cards, flash memory and main memory are all seamlessly integrated. PalmOS treats main memory as a structured system - only databases can exist in it. Apps cannot run directly from the storage card without a lot of hassle. Access to flash (if you have it) requires special software that could fry your device.

Whew, theres more, but y'all get the picture. I tried going back to the Clie for a few days while PPCTechs upgraded my iPaq. I couldn't stand it, and ended up giving to my sister for school. PalmOS isn't bad (and I still recommend it to my less technical friends/family) but I think I simply out-grew it. I certainly learned a valuable lesson - never dismiss anything until you've tried it, dispite what others may say. You might be surprised.

[Hrun]

I had the same problem, I ticked the less than six months as that is how long I have had my PPC. I have however been using Palm Clies for around 3 years before that.

Might be worth adding a migrated option.

[sralmas]

I too was about to check 6 months - also a once Palm loyalist (since 1998 Palm Pilot Personal -> Professional -> PalmIII -> Palm Vx -> Palm IIIc -> Clie N610 -> Clie T615 -> Clie NR70V -> Palm Zire71 -> Sony Clie UX50) I also founded and ran the Albany NY area Palm User Group (www.cdpug.net). It was funny to read the above two posts because they sounded exactly like my experiences with the migration to PPC. Boy did I hate anything to do with PPC - now I love the hell out of this thing!

I decided not to repond to the poll because I don't like the way the question is asked. While I have been a PPC user for less than 6 months, I would venture to say I am a very experienced user. Indeed, I support the PPC users for our law firm. I push my ipaq 4155 to the very limits of functionality and have explored every corner of the OS and device.

If you want to know how long folks have used the PPC platform ask that. If you want to know their experience level, ask that. The poll as contructed won't give you a meaningful measure of the level of the memberships' experience.

I'd want to know how long folks have been using PPC AND what level of experience they have. You might find that you have folks who haven't been PPC users for very long but are highly advanced users (giving you an indication of the "kind of folks" they are.) You might find you have a lot of folks who have been using for a long time, and yet they are novices. Is it because they don't know how to use the PPC for more than a PIM? Is it because they don't know where to get information about more advanced functionality? Is it because software is too expensive or not available? Are there features missing in their devices?

That, to me, would be more insighful of a poll.

Well, for a newbie, I've probably said too much already. Thanks for listening.

[bigkingfun]

2) Activesync rocks compared to Hotsync.

Now there's a comment you don't see very often :D

I have to admit, the last few versions of Activesync have been much more reliable for me than they used to be. Maybe it was the particular models of PPC that were the problem, or maybe the older versions of Activesync, but I used to have a lot of issues with it. I've been running pretty much problem free for probably close to 2 years now.

[phanprod]

For Christmas of 2003, I turned in all the gift certificates I got and bought myself an iPaq 3955. I was using a Palm V, but the digitizer had died on me. About 2 months ago I upgraded to the hx4705 - a step I do not regret.

I think dwarchbold hit on a good point - for less technical people, I always recommend a palm. It does what it has to do, but is nowhere near as scaleable. Of course... not intending to start a religious war here... I do the same when it comes to mac or pc. If someone who's not so computer literate asks me about a computer purchase, I always lead them towards mac. Like Palm, it's just simpler... does what it has to do, and does it without much hassle.

But if you want flexibility, a wide choice of apps, and you have a clue what the 'windows' directory is, then yeah - ppc is the way to go.

Getting into it can be rough, though. It took me a while before I found this site - which is like the holy grail of ppc sites. All others refer to this at one point or another. It would have been helpful to find software and hardware recommendations, not just reviews. Sure - there's many really great cases for the 4705 out there... but which one is best for which purpose? Pocket Outlook is fine... but AF and PI are great enhancements. Which one suits who best? (Of course, most software has a free trial... but recommendations leading to - for example - AF or PI as opposed to a freeware alternative would have been helpful.)

And tutorials would be a great step... just some stoopid things we take for granted. For example, I had no clue for the longest time that I could install an app into a storage card without causing problems. Yeah, the option was there, but I thought I'd be getting errors up the wazoo for even thinking about it. Now, I've got almost everything installed into a CF card with the exception of apps that need quick memory access... and most don't.

Just my $.02.......

[marcm]

I've had a PPC for between 6 months to a year. (9 months to be exact) I do consider myself to be very experienced with the OS. Before I met :wink: with my X30, I had used Palm-Sized PCs, Handheld PCs, and Palms. Here is a little timeline of my "history." :wink:

Palm IIIe->Cassiopeia E-11->HP Jornada 720 (HPC)<->NEC Mobilepro (forget the model) (HPC)->Palm Zire 71->Dell Axim X30.

As you can see, I have had a pretty long history with Windows CE <font size=0>and Pa1m</font>, not the Pocket PC in particular. I fell in love with Pocket PCs at first use. I bid Palm OS good riddance, but will soon use it again. 8O The Zire 71 is going to become a remote, thats all. Thats probably the best thing I can think of using it for now, and the only thing it will do a good job of. In conclusion (of my ramblings) I do believe I am experienced with Pocket PCs. I can navigate through the OS well, and do everything I ever wanted to do with it easily, as well as help others with it.

[jngold_me]

> 4 Years experience and still going strong (see sig) :D

[bigkingfun]

It would have been helpful to find software and hardware recommendations, not just reviews. Sure - there's many really great cases for the 4705 out there... but which one is best for which purpose? Pocket Outlook is fine... but AF and PI are great enhancements. Which one suits who best? (Of course, most software has a free trial... but recommendations leading to - for example - AF or PI as opposed to a freeware alternative would have been helpful.)

And tutorials would be a great step... just some stoopid things we take for granted. For example, I had no clue for the longest time that I could install an app into a storage card without causing problems. Yeah, the option was there, but I thought I'd be getting errors up the wazoo for even thinking about it. Now, I've got almost everything installed into a CF card with the exception of apps that need quick memory access... and most don't.

Most of this kind of information has been covered in various forum posts, in some cases many times (AF vs PI for example :wink: ). It might be helpful to have a "newbies" section that links to some of these posts, the step-by-step articles and other information that would be helpful to a new PPC user. Not everybody knows how to search the forums for existing information. Having it all in one central spot that they could access it from might be one way to help the new users find what they're looking for (even if they don't know they're looking for it).

All you need to do then is get all the manufacturers to include a flyer with every PPC advertising PPC Thoughts as THE source for PPC information. That shouldn't be hard, should it???

[surur]

So even the new guys are experienced. Does this tell us something about the pocketpc market, the clientèle of this website, or the kind of people that use the internet for information and entertainment?

Regarding the definitive pocketpc software and hardware guide. No community this large can all have the same opinion regarding the best software (the AF vs PI schism being a good example) and even if the majority ruled it would cause a catastrophic tipping of the playing field against the competitor, which is not good in the long term.

Surur

[dwarchbold]

So even the new guys are experienced. Does this tell us something about the pocketpc market, the clientèle of this website, or the kind of people that use the internet for information and entertainment?

Regarding the definitive pocketpc software and hardware guide. No community this large can all have the same opinion regarding the best software (the AF vs PI schism being a good example) and even if the majority ruled it would cause a catastrophic tipping of the playing field against the competitor, which is not good in the long term.

Surur

I think it has more to do with 2 and 3 - people who are the slightest bit technical use the Internet as a resource for solving problems. And this site is a very valuable resource indeed!

Non-techies simply call their techie friends when they have problems. Not that there's anything wrong with that - I call a mechanic friend when I have trivial car problems. Mechanics is simply not my area of expertise.

And yes, I know I'm generalizing here, but I think it's a true reflection for the most part.

[phanprod]

Regarding the definitive pocketpc software and hardware guide. No community this large can all have the same opinion regarding the best software (the AF vs PI schism being a good example) and even if the majority ruled it would cause a catastrophic tipping of the playing field against the competitor, which is not good in the long term.

Surur

Excellent point... but I don't mean a "app X is better than app Y" guide, I just mean... well... like a comparison chart, for instance. Something I could look at and say 'hey - I think that suits my needs best'.

And as for searching the forums, yeah... for newbies, that can be a tedious task. There is just SO much information on here, including personal opinions and unanswered posts, how does someone new to the site find an answer to a general, non-specific query without returning hundreds of results?

[KTamas]

I'm a little over 1 yr (or less? hehe i dont really remember).
I got my ipaq 3670 last year around march/april. I originally wanted to buy an motorola accompli 008 but then my father's boss tried to sell his ipaq very cheap so i bought that one. After 2-3 months i changed to an Asus MyPal A620. After i got a 3 month break cause of breaking the touchscreen.
(Pocket PC rule no.1: NEVER keep your PPC in your jeans' pocket...
PPC rule no.2: NEVER buy Asus PPC cause they support is horrible).
Well i sold my a620 in december and bought and XDA1. Belive me or not, i like the good ol' 12-bit reflective screens over the new 16-bit transreflective ones cause you can read the reflective one in the sunlight but you can not do this with the transreflective one, hehe. Well, I'll stick with it for a while, maybe summer I'll buy something VGA and/or something GSM and/or something WM2005. Wait, this is MDA4 :P

[Menneisyys]

I'd love to see a further breakdown of that more than two years option. My first actual pocket PC was an iPaq 3630, but I had two Palm Sized PCs before that, and an HP 95LX before that.

I'd prefer a further breakdown too. I've been using handheld computers since the Sharp PC1500 and PDA's since the original Newton Messagepad. I got into the WinCE world with the HP 320LX.

[Jason Dunn]

I've changed the title of the post because what I was really after was how long people have owned Pocket PCs for, not their experience level (I realize there's not always a correlation there).

And to those of you who are requesting a "further breakdown", that's simply not possible with our polling tools - they're painfully limited.

[Jerry Raia]

I have almost forgotten how many of these things I have owned over the years.

[surfer]

Four years and currently going strong with a FJ LOOX 720

[ignar]

According to Amazon, I ordered my first PocketPC, EM-500, on November 20, 2000. It was $440.99. Ouch.

[paschott]

On other breakdown notes - I had a Jornada 720 until it broke on me (one fall too many :-( ). I then looked into purchasing an iPaq.

[Anjuan Simmons]

I've owned one since 2001 (it ws a Toshiba e740). But, I feel like I was born with some sort of organizer in my hand. I remember trying to install a calendar and tetris on my graphing calculator my freshmen year in college (1993)!

[Damion Chaplin]

I remember being sorely tempted by the Compaq Aero. First PDA with a color screen I believe.
Then Compaq &amp; MS announced the Pocket PC and the first iPAQ. I wanted one so bad I called everywhere I could trying to find one. Finally I found ONE at a Circuit City in the town my mother lives in 50 miles away and told them to put it on hold. It was such a hot item at the time, they said they would hold it for one hour. I called my mother and asked her to please pick it up for me on their way to breakfast...

The rest is Pocket PC history...

[beq]

I too had started with the original iPAQ 3600 model (the one that arguably started the PPC revolution, as the Palm-sized PC models before it like the Casios only received lukewarm response). I'd gotten it right after it was made available...

[TopDog]

I got my first Windows CE device in august 2000, it was an HP Jornada 680. The first Pocket PC in my hands was a black'n'white Compaq Aero in 2001.

Since I worked in a CE/PPC software house from 2000-2003, I've had an uncountable number of devices...

[Dyvim]

I started in August 1999 with Windows CE 2.11 Palm-sized devices, which is also when I started developing software for them. I remember having to upgrade apps to work on the original Pocket PC OS when it first came out!

[PPCRules]

Someone may have already mentioned this, but I'd like to see a poll as to how many times we all have upgraded (i.e., how many actual, real "Pocket PCs" (no "palm-sized" or "handheld PCs") we've each had).

[Don't Panic!]

I've had one since about 2 weeks after the product announcement in Grand Central Station. So I'm working on my 5th year starting next month.

[rmasinag]

my first one was an IPAQ 3150 monchrome

[surur]

Someone may have already mentioned this, but I'd like to see a poll as to how many times we all have upgraded (i.e., how many actual, real "Pocket PCs" (no "palm-sized" or "handheld PCs") we've each had).

Do windows mobile devices count ;)

Surur

[ipaq_wannabe]

yeah... been using the PPC (albeit on/off) since it came out...

Cassiopeia A-51V
Mobile Gear MC/R300
Cassiopeia E100
Genio e550GX
iPAQ 3850
Loox 610 BT/WL

still saving enough money for the next release...

[beq]

Someone may have already mentioned this, but I'd like to see a poll as to how many times we all have upgraded (i.e., how many actual, real "Pocket PCs" (no "palm-sized" or "handheld PCs") we've each had).

My memory could be faulty, but I thought the original name change to "Pocket PC" was purely a moniker change due to legal pressure from Palm to drop the "Palm" from "Palm-sized PC" name?

[moaske]

I remember PPC's even before they were called PocketPC's :mrgreen:
So what about the 4 yrs+ option ?

See sign... nuff' said 8)

[Steve14965]

Excellent point... but I don't mean a "app X is better than app Y" guide, I just mean... well... like a comparison chart, for instance. Something I could look at and say 'hey - I think that suits my needs best'.

And as for searching the forums, yeah... for newbies, that can be a tedious task. There is just SO much information on here, including personal opinions and unanswered posts, how does someone new to the site find an answer to a general, non-specific query without returning hundreds of results?

Perhaps you mean something like the the Macrumors Buying Guide (http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/)?

I think that would prove to be a useful feature for this site..

[kabkbak]

yes a table listing specs from several ppc's in several price ranges would be verry
helpfull to newbee's and old timers looking for there next fix.
(((YOU MUST UPGRADE))) often! :lol:

[kabkbak]

maybe something like http://www.firstloox.org/VGAppc.htm

[Menneisyys]

Someone may have already mentioned this, but I'd like to see a poll as to how many times we all have upgraded (i.e., how many actual, real "Pocket PCs" (no "palm-sized" or "handheld PCs") we've each had).

My memory could be faulty, but I thought the original name change to "Pocket PC" was purely a moniker change due to legal pressure from Palm to drop the "Palm" from "Palm-sized PC" name?

nope, it was because of the so-so buyer response to WinCE 2.x devices (both H/PC's and PsPC's), together with the major OS (3.0) upgrade, that Microsoft changed the name in 2000 to a brand-new sounding one.

Palm has only managed to force MS to drop the "Palm PC" name; this is why MS switched to using the name "Palm-size PC"

[juni]

I remember the "Friends don't let friends use a Palm" :D

[Don't Panic!]

You must have been a member of "Club Pocket PC" juni. :D

[Tierran]

Who still has their t-shirt? :lol:

[alfie1746]

HP320 -> Ipaq3650 ---------->Axim x50v

5+. Got my first PPC as an anniversary present! Stuck with it for many years. Now love my Axim!

[juni]

I still have that gigantic case they sent out :D

[bbarker]

Windows CE:

I picked up a Casio Cassiopea A-11 clamshell the day they came out and then a Cassiopea E-10 Palm-sized PC the day those devices came out. Next came a Cassiopea E-105 (my first color device), a Compaq Aero 1520 (a thin mono unit I left on the roof of my car and drove away after 2 weeks), and another E-105 to replace the Aero.

Pocket PC:

A HP Jornada 545, a Jornada 548, a Jornada 568, and now a Dell Axim X50v. I had the 568 for years.

[PhilH]

My experience with handhelds goes back longer than I care to remember. it started off with a Newton MessagePad 100 (I think) I got it for £100 (so cheap!) in a warehouse clearance in 1993 or 4. Lovely device, shame about the handwriting recognition.

My path after that was :

Psion 3a -> Palm III -> Compaq iPAQ 3630 -> Toshiba e740 -> HP iPAQ 2215 -> HP hx4705

I love my 4705. It's the absolute business.

[Steven Cedrone]

You must have been a member of "Club Pocket PC" juni. :D

I was!

Who still has their t-shirt? :lol:

I do!

I still have that gigantic case they sent out :D

I still have it as well!

Whatever happened to Club Pocket PC anyway? Oh, and I still have my wallet card as well! :wink:

[Darius Wey]

I was! / I do! / I still have it as well! / Whatever happened to Club Pocket PC anyway? Oh, and I still have my wallet card as well! :wink:

We all sound like Pocket PC dinosaurs here. :mrgreen:

[juni]

I actually have two Club Pocket PC t-shirts. :P

(what were they thinking with that case anyway...maybe for a future "super-vga-sized" screen device :D ).

[mcmuddle]

I am in the 1 percentile of not yet owning one. I have been doing my homework, watching for the exciting new releases, then seeing a disapointing delivery(6315) or failure to deliver at all (e830). I have just realized I can play this game forever and not get my ppc. I saved for the last year and have a tidy stash to purchace a nice ppc and several accessories......but am still torn between the x50v and 4705. I keep seeing exciting hype that has me thinking, 'just wait alittle longer, something is comming', but I think it is time to make a move. I have never owned a desktop, my first comp is the Toshiba Satelite 1415 with docking and periphials and I am tired of schlepping the laptop around.
Thank you all for the great input on various models......maybe I'll make the move this weekend, very likely the next generation of devices is just waiting for me to buy, then it will show up in the next month or so :wink:

[Brad Adrian]

I bought one of the very first HP Jornadas our local BestBuy got in stock. I had been waiting for weeks, and within hours my wife became a "PocketPC widow!"

[k1darkknight]

well, it seems that most people on these boards have had a PPC for over 2 years...I've had one for just under a year, myself, but I think I put it as 1-2 years, since I've used it so extensively. Perhaps, with as many responses as this topic has gotten, someone should post a new poll with the following ranges:

> 1 yr.
1 - 2 yrs.
2 - 3 yrs.
3 - 4 yrs.
4 - 5 yrs.
5+ yrs.

Seems like that might give us a better spread as to the experience of users on here. Just a thought. I'll be watching for it...lol


k1darkknight, aka Experienced N00b[code]

[bmurphy]

Well, I'll add my little bit of trivia,
lots of organizers until I found the Cassiopea e-125 in 2000 (buy high! sell low-is my motto), and that kept me satisfied until it started to die > then Axim x30h > and to keep up with my buy high motto > x50v (love it and figure it will be quite a while before that gets replaced.)
These forums are a god-send for the uninitiated, but you have to want to find where to go, and not be satisfied with the out-of-the-box performance.. to go looking. Some people just want a thing to work, and not have to tweak it. Most of the people here seem to like to fiddle with performance, whether it is of a software or hardware.
I know that I can ususally find an answer here, with the few problems I've encountered.

[ikarma]

I had the first one that ever came out. The Cassiopea A-10
here are the ones I have had that I can remember in order from last to first:

MDA III
Axim x30
Ipaq 3100 series 3165??
Casio Cassiopea E100
Hp Jornada 420
HP Jornada 690
Philips Nino color (wince 2.10)
Philips Nino b&amp;w (wince 2.10)
Casio Cassiopea A-10

[bllhded]

i guess after reading the replies, i'm the rookie. i have had my ipaq 1940
so far i love it i use it alot. i have money2004 i use to keep my check book balanced. and things like that. one problem i do have is after i bought the ipaq i got a dell laptop and i cant get the ipaq to active sync with the laptop. i have tried everything from reloading active syn to clearing off any other partnerships (i originally had one set up on my desktop that i no longer use) but that didnt work. i have downloaded the latest version of active sync and that doesnt help. i havent sync'd in over 6 months so i bought a memory card to save everything as a backup, but i still would like to eveentually sync up everything with my laptop.
anyone else have any problems like this?
otherwise i want to thank you all i keep reading the postings and learning alot from you experienced users,,

[Len Egan]

I had:

Ipaq 3650 (9 months)
Ipaq 3830 (9 months)
Ipag 2210 (8 months)
Ipaq 4150(only for a week)
Toshiba E-805 (9 months)
Dell Axim X50v (5 months)
Audiovox 6600 PPC Phone

I've gotta stop movin' around. Re-loading is a pain!

[surur]

i guess after reading the replies, i'm the rookie. i have had my ipaq 1940
so far i love it i use it alot. i have money2004 i use to keep my check book balanced. and things like that. one problem i do have is after i bought the ipaq i got a dell laptop and i cant get the ipaq to active sync with the laptop. i have tried everything from reloading active syn to clearing off any other partnerships (i originally had one set up on my desktop that i no longer use) but that didnt work. i have downloaded the latest version of active sync and that doesnt help. i havent sync'd in over 6 months so i bought a memory card to save everything as a backup, but i still would like to eveentually sync up everything with my laptop.
anyone else have any problems like this?
otherwise i want to thank you all i keep reading the postings and learning alot from you experienced users,,

Maybe you are missing the USB driver for the ipaq? Pocketpc's are actually USB client devices, like web cams, printers and cameras and often need device specific drivers. Do you have the original installation CD?

Surur

[bllhded]

yes i have the original cd that came with it, i have unistallled and re-installed the driver program a couple of times, and no changes. i thought maybe i had set up the laptops firewall to restrict access but my wife got herself a palm and it sync just fine with no problems. could it be a partnership problem where for some reason (probably something i did) myipaq will only sync with the original desktop?

[surur]

Why dont you start a new thread somewhere. Im sure the collective wisdom of PPCThoughts will be able to sort you out.

Surur

[Squid]

Hello All,

I think there needs to be much greater range in the poll! I have had my iPaq 5455 for longer that two years!!! It is funny, I would probably upgraded by now, but I keep on reading reviews, opinions, etc and keep holding off. Anyway, it is nice to see the numbers of folks that have been using their PPC's for this long. Hopefully that means they will be around for a while.

Regards,

Squid

[Holger Hillmer]

I use XDA I and XDAII for 3 years


As I look at our forums, I see a range of questions: some simple questions, coming from new users, and some complex questions coming from people who are on their second or third generation of Pocket PCs. I'd like to get a feeling for how long you've owned your Pocket PC. This survey is particularly important because it helps me to know who "you" are when I talk about the community here and it being a blend of new and experienced users. If everyone reading this could answer the poll (it's completely anonymous), I'd really appreciate it!

[Newsboy]

Tough to place an exact date, because it's been so long, but...Pocket PC: 5 years. PDA: 12 years.

My Chronology:

HP 95LX
HP 100LX
HP OmniGo (1995...foldover tablet, touch screen, thumbboard, and handwriting recognition! way ahead of its' time)
Compaq C140 Handheld
Casio EM-500
Audiovox Maestro
IBM Z50
Intermec 6651
HP iPaq 1910
Dell Axim X5
Dell Axim X30 high

[ZagZoo]

I had a Caseopia for 3 years and I now have an SPH i700 for going on 1 year.

[aaronguerra]

I've owned a Pocket PC for just over two years and am a confirmed PPC user.

I've owned two Dell PPCs, an Axim X5, and a Axim X30, both of which I have sold. I'm now running a Audiovox PPC4100 with SPB Pocket Plus and MS VoiceCommand. The small form factor is my ideal and with the software mentioned any application or phone call is two touches away. I've always thought the Navigation buttons were a waste of real estate and would not even consider typing with my thumbs.
I will be buying a spare PPC4100 since they are very inexpensive and apparently out of favor.

I'm running Outlook for Contacts, Schedule, Tasks and Notes, MS Word, Lexionary for Dictionary, Checklist, three Calculators (standard, scientific, and mortgage), two readers (MS reader and Mobipocket), Mobile DB for databases, Pictures, SPB Time for clock, timers, and world time, several translators (English-Spanish, German, &amp; Portuguese), and of couse Windows Media Player for music and the standard telephone app.

I use this thing all day long almost every day.