Can a Pocket PC do this?
I know, I know, a Palm will sync easily with my TiBook (550Mhz), but having played around with a few Pocket PCs the handwriting recognition and screen size (plus the Dell Axim's price) the platform has really caught my eye. But before I make the plunge I was hoping that some of you could help me figure out if a Pocket PC can do what I'd like it to. So my questions are...
1. is the handwriting recognition as good as I think it is? The units I was playing with seemed to recognise the characters I was making (and I was using my fingernail). All in all, it seems much better (and intuitive) than Graffiti.
2. how well does it render PDFs? Are they readable even on the small screen? Are things like graphs, etc... lost?
3. I know that Pocket Word doesn't support footnotes, but do you know of any porducts which do this well? I've read about TextMaker which sounds promising. The big use for a Pocket PC would be to edit my PhD dissertation on the road, so I need a word processor which could handle it
4. does this sound like a fesable way of sharing files: saving files on a Compact Flash card on the handheld and then reading it on my Mac using a reader or a PC card adapter (which brings up another question: anyone have any experience with the SanDisk adapter?)
5. how well does Pocket Internet Explorer support SSL and Java (if at all)? I ask since I'd like to connect to my university's wireless network. Their info pages suggest that its possible but say there is some HTTPS bug with the Toshiba e740, at least. Any idea if such a bug is widespread?
Lastly, does anyone know much about Pocket PC 2003? Any idea how substantial an update it will be (and if old models can be updated)?
Thanks for all your help. Hopefully this will help me make up my mind. That, or I can keep telling myself that "year of the portable" will include some kind of Apple handheld!
1. is the handwriting recognition as good as I think it is? The units I was playing with seemed to recognise the characters I was making (and I was using my fingernail). All in all, it seems much better (and intuitive) than Graffiti.
2. how well does it render PDFs? Are they readable even on the small screen? Are things like graphs, etc... lost?
3. I know that Pocket Word doesn't support footnotes, but do you know of any porducts which do this well? I've read about TextMaker which sounds promising. The big use for a Pocket PC would be to edit my PhD dissertation on the road, so I need a word processor which could handle it
4. does this sound like a fesable way of sharing files: saving files on a Compact Flash card on the handheld and then reading it on my Mac using a reader or a PC card adapter (which brings up another question: anyone have any experience with the SanDisk adapter?)
5. how well does Pocket Internet Explorer support SSL and Java (if at all)? I ask since I'd like to connect to my university's wireless network. Their info pages suggest that its possible but say there is some HTTPS bug with the Toshiba e740, at least. Any idea if such a bug is widespread?
Lastly, does anyone know much about Pocket PC 2003? Any idea how substantial an update it will be (and if old models can be updated)?
Thanks for all your help. Hopefully this will help me make up my mind. That, or I can keep telling myself that "year of the portable" will include some kind of Apple handheld!
Comments
<strong>1. is the handwriting recognition as good as I think it is? The units I was playing with seemed to recognise the characters I was making (and I was using my fingernail). All in all, it seems much better (and intuitive) than Graffiti.
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It depends on how well you write. It's the best available on current PDA's and it's based on the same HWR engine that the latter-day newts were. Newts were better because they learned from your corrections. So, it's as good as it'll ever be. And it's not that great unless you're deliberate.
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2. how well does it render PDFs? Are they readable even on the small screen? Are things like graphs, etc... lost?
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It renders the ok, but they are unreadable. You can zoom in because they are pdf's but then you're left with scrolling. And scrolling on Acrobat Reader for PPC is s l o w.
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3. I know that Pocket Word doesn't support footnotes, but do you know of any porducts which do this well? I've read about TextMaker which sounds promising. The big use for a Pocket PC would be to edit my PhD dissertation on the road, so I need a word processor which could handle it
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I've tried TextMaker and it's ok. It's also really slow, esp. with tables and anything more complex than text. Pocket Word is complete crap. It's nothing more than a glorified notepad. But TextMaker is pricey and it's not well suited to the screen.
As far as editing anything of any length or with special formatting... I wouldn't. It's too slow and your formatting will get screwed up for sure. I had hopes of doing something even easier (short session notes) and it got to the point that I would write a couple paragraphs and I gave up.
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4. does this sound like a fesable way of sharing files: saving files on a Compact Flash card on the handheld and then reading it on my Mac using a reader or a PC card adapter (which brings up another question: anyone have any experience with the SanDisk adapter?)
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Yes, it's very feasible. What I would recommend is getting an 802.11b card for the PPC and you can browse your HD on the Ti. (That is if you've got airport on the ti.) One thing to look out for is the incompatibilty of PWord format and the desktop version. A pword file won't get read by desktop word (how moronic is that??) It's got to be synched to your computer for the conversion to take place. Or emailed b/c the program converts it.
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5. how well does Pocket Internet Explorer support SSL and Java (if at all)? I ask since I'd like to connect to my university's wireless network. Their info pages suggest that its possible but say there is some HTTPS bug with the Toshiba e740, at least. Any idea if such a bug is widespread?
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PIE doesn't do too well with SSL sites, primarily because sites don't let it. There are hacks to identify PIE as some other browser. I'm not sure how secure it is, though. That said, PIE is, you guessed it, SLOW. Painfully slow at times. And there's all kinds of scrolling that's required (horizontally and vertically).
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Lastly, does anyone know much about Pocket PC 2003? Any idea how substantial an update it will be (and if old models can be updated)?
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AFAIK, there is no PPC 2003. Word is that MS is dropping PPC and going to the smartphones. And the next iteration of the platform (for smartphones) is going to be MS Win CE .Net. How's that for a mouthful?
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Thanks for all your help. Hopefully this will help me make up my mind. That, or I can keep telling myself that "year of the portable" will include some kind of Apple handheld!
No problem! My advice: hold out as long as you can. I tried a toshiba e740 and I was really happy for a while (until it decided to lose all my stuff randomly). But when you get right down to it, you're still using windows and it's not fun. Instability, compatibility problems, programs that don't install right or uninstall right. Moving stuff causes all kinds of issues. It's not worth it.
And the XScale processor is NOT all it's cracked up to be. 400mhz and it's slower than a 206mhz strongarm. Apparently, PPC 2002 is optimized for the SA so it's slower on xscale. But on the whole, the platform is not powerful enough to do what it needs to do.
HTH.
You mention that a lot of stuff is slow (particularilu TextWriter and IE). How slow is slow, compared to what I might see on a real computer. Significantly slower than what I'm used to on my Ti running Jag? Up until Fall 2001 I was running a PowerBook 1400 which ran at a whopping 117Mhz with 16 MB RAM. This was slow for somethings (like surfing) but usable. Would a Pocket PC be comprable?
<strong>Thanks for the quick reply!
You mention that a lot of stuff is slow (particularilu TextWriter and IE). How slow is slow, compared to what I might see on a real computer. Significantly slower than what I'm used to on my Ti running Jag? Up until Fall 2001 I was running a PowerBook 1400 which ran at a whopping 117Mhz with 16 MB RAM. This was slow for somethings (like surfing) but usable. Would a Pocket PC be comprable?</strong><hr></blockquote>
Well, I don't know how slow your powerbook was, but on the PPC it was definitely intolerable. I got it to save time, but I ended up doing more waiting than anything else. I'd equate it with using VPC on your Ti. It's workable, certainly, but not enjoyable. Ok, maybe not that bad, but it's definitely annoying. What you should do is try one out for a while if you can. That's the only way to get a feel for it. BTW, I no longer have a ppc. I decided to sell my Ti and return my PPC and get my new powerbook instead (12" mini) - way more worth it.
When I say on the road, I mean just being able to jot ideas down and edit stuff in quick little spurts (on the bus, when I have breaks during the day, etc...). Essentially, I want a note pad that carries around my whole dissertation that i can play with at will without needing a whole computer (if that makes any sense to anyone!).
<strong>The 12 inch PowerBook is nice, but I'm very partial to my 15 inch screen. Since I use just a PowerBook, I'd go for the 17'' before the 12''. The Canadian price is scary though!
When I say on the road, I mean just being able to jot ideas down and edit stuff in quick little spurts (on the bus, when I have breaks during the day, etc...). Essentially, I want a note pad that carries around my whole dissertation that i can play with at will without needing a whole computer (if that makes any sense to anyone!).</strong><hr></blockquote>
On the bus, you're going to have problems writing on the thing. But for an electronic notepad, it'll work ok. That said, have you looked at the palms recently? Apparently, there are better, cheaper word replacements out there and they sync well with macs (and they do a better job of keeping formattng than PWord). Also, battery life on the palms is much better. My powerbook gets better battery life than the PPC's. I dunno about you, but for me that seems a bit strange....
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My powerbook gets better battery life than the PPC's. I dunno about you, but for me that seems a bit strange....</strong><hr></blockquote>
I owned multiple PPCs (Nino, Casio E125, Toshiba Genio, Dell Axim ,etc) and none of their battery life is as poor as what you have dscribed. Largely I agree with your conclusion. PPC is a PDA with limited PC functionalities and not a replacement. In virtually all aspects I find it superior than Palm (or worth the tradeoff) except for Mac support.
What i'd love now is something iPod or Tungsten sized that took great voice notes and filed them in a database with time and date stamps in mP3 format for CD archiving. Great way to store lectures, interviews and research notes. Mebber with offline transcription. But I only really want to work on a real computer now. On monday the Newton will be gone, sold at a slight profit to a guy from my program.
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I owned multiple PPCs (Nino, Casio E125, Toshiba Genio, Dell Axim ,etc) and none of their battery life is as poor as what you have dscribed. Largely I agree with your conclusion. PPC is a PDA with limited PC functionalities and not a replacement. In virtually all aspects I find it superior than Palm (or worth the tradeoff) except for Mac support.
I guess I was referring to the e740 I had. With wifi on, you'd be lucky to get 2 hours. Doing some jotting of notes, it'd do better, but I hate having to watch out for my battery life (because when it dies, so goes all your data. Maybe I was just too paranoid, but I never felt comfortable with the PPC because it could lose my data at the drop of a hat.)
1. is there no prior warning for a battery that's about to die? Is the battery indicator that innaccurate?
2. can you manual save to the CF card frequently? If so, can you save in the format of your choosing (eg: Word 97)?
3. does processor speed have any effect on the handwriting recognition? is it noticably slower on slower models?
I don't know about the e740 but many PPCs have back-up batteries i.e watch battery in additional to the main lithium-ion battery (Casio, Dell, etc). Even if you can manage running yout main battery to 0%, your data would remain backed-up.
Even those without a backup battery, I believe after the battery has been drained to a certain %, the PPC does not allow you to power-up anymore i.e. draining the batter further. So again, your data would remain backed up unless you really drain the battery to 0%.
Third, PPCs running PPC2002 OS, allow you to back up the PIM data (or all data) to the flash card (SD or CF). Some, like Dell, also allows you to write to the built-in flash ROM area as well.
Lastly, through ActiveSync, PPC can backup its data to the PC you are synchronizing to - however, this functionality is not quite bug-free.
In summary, to lose all your data due to battery would be very hard.
Yes, PocketWord saves it in a format any Word version can open (95-XP). However, the reverse is not true: forget trying to open a complex document in Pocket Word.
Speed has no effect in handwriting recognition.
I tried a Palm for the same thing. Troublesome. I tried a Newton for the same thing. Not worth the trouble I had to go through to get files on and off it.
Something like <a href="http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3402232482&category=46 02" target="_blank">this</a> would do you fine.
I got an dual USB when I began my diss.
Cheers
Scott
<strong>Oh, just realized I did not answer all the questions:
Yes, PocketWord saves it in a format any Word version can open (95-XP). However, the reverse is not true: forget trying to open a complex document in Pocket Word.
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Just how complex or long a document can Pocket Word open? My dissertation will be long, but it will be just text. Is there a page limit which Pocket Word has. It occured to me that the loss of footnotes might not be that big a deal since couldn't I just compare between my original document (with footnotes) and my Pocket PC-edited file and reject the loss of footnotes? If it helps at all, I'll be using Office v.X.
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Just how complex or long a document can Pocket Word open? My dissertation will be long, but it will be just text. Is there a page limit which Pocket Word has. It occured to me that the loss of footnotes might not be that big a deal since couldn't I just compare between my original document (with footnotes) and my Pocket PC-edited file and reject the loss of footnotes? If it helps at all, I'll be using Office v.X.</strong><hr></blockquote>
Are you a masochist?
Yes, you can backup to a storage card. Yes, you can save on a storage card. You can even install stuff to a storage card (the best way to go to save room on the PPC for really important things, like PocketInformant because pOutlook is woefully inadequate). It's just too much of a pain. Again, if pain is your thing, pick up a Dell Axim. They're cheap and they seem to be as reliable as the others.
Well, I posted merely to correct some misperceptions and add some facts. I am not advocating Gabid to use it to edit his dissertation. In fact, I'd agree with torifile on this, forget trying to use PocketWord to edit your dissertation. You won't lose EVERYthing but you will defnitely mangle a lot of things.
<strong>Hey torifile - are you dissing me?!?
Well, I posted merely to correct some misperceptions and add some facts. I am not advocating Gabid to use it to edit his dissertation. In fact, I'd agree with torifile on this, forget trying to use PocketWord to edit your dissertation. You won't lose EVERYthing but you will defnitely mangle a lot of things.</strong><hr></blockquote>
Nah, I just forgot to use a smilie.
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Still hoping for an Apple PDA.
And then my life would be perfect...