Pocket PC 2002 Roundup: No Clear Winner17 December 2001 It's no secret to my regular readers that Pocket PC 2002 has become my preferred mobile computing platform. This "version 3.1" from Microsoft has the perfect balance of speed, power and simplicity that PalmOS 4 just can't match. You can make a PalmOS device almost as powerful as a Pocket PC, but that inevitably makes it more of a pain in the butt to maintain than a Pocket PC. Pocket PC 2002 is a winner. That's the platform. The devices, on the other hand... There's some good stuff in this generation of Pocket PCs, but no clear winner. In the Pocket PC 2000 generation, the iPaq ran away from the crowd with the only daylight visible screen and the most flexibility in regards to expansion. But this time around, the game has changed, and nobody got it completely right. Every device seems to have something to like, but at least one fatal flaw. In brief, let's take a look at the good, the bad and the ugly from each device. Compaq iPaq 3800The Good: Since they kept the basic shape the same, the 3800 is compatible with most existing sleeves, so anyone with an investment in iPaq peripherals isn't screwed. They fixed stylus silo, making it round this time so it doesn't matter how you put it in. They took the speaker out of directional pad, which should make both features more stable. And the 3800 finally includes a screen cover, though you lose it if you use any other sleeve; but since the 3800 has internal memory expansion through the SD slot, you shouldn't need expansion sleeves as often. The Bad: The screen, the screen, the screen. The iPaq still uses what's essentially a landscape LCD forced into a portrait orientation, meaning that the little "redgreenblueredgreenblue" sub-pixel elements that make up each line of the LCD screen go vertically instead of horizontally. ClearType is optimized for left to right reading, and the iPaq's screen turns ClearType into a color-fringed, blurry mess. I don't know why, but seems even worse on Pocket PC 2002 devices, and it wasn't good on Pocket PC 2000 devices. In particular, on the 3600 series the LCD orientation give the tops of letters a bluish tint, but in the new devices letters frequently have a red edge to the left and a blue edge to the right, almost as if ClearType is ignoring the pixel orientation and anti-aliasing left to right, but with full pixels rather than sub-pixels. The screen may be larger than other Pocket PCs at 3.8 diagonal inches to other's 3.5, but it's far less readable with ClearType enabled. The Ugly: I'm sorry, but the "black hat" looks stupid. The 3600 and 3700 series iPaqs have a sleek, futuristic techno look, but the 3800 looks like either a toy or a remote control. Ick. I'm also not crazy about the lack of a DC port on the bottom, like the earlier iPaqs had. One of the great things about the iPaq was that it used an industry standard round 5 volt DC port, so you find lots of charging solutions in a pinch -- I picked up a great Sony 4.5 volt travel charger that works well with the iPaq, is much smaller than Compaq's charger and is about $20 cheaper -- but that's no longer true. Good going, Compaq. hp Jornada 560The Good: The best feature of the Jornada has to be battery life; this thing can go forever on a single charge, it seems. hp built on the good points of the 540 form factor and improved, slimming it down further. The Palm III-esque screen cover still does the job, and makes the Jornada one of the few Pocket PCs you can actually put in your pocket without a bulky protective case. Due to the horizontal orientation of the RGB pixel elements -- and the higher pixel density of the smaller screen -- the screen clarity of the Jornada is top-notch when using ClearType, and they even have a convenient applet in Settings to enable ClearType system-wide. And did I mention battery life? The Bad: I realize that some degree of dust under the screen is a fact of life with reflective screens, a side-effect of the manufacturing process. But on some Jornadas, we're not talking about a few specks. I've seen photos of Jornada screens with dust storms that obscure 5% or more of the screen. I don't have this problem on my device, but I feel for those that do. Didn't hp notice what Compaq went through over this? Granted, we're talking about some dust on some devices; there's no guarantee that you'll even notice dust on your unit, but still, hp should have kept a closer eye on this. The Ugly: Either I have particularly corrosive hands, or hp used really cheap paint on the plastic casing of the Jornada. Great ugly patches of paint have rubbed off both sides of the device, as well as the bottom corners on either side of the battery, revealing the beige plastic beneath. I've heard the silver paint on the Handspring Visor Platinum does the same thing, so hp should have known better. Toshiba E570The Good: The Toshiba was one of the first Pocket PCs to use both SD and CF internal card slots. It's only marginally larger than the Sony Clié N700C series. It comes stock with 64MB of RAM, so you might not even need the dual card slots right away. The Bad: No side controls, making one handed use much harder. I use the side controls on my Jornada all the time for reading while I'm walking around, and did the same on my Clié. After getting used to side controls, it's a pain to do without them. ClearType is better than the iPaq -- probably due to the greater pixel density of the 3.5 inch screen -- but still slightly color fringed. No screen cover. The Ugly: Battery life. The initial reports on the Toshiba give it the worst battery life of any second generation Pocket PC, probably a side-effect of cramming so much hardware into such a small form factor. No room for a battery. Or, since Toshiba is aiming this squarely at the enterprise market, maybe they didn't expect people to have the devices away from their desks -- and thus, charging stations -- for extended periods of time. Note: The AudioVox Maestro Pocket PC is identical to the Toshiba, except that it has 32MB of RAM instead of 64MB. Unlike the Toshiba, the AudioVox device is available retail. Casio E-200The Good: The Casio E-200 also has dual internal slots, SD and CF. It also has the option of using a PC Card sleeve. Unlike other Pocket PCs, it can act as an USB host, so if people write the drivers, it can use USB peripherals like keyboards, CD-ROM drives, etc. The Casio also has the best screen for ebooks of any Pocket PC, narrowly edging out the Jornada. The Casio screen is just as crisp as the Jornada, and brighter, almost as bright as the iPaq. The Bad: It has no screen cover. Like the first generation Casios, it's the most "brick-like" Pocket PC, and is much wider and harder to hold than the Jornada, especially if you're a southpaw trying to reach the side controls. Early reports indicate that it has a tendency to permanently burn out the sidelight, necessitating complete replacement. The Ugly: The E-200 uses a different screen and graphics controller from other Pocket PCs, and certain incompatibilities make it incompatible with full motion video apps like Pocket Divx and Windows Media Player, and just about anything that needs landscape. In a slap in the face to many Casio loyalists, who considered the Casio E-100 series the "gamer's choice" of Pocket PC 2000, Casio ditched the game-friendly button layout used by the E-100 series, going with the central directional pad used by other Pocket PCs. NEC PocketgearThe Good: Wow, the good on this looks really good. It has an integrated screen cover. It has side controls. It has dual internal slots. It has a backup battery. The Bad: No confirmation on this, but I fear the screen will be the same Sony-manufactured screen used in the iPaq, meaning it will have the same ClearType issues. The NEC and iPaq are the only second generation Pocket PCs to use 3.8 inch screens. It also has rumored directional pad issues, specifically that it will be unable to register simultaneous button presses. If that pans out, it will be a big issue for gamers. The Ugly: Actually, this device is pretty frickin' sweet looking. Good thing, too, since all we can do is look at it, as it's still not shipping (as evidenced by all the unconfirmed rumors above). Parting Shots So, given the above, why am I still so jazzed about the Pocket PC? Even though none of the Pocket PC 2002 devices is perfect, they're all pretty good, and the shortcomings are varied enough that just about anyone can find a device that fits most of their needs fairly well, while having limitations they can live with. It comes down to what's important to you. Given that this is a column about using mobile computing for writing, the hp Jornada seems like the best bet, as it has a great readable screen, wide availability of Stowaway keyboards and great battery life. If you need to watch broadcast television, on the device, on the other hand, the iPaq is the way to go, as it has a TV/FM tuner sleeve available. If you need the smallest, most Palm V executive size possible, and you spend enough time in corporate environments to keep your device cradled and topped off, the Toshiba might be the best bet. In any case, any of the Pocket PC 2002 devices will do the "laptop alternative" job better, faster and easier than a tricked out PalmOS device. With that in mind, I offer the following comparison. I've listed all four of the currently available Pocket PC 2002 devices (I can't rate the NEC device without seeing it; I've seen the rest of them first-hand). I've rated each from one to four in various categories, and listed their average scores. A score of 1 would be perfect, 4 would be dead last. I've only listed categories I feel are important to mobile writers, and rated accordingly. As you can see, the Jornada comes in first, with the Casio a very close second. Warning: This sort of analysis works kinda like the BCS in college football, and is probably just as reliable (said the CU fan who can't believe Nebraska made it into the Rose Bowl).
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