Pocketnow Reviews z2 Remote2PC

[Pat Logsdon]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.pocketnow.com/index.php?a=portal_detail&t=reviews&id=609' target='_blank'>http://www.pocketnow.com/index.php?...=reviews&id=609</a><br /><br /></div><i>"Sooner or later, all of us have the experience of being somewhere away from the desktop system and wishing we were not. You might be on a business trip and need a file that is inconveniently only available back on your desktop. Worse yet, you might have the file, but it needs just a bit of tweaking. The program you need to use is -- you guessed it -- back on your desktop. The annoying thing about desktop systems is that they stay at your desk and you do not."</i><br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/logsdon_20040427_z2remote.gif" /><br /><br />I would like to say that I am intrigued by the possibility of editing a Word document on my home PC from the comfort of my Pocket PC. I would LIKE to say that, but unfortunately, my proclivities lean more toward the potential of using something like this to control my Killer Robot Attack Guard Monkey. It would <i>really</i> be something if the monkey could be made to update my Word document, too. That said, this looks like a pretty solid program, and Russ Smith gives it a serious workout. Anyone use this? Anyone using something else and looking to convert after reading the review?

[OneAngryDwarf]

I love having the option to do this sort of thing but lets face it - for most tasks its a pain in the butt to do terminal services stuff on such a tiny screen w/o a real mouse and keyboard. Besides that, the bandwidth issue is huge... if you are using a gprs connection forget it. There are much better options for retrieving your files and such remotely which are much more gprs friendly and useability friendly assuming you have an app that can deal w/ your file on your handheld (pocket word or whatever).
These 3 programs that run on your desktop I think are great and at least for the timebeing all are free!
Avvenu - great for retrieving files anywhere on your computer and really great for viewing thumbnailed pics w/ the option to dl full-sized pic to the handheld
Orb - great for streaming music, video, and pics but unfortunately no option exhists to download the full picture.
LogMeIn - Actually does the whole Remote Desktop stuff too but what's nice about it is that it can be done w/o having to install it through activesync and whatnot... so it can easily be used on any pocket pc and/or computer w/o annoying setup. The paid version also gives the ability to do the whole file transfer thing too (kind of like Avvenu but more ftp like) as well as a couple other things which could be useful.

Sorry to take the focus away from the reviewed program but I think people w/o full knowledge of their options may needlessly use remote desktop when they would be much happier just getting what they need and running it on the PPC.

[after_forever]

I have used the Remote2PC software and like it a lot. The main thing I use it for is to remotely control my music and check on the status of my different downloads from the bathroom 8O . Another thing I have used it for is when my kids need help getting to a web site. I can login sitting at the kitchen table while drinking my coffee and figure out their problem without missing a sip.
For the limited things I have played with, it is fast and real easy to use. The only problem I have with this software is when I try to get the TASK bar to pop-up. It really needs to have a START button.

As for LogMeIn, I am unable to get to that site using my ppc. I get the “Cannot Be Found” error. I use LogMeIn all the time with desktop computers without any trouble, my X3i just can’t get there.

[archinemnon]

For me running XP Pro at home I just use Terminal Services and Remote Desktop. Free, already integrated, and works great for me... even over gprs. That coupled with my IIS FTP server and I can do basically anything from the road that I can do from home, including transferring files to my PPC. I don't really edit word documents that way, I mostly use it to check up on downloads or copy files into my FTPRoot for downloading to the PPC. I see no reason to pay for 3rd party software when a solution like this is already installed.

[rob_ocelot]

The only thing I miss in the resident Terminal Services/Remote Desktop setup versus a 3rd party one is a way in QVGA (or even VGA for that matter) to scale the view so you can get an overwiew of the screen. There is nothing more annoying than to be inching your way across the virtual screen using the scroll bars when there's a huge dialog box pop up on your PC that you have to close.

That being said, if you use NYDITOT 4.3 to switch to a higher virtual resolution (and landscape mode) then Terminal Services will reformat itself appropriately.

[OneAngryDwarf]

rob-ocelot - i totally agree which is why i like logmein cuz it does that. I also love that its free. I haven't had any of the problems logging in from my ppc that the other guy mentioned