Registered: Mar 2000
Location: San Francisco, CA, USA
Posts: 3

Does anyone know how much it cost? Has anyone used it yet? Just wondering how it compares with Visors and Palms. Thanks.

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: I'm not sure, but I see lots of lights everywhere.
Posts: 1287

The Pocket PC will be officially launched tomorrow morning at large special event in NY Grand Central Station. Pocket PC will range in price from $199 (Grayscale screens) and $400-$500 for color screen models.

How do they compare to the Palm or Visor? Pocket PCs are better! I've previewed one several weeks ago, and just a couple days ago got to use another one, and I have to say, this blows the Palm away! After using a Pocket PC it's hard to go back to my Visor. The Palm OS seems downright ancient when compared to these new systems. They play MP3, browse the web offline or online with Pocket Internet Explorer (Wireless ready), read ebooks, which look great with a high-res color screen! All of which a Palm can't do at all! The Visor comes closest this, but requires the use of proprietary Springboard modules that quickly add up in cost. Example: Visor Deluxe costs $250...MP3 springboard costs $170, total cost $420. That alone equals the cost of a Pocket PC, and the Visor still doesn't have a high res color screen or comparable software package.

Take my advice, buy a Pocket PC. I recommend either the HP Jornada 545, or Compaq iPaq.
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Foo

Registered: Dec 1999
Location:
Posts: 10

Yeah, the PocketPC may be cool, but you need to take a few things into perspective

1) Battery Life : PocketPC runs about 8 hours. Palm/Visor runs several weeks

2) Stability : PocketPC devices tend to crash. Good ol' Windows...

3) Size : I'm not sure of the exact form factor of a PocketPC device, but I'm sure its gonna be large and heavier than a Palm device.

Now, would you rather have a Big, Battery-sucking machine that constantly crashes, or a small, long-life machine that is stable...

Your decision.

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: I'm not sure, but I see lots of lights everywhere.
Posts: 1287

Let's get one thing straight. The new Pocket PC OS does not crash like the old version of Windows CE. It's extremely stable. Possibly more stable than the Palm OS. As for form factor, the HP Jonada is thinner than your Visor! As is the new Compaq unit.

Your judging these devices by an old stereotype that is no longer accurate. This is a whole new ballgame!
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Foo


[This message has been edited by foo fighter (edited 04-19-2000).]

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: I'm not sure, but I see lots of lights everywhere.
Posts: 1287

There's also the issue of upgradeability cost. An 8MB Flash memory Springboard will set you back $90. Pocket PCs use Compact Flash memory. 8MB CF cards are available for as low as $25. You do the math.

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Foo

Registered: Oct 1999
Location:
Posts: 28

Give it up foo
if you love PocketPC (or did you forget it was the horible winCE that totaly sucked!)
there is nothing new about PocketPC that the last CE incarnation did not have.

what ppl tend to forget about flash is that it's cheeper now but costs you in the long run. They drain your batters faster then pretty much anything else.
i will garentee you that PPC in colour will be the same old subnotebook size that it has always been.
and as for gray scale. just imagin your windows desktop in BW
HA! it will not work.

as for your basis for it being created on NT code HA! they said the same about 95 on it's first day of release.
untill win2k came around NT was a total joke. much better then anything else M$ made but still a joke when you can get lynix for FREE and it works 100 times better then NT will ever be able to.
lets not forget about M$ hotmail. it's still running BSD cuz NT can't take the stress.

if you wanted to say you have a great OS for the PDA you might try a unix ver. It's got promis but palm OS was not even supost to have colour till os4 or did EVERYONE forget

just wait till you see OS4

BTW palm is teaming up with everyone while everyone is droping CE fAST! who's left making CE devices? campaq and HP??
philups left. sony will not buy into that garbage. insted they bought into the palm garbage(just to insult everyone evenly)

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: I'm not sure, but I see lots of lights everywhere.
Posts: 1287

Has anyone seen Palm OS 4? Has Palm made any changes, or is the interface still the same?

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Foo

Registered: Oct 1999
Location:
Posts: 28

has windows ever changed it's interface?
no seriosly
cosmeticaly YES
but you still have the same STUPID hour glass same boring pointer. Not to mention all the same bugs from the first release. and you get all that same boring outdated garbage on PPC

not to say palms dont' have there old boring garbage aswell. heck i know for a fact that palm never actualy fixed there calculator bug. they just patched it and left it as is. even on the visor it's still just a patched calculator.

How ever what i think will make palm the dominating factor for at least the rest of the year(can't stay forever yha know, nor predict much further then that) is the fact that palm went IPO. they have alot of $$$ to burn. think about this. palm started the original pilot pretty much flat broke and had failed on other pda os's befor. this was the companies last hope. and from there it has gone to dominate the market. 70% in fact.

They are now getting ppl to sigh up and develop stuff for them in a simpler fasion then befor.

when you get the same developers on the CE side you will see a shift untill they even recognize it there is no hope.

just fact. cuz one day developers will leave palm. thats for sure. when is a question no one can answer

Registered: Mar 2000
Location: California
Posts: 10

quote:

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Originally posted by piloteer:
cuz one day developers will leave palm. thats for sure. when is a question no one can answer[/B]

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Where as with Windows CE everyone has already left Sure Microsoft will throw $$$ at companies to "support" the PocketPeeCee... but in the long run I'm certain PalmOS will remain dominant.

...That is until something new comes into town and takes the whole PDA market by storm.

The PocketPeeCee is a perfect example of Microsoft attempting to get some $$$ in the ludicrous PDA market... kinda sounds similar to the "X-Box" video game console expected to be released next year by Microsoft. They want a piece of everything... will they ever learn?

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: I'm not sure, but I see lots of lights everywhere.
Posts: 1287

The only factor that held developers back from writing tons of software for CE is that the development tools are costly, unlike the Palm platform which has free programming SDKs, tools, and much better compilers. That's why don't see lots of free software for Windows CE. However that is about to change. Microsoft is expected to make an announcement by the 26th that should put an end to this forever.

Now all they have to do is get developers interested in writing code for their platform! ;-)

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Foo

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Baltimore MD, USA
Posts: 717

The most recent issue of TIME magazine has a review of the Pocket PC. http://www.time.com/time/digital/yo...6,43224,00.html
The gist of it was: though it has some flashy features, if you compare PalmOS with Pocket PC OS, you will soon come to the conclusion that the Pocket PC OS sucks rocks through a garden hose.

He mentioned such things as how Microsoft reponded to the overwelming condemnation of the "Start" button by the pathetic ploy of moving the button from the lower left edge of the screen to the upper right of the screen.

He also said that the PalmOS's Graffiti is much more accurate at interpreting your stylus than is the PocketPC OS.

[This message has been edited by Winchell (edited 04-19-2000).]

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Baltimore MD, USA
Posts: 717

Wired News also slams the PocketPC
http://www.wired.com/news/technolog...2,35734,00.html

[This message has been edited by Winchell (edited 04-19-2000).]

Registered: Dec 1999
Location:
Posts: 10

And CNET has a few words to say
http://www.cnet.com/software/0-3709-7-1713203.html?tag=st.co.3635-7-1711688.tx t.1068-404-1587490

Seems as if my earlier comments about crashing aren't unwarranted. Plus the crap handwriting recognition and sucky battery life.

I think we also need to take into consideration that these really are two totally different devices. PocketPC devices are trying to be mini-laptops, while Palm devices are just being what they are, handheld organizers. Sure, it'd be nice for Palm to have a color screen and play MP3s and such, but that's not why people buy it. They buy it to have a stable organizer that will keep track of their stuff.

Each device caters to a different market. PocketPC to the people who want everything in their device, and Palm to the people who don't need that kind of power, need the device to do less and have more battery life.

It's like comparing apples to oranges.

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Kevin Mitchell
[email protected]


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[This message has been edited by yolto (edited 04-19-2000).]

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: at work...
Posts: 736

quote:

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Originally posted by foo fighter:
As for form factor, the HP Jonada is thinner than your Visor! As is the new Compaq unit.

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Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Metro Station, Hollywood and Highland
Posts: 1018

Let me get this straight: the iPaq has no CF slot?! How is the MP3 capability going to be useful at all if you're limited to the unit's native 32 mb of RAM without the possibility of compact flash expansion. You'll only have room for maybe 3 or 4 MP3s. Am I missing something here?

Registered: Jan 2000
Location: Twin Cities, MN
Posts: 1683

Computerworld also has an article:
http://www.computerworld.com/home/p...lash/000417D61E

They basically say that it is not going to gain market share from Palm, but will stop the "hemorrhaging" of Windows CE.

I DO like the looks of those new iPaqs, though! FINALLY someone brave enough to come out with some new industrial design that doesn't directly rip-off apple!

Registered: Nov 1999
Location: Wichita, KS
Posts: 29

I agree: the Palm and Visor do what they were intended to do. Certainly others may feel differently...I'm just not interested in carrying around a music player with my organizer.

Excellent Web access is another matter. I'd love a true wireless handheld browser. For now, I'll live with AvantGo and get my information fix in clips.

Registered: Mar 2000
Location: California
Posts: 10

foofighter is going to have his hands full with these replies

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Baltimore MD, USA
Posts: 717

quote:

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Originally posted by riojas:
foofighter is going to have his hands full with these replies

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Registered: Nov 1999
Location:
Posts: 10

Foo Fighter is starting to remind me of Microsoft's forays into the newsgroups in the days of OS/2. The guy has been trashing Palm and his Visor since I began looking at this site. And since it's announcement he's been hailing the as yet to be seen virtues of PocketPC.
What do you all think?