Pocket PC: The Best Way to Start Your Day?

[Jason Dunn]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://hdtv.engadget.com/2006/10/04/engadget-commercial-contest-winners/' target='_blank'>http://hdtv.engadget.com/2006/10/04...ontest-winners/</a><br /><br /></div><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/engadget-pocketpc-video.jpg" /><br /><br />I was doing some RSS scouring and happened to end up on engadget, and looked at a couple of the top <a href="http://hdtv.engadget.com/2006/10/04/engadget-commercial-contest-winners/">user-submitted videos</a> from a recent contest they ran. The video submitted by Dan Sheppard caught my attention when I noticed it used a Pocket PC...in a rather un-flattering way. It's an older device, and in fact, the first person to identify it from the photo above will win a much-coveted Pocket PC Thoughts micro light. What kind of Pocket PC is it?<br /><br /><b>UPDATE:</b> The first person to correctly identify the Pocket PC as a Casio EM-500 (on their first guess, without editing the message - did I really need to point that out people? ;-)) was <i>Ploobers</i>. Nicely done!

[JamesM]

casio E500

[Menneisyys]

Casio E-750

Second shot:

EM-500

[Ploobers]

Casio EM-500 Cassiopeia

[phoenixfire1965]

The Pocket PC pictured is the Casio EM-500. It was manufactured by Casio as a second generation device in 2000. It was very popular due to the shape and the overall size.

[macattack]

Casio E-125?

[Menneisyys]

Yup, it's the EM500; the lamp is definitely that of JamesM because there was no E-500, just the EM-500; that is, he must have meant the latter.

[Menneisyys]

Casio E-125?

There are slight differences between the E-125 and the EM-500, looks-wise; for example, the purple area around the screen also contains the hardware buttons on the EM-500 - and on the E-750 as well. This is why I've thought of the E-750 first until I've spotted the difference between the speaker module (The EM-500 has three vertical bars, the E-750 has a "traditional" speaker).

(I have my E-750 and my two E-125's in front of me :) - love them all and still use them to play a lot of games. I've even written a BIG roundup of all MIPS games (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/menneisyys/052006MIPSGames.asp) some months ago - check it out if you love(d) Cassiopeias.)

[JamesM]

Yup, it's the EM500; the lamp is definitely that of JamesM because there was no E-500, just the EM-500; that is, he must have meant the latter.

Yes, but accuracy counts! I concede to your greater knowledge (and the fact that I edited it twice, thinking first E200, then E125, then watching the video :? )

[alese]

It's Casio EM-500. I think it was the first PocketPC device with MMC/SD slot.

I still have it's bigger and older brother Casio E-100 with Windows CE 2.11.
The machine still works and the screen is still beautiful (indoor).

[Menneisyys]

Yup, it's the EM500; the lamp is definitely that of JamesM because there was no E-500, just the EM-500; that is, he must have meant the latter.

Yes, but accuracy counts! I concede to your greater knowledge (and the fact that I edited it twice, thinking first E200, then E125, then watching the video :? )

I think the microlight belongs to you because it was after you've sent in your solution that I've modded my one - after all, you've only left out one letter and everybody knows there was no E-500. That is, you must have meant the EM-500 when writing E-500.

[kaitanium]

ah the casio em500, my first pocketpc

[T-Will]

Pocket PC snuff video? :D

[Gerard]

AlI coud do for about 10 seconds was stare, in horror. How could someone drown an EM-500? Okay, so they had pretty minimal (IrDA dialup modem, Casio serial dialup modem, nothing else, period) connectivity options, which made them a non-starter for me. But still, they were slim - sleekest ever Casio model - and pretty, and with a fat MMC card could hold a heck of a lot of music or movies or games. The button layout is classic Casio, perfect for gaming. Add a folding Stowaway and it's a wonderful word processing machine. There's just nothing nice about sticking this thing in milk.

Then I realised it was probably photoshopped. Nobody enthusiastic about PPCs would ever really do that... would they? Naw. Okay, fine, have your little fun. So long as no circuits got wet.

[Jason Dunn]

Then I realised it was probably photoshopped. Nobody enthusiastic about PPCs would ever really do that... would they? Naw.

The video shows it all. ;-)

[Gerard]

Couldn't see that there was a video. Browsing on a PPC. Just as well; who wants to see something that... that... ugly. And I thought you were a Christian man Jason, someone with a sense of decent limitations on moral behavior. ;)

[Ekkie Tepsupornchai]

Yup... that was my first PocketPC as well. As Gerard points out, the specs were pretty minimal, but man, was that machine great at what it did!

Those specific Casio screens were (and still are) the best indoor screens ever for a PDA and the D-Pad and buttons on the EM-500 were cream-of-the-crop. The sensitivity of the touch-screen was absolutely perfect as well. Though the marketing only stated MMC support, in retrospect, I think the EM-500 was the first to support SD memory cards (which many people scoffed at back then).

The specs were short, but that unit was just rock-solid. The E-125 was released about the same time and had better specs (both processor and memory were superior I believe), but for some reason, Casio gave it the uglier square appearance.

[HTK]

My first PDA was a Cassiopeia EM-500.. the best d-pad for gaming on any pocket pc.

[fresh-popcorn]

Casio E-125?

It is not the E-125, I had the E-125 and it was more silver color

It is the EM-500

[Ed Hansberry]

how do you know it isn't the EM-505?