Windows Mobile 2003 SE Questions

[JAmerican]

I have some questions I want to know about Windows Mobile Devices? Please be truthful. Thanks.

-Does your WM2003SE device crash often at random? (Meaning tha no apps were added and it just crashes)

-Does Pocket Word, Pocket Excel, and Pocket PowerPoint keep the format of native files (.doc, .ppt, .xls) transferred from the PC? Does the format stay as well as all the data when the file is edited on the handheld and saved?

-Can you download a file from the internet and do something else while it is downloading?

-How fast is the webpage rendering with Pocket Internet Explorer?

-What other video/audio formats can you view with Pocket Media Player besides WMV/WMA?

-What is the benefit of the rotation feature? What programs function better in landscape/portrait?

-Is there any flash drive software for PPC like Card Export II for Palm that allows you to connect your external media to any PC without drivers?

-What PPC devices would you recommend?

Thanks.
JAmerican

[foghead]

-Does your WM2003SE device crash often at random? (Meaning tha no apps were added and it just crashes)
No more than a Palm OS PDA.My main PDA this week might have been reset three or four days ago - I'm not sure. It really isn't a common event.
-Does Pocket Word, Pocket Excel, and Pocket PowerPoint keep the format of native files (.doc, .ppt, .xls) transferred from the PC? Does the format stay as well as all the data when the file is edited on the handheld and saved?
Pocket Word and Excel are not worth even running for power users. There is no Pocket PowerPoint. In both apps that do exist, complex formatting will be lost. Think of Pocket Word as WordPad and you are really close to understanding both it and the phiosophy of Pocket Excel. If you need to do heavy editing, and formatting on the PDA, I would recommend looking at TextMaker and PlanMaker from SoftMaker (http://www.softmaker.de/product_en.htm). They are full featured, true replacements for Word and Excel. There is nothing like them on the Palm platform. They run about $50 each, but you get what you pay for. If you need PowerPoint compatibility look at Pocket Slides (http://www.conduits.com/products/slides/). Similar story - for all intents and purposes, this app is a pocket version of PowerPoint.
-Can you download a file from the internet and do something else while it is downloading?
Yes. You can even doo more than one task while the download is running.
-How fast is the webpage rendering with Pocket Internet Explorer?
It's fast enough. I mean this is incredibly processor dependent. I have found it to be subjectively as fast or faster than on any Palm OS device. At the same time it is much slower than my desktop system. This is reflected in both download speed and in rendering speed. PDAs are processor, memory and bus limited. This means that they cannot handle the data as fast as it comes at them. This isn't a big surprise. If PDAs were fast enough to do everything that a desktop system needs to do, we would be using 400 Mhz ARM systems for the desktop instead of computers with 3 Ghz Pentium 4s and Athlons.
-What other video/audio formats can you view with Pocket Media Player besides WMV/WMA?
The only one that I have used is MP3. There are also great third-party apps if you want to use any of the open-source formats.
-What is the benefit of the rotation feature? What programs function better in landscape/portrait?
Generally it is used for word processing, spreadsheets, ebooks and some games - anything that was originally formatted for a landscape view or that benefits from longer lines being displayed. Personally, I don't use it much on Palm OS or WM.
-Is there any flash drive software for PPC like Card Export II for Palm that allows you to connect your external media to any PC without drivers?
This is built into ActiveSync. Not just expansion cards, but all of the device memory is mounted every time that it connects.
-What PPC devices would you recommend?
I would need to know what you want to do. That is like asking for a car recommendation. Personally I like Ferraris. But if you need to carpool a soccer team it might not be a good choice for you.

But here goes. I will recommend PDAs assuming that price is no object.

For Non VGA, in the US (I don't know where you are from) I would recommend The iPAQ rx37XX for a consumer device. For a busines user, I would recommend the hx27XX. The 37XX has camera, Windows Media 10, comsumer IR, etc. It is aimed at the consumer market. The hx27XX is a business device: no camera, no CIR, Windows Media 9. But it is screaming fast and has fingerprint recognition for security. Both devices have CF, SD, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. I used the XX in the device model number is because the actual number will vary depending on the channel that it was sold through.

For VGA, you can go with the HP 4700 series if size is no object and you don't play games. It is fast, gorgeous, and huge. It has a metal body and a touchpad. The touchpad is a mixed blessing. It works like a laptop touchpad and you can even enable a mouse pointer. But it is useless for gaming and a little wierd for some other apps. You should also look at the Dell X50v. It is much smaller but has a display that doesn't look quite as good. It is also more than $150 less than the HP. It may be the king of video playback because of the graphics chip inside. It is definitely worth a look but felt a little cheap to me. Also the battery is too small for very much Wi-Fi use. Both of these devices have only 64 MB of RAM. Personally, I prefer 128 MB. They can be expanded to 128 MB by a third-party company, but it costs $200 and voids your warantee. If you are in Europe or Canada, look at the Fujitsu-Siemens Loox 720. This is an incredible device. The problem for us in the US is that it is only available through the gray-market. The 720 is my daily driver. The last device to consider is the Asus A730W. It is a great device and in most respects equivalent to the Loox 720. However the battery is the same small size as the Dell. But it is available in the US.

Hope that helps.

[NJL!2016]

Actually, the rx3000 series dosen't have a CF slot.

[foghead]

You're right.

My fault for posting before drinking my morning caffiene. :eek:

[NJL!2016]

You might wanna wait until the new batch Windows Mobile 2005 (Windows CE 5.0) devices start coming out. Pocket Office will be totally revamped

http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000760025993/

[JAmerican]

Thanks guys for your replies. I really appreciate it. I'm thinking about getting one but I'll wait for the new batch to come out before I actually purchase one.

JAmerican