Anyone seen this new PDA? Wow!

[big_raji]

http://www.powerplaydevices.com/products/ppvs_info.html

Yes, I know the hardware specs in terms of CPU and memory suck, but it's got SD slot, voice recorder, and MP3 capability...

For gifts, I've bought people Palm OS PDAs in the past, and tried to encourage them to install software, but they never use anything except for the built-in PIM functions.

This thing is perfect.

Hell, I'm tempted to buy one.

[Caffeine kid]

For that price, buy the zire.

[big_raji]

Originally posted by Caffeine kid
For that price, buy the zire.

Well, that's the point... It's got more than the Zire in terms of functionality.

I'd easily pay that amount for an MP3/Voice Recorder with an SD Slot. The fact that it's a PDA is a bonus.

[Edlin]

mmm linux PDAs. The built in apps look quite good from the screen shots.

[Orincarnia]

linux is supposed to be pretty stable......is it as stable as palm?

[Orincarnia]

or is stability what you give up for mp3 and voice recording?

[hucsman]

Originally posted by big_raji


Well, that's the point... It's got more than the Zire in terms of functionality.

I'd easily pay that amount for an MP3/Voice Recorder with an SD Slot. The fact that it's a PDA is a bonus.

Agree, it beats the Zire all the way, considering the market it's intended for (i.e. people that DON'T visit cliesource or palmonecity).

BTW, nice avi!

[acraniotes]

For $99, this is a pretty impressive device. I'd definitely recommend it over a Zire. Of course, the question is how well does it sync with one's computer? Given that this device is clearly intended for the "casual" PDA user who happens to want a small measure of multimedia, this is the make or break issue.

- Adam

[MegaManXcalibur]

Looks like a very good device for $99. Although I'd rather have Palm OS on my PDA, simply because I'm more adjusted to it (that and I have Linux on a desktop where the fun of having the same OS everywhere).

[Orincarnia]

tell that last part to all the ppc users around here

[kkrays]

Originally posted by Orincarnia
linux is supposed to be pretty stable......is it as stable as palm?

From my experience, yes. I've had a Zaurus SL-5500 for about a year and it is like a rock. I would have to rank it higher than Palm in terms of stability.

[Orincarnia]

good to know, ok my best friend came up to me and said "i want a pda in the 200 dollar price range hes looking into hp, but doesn't know whats good or bad, i certianly want to be the one to help him since no one else he knows has a pda, except for adults.........and its not cool to shop with adults when getting something, no offence to anyone, so what will give him the best for his money? um, i don' tknow what he wants yet but i'll post back at 5 what he wants

[SamuraiCatJB]

one of my partners at work has the Zaurus line (keeps upgrading) of PDA with Linux (he is a major Linux fan, with Linux everywhere, so quite fitting). He has had no problems with the PDA itself, exchanging information with me is a problem. He happens to be my partner, so we end up exchanging information between PDA's via notebook text pages transferred to the host computer then transferring hosts then uploaded then copy and pasted into address book or other app. yet I can beam data to my brother's PPC in the primary contact list or note, etc.

he loves his machines, and has had no problems, but it is a pain to transfer an address to/from him....

[kkrays]

Interesting. I have to say that I've never attempted beaming over data to and from the Zaurus and a Palm/PPC.

That being said, in all my five or six of years of owning a pda, I've probably only beamed some apps twice in that span of time. More often than not, I'm the only pda enthusiast around, so beaming is not a huge concern for me.

[soybomb]

(looking at screenshots of device and apps) ...so this begs the question: how much ripping off look & feel does it take for one go from simply copying to full-on infringement?

[big_raji]

Originally posted by soybomb
(looking at screenshots of device and apps) ...so this begs the question: how much ripping off look & feel does it take for one go from simply copying to full-on infringement?

Yeah, that's what I thought when I saw it. Of course, I also thought of it as an advantage, since it's a very familiar interface.

The text input also seems very similar to Graffiti 2. I guess the only people they're worried about being sued by is Xerox.

I've been to two futureshops, and neither of them had the PDA charged.

I really want to try this out and get a feel for it.

[PolkaDots]

Originally posted by kkrays


From my experience, yes. I've had a Zaurus SL-5500 for about a year and it is like a rock. I would have to rank it higher than Palm in terms of stability.

I was heading towards the C760/750 after my SL-5500 and SL-5600 linux based PDA but, alas, it was not available in my country.

But yes, these linux based pdas are really like rocks : they are really stable (...and they are big and heavy). They blow palm (and needless to say, windows ce based) pdas away in this aspect.

Anyway this powerplay seems very promising and cheap...if only they come in colour display and faster processors....

[neogin]

umm .. i saw some pda that cost about 150 with color screen .. same ability .. why don't get color screen instead ?

add 50 bucks .. u can get many options .. palm .. ppc .. mobile phone .. etc

[Orincarnia]

my bets friend is getting a toshiba e355 ppc for 159 on amazon.com, i tried to convert him to palm but hes gone to the dark side.....................

[neogin]

an example here .. (i don't know if it can do voice rec .. somebody can check for that .. by the way, it is a good deal)

and last time i saw a toshiba e77x or e4xx something .. it was about 150 also .. with wifi .. very good deal ..

do search .. u will find better stuff ..

Staples has the Sony Clie PEG-SJ22 Color Palm PDA + Belkin Leather Flip Case for $130 & $20 - $20 coupon 33352 - $30 rebate [Exp 1/31] = $100. It has 16 MB RAM, 320x320 color display, Lithium-ion rechargeable battery.

[Orincarnia]

he actually wants a high end pda for a low end cost, but of all the searching we did i could only find those, could you point me in the right direction?

[napoli]

it is a peice of crap when their is a ux 50 out their

[Orincarnia]

ok, my best friend cant afford a ux-50............he has 8 people in his family, they can't just walk out and buy stuff for hundreds of dollars like people in this forum can, we help him out, and he wants the cool stuff but his parents can only go so far............

[Orincarnia]

Originally posted by napoli
it is a peice of crap when their is a ux 50 out their

why would you say that about something someone else has? dont you know it would hurt them immensly? i would never say that about someone elses stuff, i empathize too much, i just hope he never sees this thread, it wouldn't make him feel very good (shows how much i care about the dude that saved my life)

[filegrabber]

"it is a peice of crap when their is a ux 50 out their"

I see what that other thread about napoli was about now:) I own a UX50 and must say on a crap v dollar ratio the UX is up near the top (and it's very expensive as well)

[Orincarnia]

my best friend john (whos receiving the pda) says not to worry about it, but i just want to know why he would call my selection crap if there was really no reason for him to attack me, i was really hoping we were passed the rage between me and him after i stopped being mad at him, but now he has to deal with all the other people he made mad

i'm still trying not to be mad at him, but i spent 3 days looking for the best deal i could and i finally found it, i couldn't get a ux-50 below 300, and his limit was 250, i was extatic when i found the toshiba for 150 (as were his parents)

*edit - btw the reason i posted here was because he did look into this pda, but its monochrome screen can't display pictures of his family (all 9 of them) which he loves so much, he loves the mp3 player but can't use it to show pictures, but then my friend ethan saw this and loves it

[kkrays]

I wouldn't worry about it. He's just trying to pimp the UX50 as the best thing since sliced bread.

I think the deal you got is good and it's always good to mix it up with different platforms. You guys can share whats good and bad about each and learn from it.

[big_raji]

Originally posted by Orincarnia
my best friend john (whos receiving the pda) says not to worry about it, but i just want to know why he would call my selection crap if there was really no reason for him to attack me, i was really hoping we were passed the rage between me and him after i stopped being mad at him, but now he has to deal with all the other people he made mad

i'm still trying not to be mad at him, but i spent 3 days looking for the best deal i could and i finally found it, i couldn't get a ux-50 below 300, and his limit was 250, i was extatic when i found the toshiba for 150 (as were his parents)

*edit - btw the reason i posted here was because he did look into this pda, but its monochrome screen can't display pictures of his family (all 9 of them) which he loves so much, he loves the mp3 player but can't use it to show pictures, but then my friend ethan saw this and loves it

Well, $150 for the toshiba is an amazing price. The reason I'm pointing this PDA out is that it's original MSRP is $99, and that's amazing. I'm sure that in a couple of months this PDA could be found for $75 or even less on other online sites. I think that's the case with all PDAs.

I think the Toshiba you got was probably $249 when it came out, so $150 is a helluva price for it. Now, if Toshiba actually came out with a new PDA priced at $150 MSRP with the same features as the e3XX you got, that would be something.

[Spiral]

My friend has the e350 too, it's not bad, main annoyance is that the buttons lag after you push it, makes it hard to play games.

[itu2000]

But Palm or Clie has more 3rd party software.

[Orincarnia]

well i'm officially jealous of john, sure we have a lot of software, but he now has age of empires the full version on his, full 3d environment........(well as 3d as AOE gets) i wish we had that stuff, but we don't can anyone prove me wrong?

[rcxAsh]

Back to the "PowerPlay," I've actually seen it in a FutureShop flyer, though I didn't know that it has a Linux based OS. I thought that it was PalmOS! Interesting. Regarding these Linux based OSes (eg like the Zarus), exactly how much are these like Linux? Do they actually have a similar file system, ext3? Directory structure? (eg, /etc, /home, /usr, /dev, etc) Exactly what attributes do they take from Linux? Do you have to compile your own kernels? lol...?

And what the heck? It has a game called HardBall, wasn't that a game that 3Com had for devices such as the original V series and lower..? The operating system looks pretty much like PalmOS..

(edit)
Whoa, apparently, you can even get this LinuxDA for some of the older PalmOS devices (Palm III, Palm Vx)
http://www.linuxda.com/downloads/index.html

(edit2)
"this LinuxDA," not "his LinuxDA"

(edit3)
I like editting today... hmm.. just a crazy thought, though I haven't actually downloaded it. For those who are reading this and use Linux desktops, what do you think would happen if I downloaded the source for the LinuxDA kernel, did a make menuconfig, etc and then tried to get my desktop to boot it? If that were possible.. I haven't even looked at what's in the tarball though. I highly doubt anything would happen (hardware? etc). Lol, be funny if it did something though lol. A desktop computer running the same stuff as the PowerPlay.

[ClieKun]

is it real! looks like a cross between a clie palmone.

[tprime76]

How many 3rd party apps does it run? With a dragonball processor, it falls back into the speed of os4 devices.

Falls into the category of "too each his own."

[Orincarnia]

some people like the os 4 simplicity........not me of course

[soulreaver99]

Any Zire that doesn't have a 71 next to it sucks *****

[yktan]

I don't know about this PDA but I tried one that was made in China that is running Linux too. It looked like **** but the multi-tasking ability and the stabily really amazed me (I've been using PalmOS for a long time). I used its in-built MP3 player to play songs in the background while I was playing Doom (the first version) on it and there is ZERO decrease in performance. The only problem with Linux is there are almost no software out there... If someone can make a PalmOS emulator that runs on Linux, it will be a winner!

[ZekeSulastin]

Unfortunately, there is no real software base for this product - part of the appeal of the Palm OS (and to a lesser extent, PPCs) is the wide variety of 3rd-party software. I, for one, cannot use a PDA without some form of office suite ... which the os on that cheap PDA does not have ...

It would be a good idea, however for a PalmSource licensee to learn from the example here - a Zire 21 w/ those features at that prie would sell like crazy ...

[Don't Buy the PowerPlay!]

Powerplay Vs -- bought one at BestBuy in December 2003. Fooled around with it for a few days, couldn't return it fast enough.

PROS:
o cheap MP3 player+PDA, if that's what you want
o cool looking metallic body, like a Palm Vx from an evil universe
o bundled software is OK. Just OK. You can import contacts/schedules from Outlook or ActiveSync, which is good. But that's about all that's good.
o You can be totally original by not using PALM OS or Windoze! Cool.

CONS:
o Screen contrast is horrible
o Backlight is barely there
o Voice recorder function adds noise to recordings
o Voice recorder files are NOT convertible to .wav or anything else
o the 16Mhz processor is noticeably slow when switching apps
o You CANNOT use the IR port to beam to another PDA, unless it is also running LinuxDA.

AND THE #1 reason I hated this unit?
o NO LinuxDA support! At all! Nada! You want some cool 3rd party games or utilities? Tough bananas!

Verdict: save your $$$, buy something more mainstream for not that much more money. And get way more use out of it.

The PowerPlay has a lot of potential, but it's too bad the company didn't get lots of developers on-board. As in maybe one or two. The guy at BestBuy said they haven't been selling that well. Over Christmas they sold out of basically every other PDA, except the PowerPlay. Things that make you go hmmm...

[Cyker]

Waa?!

What, so you can't re-compile Linux apps for this thing?
That's pretty painful - Can't see it taking off given that PalmOS and PocketPC are pretty much the only PDA platforms..

The Sharp Zaurus gets around this by leveraging existing Linux apps (With some deft hacking you can re-compile a lot of Linux apps to work on a Zaurus). You find the the Zaurus appeals more to code-hackers than idiots like us :P

If the PowerPlay vs can't leverage the same apps-base it's gonna struggle...

[clie_wannabe]

Originally posted by rcxAsh


(edit)
Whoa, apparently, you can even get this LinuxDA for some of the older PalmOS devices (Palm III, Palm Vx)
http://www.linuxda.com/downloads/index.html


hhhmmm... though they (Empower Tech) say that they have a more robust OS than PalmOS...

in my opinion the PalmOS is much much stable OS - i only need to reset my Vx once-a-month, and my NXes about once-a-week (due to Sony proprietary apps most probably)... and i guess i dont need anything more.
ps: having the need to reset (uptime/downtime) is only one criteria for measuring OS stability

say LinuxDA is more stable than the PalmOS - needing a reset once-a-year? what do you have then? a PDA with nothing more but simple PIM apps? Empower should concentrate more on usability (which is what Sharp is doing to their Linux Zaurus line by adding more apps/functionality to their PDAs - still not breaking into the big leagues of the PPC and Palm)

IMO, Empower should reconsider their business plan - lest they find themselves gone with a couple of years...

(^^)

[clie_wannabe]

also, if we are talking about embedded OS, particularly for Linux - i would go to the one being used by Sharp (Embedix/QTopia with kernel 2.4.xxx) or by the open-source community (OpenZaurus OS) which are more mature, and really have evolved into a cool OS

check the screenshots out at the OpenZaurus page here

http://www.openzaurus.org/oz_website/content/screenies

[Paraiso]

I think it is great for $99. It definetely beats the Zire and even other more expensive PDA's

[clie_wannabe]

Originally posted by Paraiso
I think it is great for $99. It definetely beats the Zire and even other more expensive PDA's

well... i guess for that price... i think its a good buy then

:D

[ClieKun]

Its not worth money. and with sony outdated models your better offwith. But if you just want a music fix i say its worth it.

[Orincarnia]

well i'll confess, if i really wanted to be different 5 years ago this is what i would have gotten...........................................5 years ago

[abid786]

Hey,

I bought one of these devices, lol

works like a charm.

[Orincarnia]

you did? sweet so how does it compare? size, feel, and screen?

[Ion Control]

Completely off topic:
Orin, you might drop the "unite mispelled". Don't explain a good joke. That makes it less amusing ;) (Also, it's "dyslexics") Still, that's a CLASSIC joke! Makes me laugh everytime :D

[Orincarnia]

so is this joke older than me?, ok i'll drop it but if i get too many people asking me "what the heck do you mean by that, i'll have to add it back, i couldn't decide whether to mispell dyslexics too, i just wanted too...............but i'll make it where no one has anyidea what i'm talking about

[Unregistered]

In a nutshell, this device is SLOOOOOWW.

Even after using an SJ22 (33 MHz processor), this seems slow. After comparing it to the faster OS5 devices, this is nothing. The handwriting recognition takes a long time and if you have more than 20 entries in the address book, they take ~20 seconds to sort. BUT, I'm not using this for PIM though; just for MP3 and Voice recording!!

The screen is okay, of course comparing it to the color screens is no match, but you can say its the same as older Palm devices, with a backlight.

Plus, it can't play MP3s with a higher bitrate than 128, so I have to convert everything.

Thats my 2 cents, guys

Abid

[abid786]

Btw, the poster above is me

lol :)

[Ion Control]

Orin,
That joke is pretty "old". But how can a joke that good ever die? :) Kind of like "Did you hear about the dyslexic who worshipped Dog?" Anyway, I don't know how old you are, but chances are, the joke was born first ;) :D

[harryleung]

interesting looking PDA

[Orincarnia]

i'm 18, so yeah...........it was, and now i know not to buy this device, I HAVE OFFICIALLY BEEN LABELED AS TECHNO BOY AMONG MY FRIENDS, cause i havde all this techno crap and i even have a girlfriend, wow, not bad for not being cute

[Unregistered]

check out the shi*t at www.dynamism.com

[ClieKun]

Originally posted by Orincarnia
i'm 18, so yeah...........it was, and now i know not to buy this device, I HAVE OFFICIALLY BEEN LABELED AS TECHNO BOY AMONG MY FRIENDS, cause i havde all this techno crap and i even have a girlfriend, wow, not bad for not being cute


Oh thats good to hear :D Tech geek is the name :)

[Orincarnia]

you're saing your name is teckgeek among your friends?

good to meet a fellow tech

[ClieKun]

No your name wll be soon :)

[Orincarnia]

well as soon as i get my memory sticks back i'll be the perfect portable computer person,

i made a new 3 inch cd with all the files and any time i find a computer, i can show off my skills, or i can just show off on my pda, i was told theres a dos program for pdas............more specoifically palm and if there is then i wiull get a wireless card cause if i can scan and ping people from my pda, THAT WOULD BE SO COOL

[ClieKun]

cool!!!!!