PocketPC: Still not there yet? June 18, 2007
Posted by richard in : Operating Systems, Personal , add a commentI have long been a user of PDA’s, but I’m not a zealot with regard to a specific platform. I have had 2 palms and 3 PocketPC’s, If Apple still made Newtons, I would probably try one of those. I don’t favor one platform over the other but lately I’m starting to question my stance.
Last year I purchased my 5th handheld device since 1997. After reading about the improvements in Windows Mobile 5.0, I decided to once again try my hand at using a PocketPC on a daily basis. The results so far have been mixed.
There was really no problem with my previous device, a Palm Zire 71, but I felt the need for a change and I just can’t see a long term future in the Palm platform, their main focus now seems to be keyboard based Smartphones (This form factor leaves me cold) and I have spent 10 year learning to use a stylus for input. I’ve got pretty good at it over the years and I don’t want to throw that sort of productivity away.
I bought the smallest and lightest (and cheapest) PocketPC I could get my hands on, an HP RX1950. After years of carrying these things I’ve learnt that if they are too bulky to carry in my pocket, I just wind up leaving them on my desk.
The Ipaq RX1950 is a great looking device. Far less chunky than my Palm Zire 71, although it lacks the camera in the Zire, the camera in that device is almost useless anyway.
The screen is not quite a sharp as the Palm nor as rich in terms of colour, but it’s quite easy to read and I have no real issues with it. The buttons work well and stylus input is even easier to work with than the Palm. This is an area in which Microsoft has done some good work.
Overall though, there just seems to be too many things in the PocketPC platform that either don’t work as they should, or have been disabled for no good reason. Networking is a joke. The Web browser is almost useless for viewing modern web sites.
I gather the newer platform Windows Mobile 6.0 is not much of an improvement. I’m thinking I might take a closer look at the new Nokia phones to see what they might offer.