Color Palm-size PCs buyers Guide



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	Color Palm-size PC Buyer's Guide One of the great benefits of an open platform like Windows CE is that it provides manufacturers ample room for innovation not just in the design of their hardware, but also the extra accessories and software features they add to their devices. This is certainly the case for the new generation of color Palm-size PCs. And although this may lead to greater confusion among potential buyers, it also provides far greater freedom of choice to consumers and business users. To help you sort through this confusion and select the color Palm-size PC that is right for you, I have compiled detailed comparison charts showing the hardware and software features of all the leading color Palm-size models currently or soon to be on the available on the market. In addition, I have added some explanations of what I consider to be the most important factors you should consider when choosing a color Palm-size PC device and listed them in order of importance. Screen Battery Life & Recharging "Look & Feel" Memory Size Audio Capabilities Processor Type CompactFlash Slot Type Accessory Items and Software Bundles Please note that it is not the policy of the Windows CE Business Solutions Home Page to recommend individual devices. Rather, it is to provide our visitors with the information you need to make informed choices. Screen Probably the single most important factor that will influence your choice of a color Palm-size will be the quality of the device's screen. Unfortunately, sorting through the competing claims made by the hardware manufacturers regarding the technological merits of the screens on their devices is a tough process. So the best piece of advice I can give you is: even if you plan to buy a color Palm-size PC via the Internet or mail-order, head off down to your local computer store and compare the screen on each device before you place your order. That's the only way you'll be able to make a decision you are comfortable with. In fact, color Palm-size PCs come with a variety of different screens, each with its own advantages and disadvantages. The Compaq Aero has what's known as a reflective TFT (thin film transistor) screen, which allows you to view the display without a backlight (though this feature is still included for use in poorly lit conditions). The key advantage of a reflective TFT screen is that it helps save battery life. In addition, you can view the screen in bright daylight (something I can't do for example with the color screen on my HP LX620). The HP Jornada 420 on the other hand features a CSTN (color nematic screen technology) screen, and also has a nifty software utility that allows you to adjust the contrast and backlighting of the screen in indoor and outdoor lighting conditions. While the CSTN screen on the HP Jornada delivers rich color (particularly when the backlight feature is on), it does draw heavily on power, which dramatically reduces battery life. Unlike other color Palm-size PCs, the HP Jornada also has transparent flip cover to protect the screen; as an additional bonus you can start up the device by simply tapping on the screen. So far, I haven't had the chance to see the other color Palm-size PC devices that have been announced. But Casio claims that the FSTN (sorry, I don't know what this stands for) screen on its E-100 supports 65,535 colors compared to the 256 colors supported by the other devices. It'll be interesting to see what kind of "real-world" benefits this impressive number delivers when the device finally hits the market. Battery Life & Recharging After screen quality, battery life is probably the most important consideration for many users. No matter how fancy your device is, if it shuts down due to lack of power during the middle of a meeting it is worse than useless! With the exception of the Philips Nino 500, all the color Palm-size PCs feature Lithium Ion batteries, though given that Philips is claiming a battery life of eight hours the battery type doesn't seem to be a major issue. Compaq claims up to ten hours for its Aero, while HP claims around six hours for its Jornada; so the Philips Nino 500 is right in the middle. Of course, calculating battery life on a Palm-size PC is very much like calculating the miles per gallon; it's more of an art rather than a science. But since all the color Palm-size PC devices seem capable of delivering enough battery life to last for a full business day, you should also consider a couple of other important factors, particularly if you travel regularly on business. One major drawback of the HP Jornada 420 in my eyes is that you can only recharge the device via its cradle, so you will have to carry the cradle whenever you go on a trip lasting more than a day. A minor inconvenience perhaps, until you discover that you've forgotten to pack the cradle when you arrive at your hotel after a long day of meetings and you need to urgently access your email. On the other hand, the HP Jornada uses an off-the-shelf Sony Lithium Ion battery so that you should be able to buy a replacement fairly easily -- and at a significantly lower price than you'd pay for the proprietary batteries used in the other color Palm-size PCs. "Look & Feel" While many of us like to pretend that we base our technology buying decisions on "objective" considerations like performance, specifications, and features, it is often more intangible factors like "look and feel" that play a critical part in our final choice. But even in this area there are tangible items that you should carefully consider, the most obvious of which is the size and weight of the devices. Compared to the first generation of Palm-size PCs, the color devices are bigger and heavier overall, weighing as much as 10 ounces with the batteries inserted. (Please see the Size & Weight Comparison Chart for further details.) If you're carrying the device around with you all of the day, you need to make sure that it is comfortable to hold in your palm for extended periods. If you're at all like me, one of the main tasks you will use your device for is taking notes during long and boring meetings, and if you're not careful your hands can get rather tired from continually hold the device. Another thing you should consider carefully is the location of the On/Off switch and the application buttons on the device to make sure that they are conveniently located. Many people also like the jog wheels integrated on the original Nino for scrolling up and down applications; some of the other color Palm-size PCs now also come with this feature. Memory Size Windows CE Palm-size PCs come with two types of memory: ROM (Read-Only Memory) and RAM (Random Access Memory). ROM is used to store the Windows CE Operating System and any other applications the manufacturer has decided to "burn in" to the device. In a very real sense, the size of the ROM is irrelevant because you can't erase any applications from it or install any new applications. That's why it's called Read Only Memory. The size of the RAM is a far more critical factor, because it is used for running your applications and storing files and any additional applications you have installed on your device. My own advice is to buy a device with as much RAM as possible -- preferably a minimum of 16MB. That way your device will deliver better performance and provide the room you need for installing the growing number of third-party applications that are becoming available -- not to mention graphics and audio files. Audio Capabilities With Compaq, Casio and Philips all having announced that they will include AudiblePlayer software that allows you to download audio books and articles from www.audible.com with their devices, the audio capabilities of color Palm-size PCs will become an increasingly important consideration for many users. The growing popularity of the MP3 software fromwww.xaudio.com is also another important factor. While all the color Palm-size PCs have a built-in speaker, you will need to install a headphone set for a good listening experience. One drawback with most of the color Palm-size PC devices is that they have a 0.25mm audio jack (unlike the 0.35mm audio jack on Walkmans), so getting high-quality earphones can be a problem. The only exception to this that I can confirm is the HP Jornada 420. In addition, the Casio E-100 is the only color Palm-size PC to support stereo headphones; all the others support mono only. Processor Type Windows CE Palm-size PCs come with RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computing) processors rather than the CISC (Complex Instruction Set Computing) CPUs that you will find in a standard desktop or notebook PCs. While the clock speed (expressed in MHz) is important, whether your processor is running at 75MHz or 100MHz has very little (if any) impact on the overall performance of the device; memory size is a far more critical factor. All five color Palm-size PCs feature high-performance processors that will deliver all the headroom you need to run your Windows CE applications, so I wouldn't base your buying decision solely on the magic MHz number. CompactFlash Slot Type All five color Palm-size PCs feature a standard 3.3V Type I/II CompactFlash slot, which should mean that you will have no problems installing all types of CompactFlash cards such as memory, fax/modem, and network cards. HP in particular has also been aggressively promoting the fact that the CompactFlash slot on the Jornada is "shielded" so that it will be able to support the forthcoming CF1350 Flex paging card from Motorola. If you think you might need to use this solution, then make sure that CompactFlash slot on your device also meets the "shielded" specification. Accessory Items and Software Bundles Although perhaps not as important a factor as the other ones I have mentioned, if you have a chance you should take a look at the accessory items that come with the device. The single biggest thing I hate about my Everex Freestyle is the stylus, though I love the foldable MobileCradle. The quality of the carrying pouch is also something you should look at. Sometimes it's the seemingly little things that can drive you crazy about a device! All the color Palm-size PCs come with pretty respectable software bundles such as menu utilities as well as full blown applications like expense managers, image viewers, and calculators. But with Windows CE software now widely available and reasonably cheap, you'll probably end up installing a lot of additional programs in any case. So again, this shouldn't be a major consideration. Back to Top Home Color Palm-size PC Overview Color Palm-size PC Buyer's Guide `[AVAILABLE]` Color Palm-size PC Features & Specifications Comparison Chart`[AVAILABLE]` Color Palm-size PC Links Benefits of Color Palm-size PCs to the Business User Delivers a More Comfortable Viewing Experience`[AVAILABLE]` Provides the Catalyst for a New Generation of Dynamic Business Applications`[AVAILABLE]` Full-Day Battery Life`[AVAILABLE]` Choice of Ergonomic User-Friendly Designs Flexible Communications Options Most Cost-Effective Mobile Computing Solution