A Tale of
3 Palm-size PCs

We compare the current Windows CE Palm-size PC leaders

by Jim Christian

I love color screens on Palm-size PCs. They're easier to see and make life more interesting. So when Rich Hall asked if I'd like to update a previously unpublished comparison of the Hewlett-Packard and Casio color-screen Palm-size PCs to include the Compaq Aero 1520 (with its boring monochrome screen), I thought, "No way will this stack up against the color screens."

Did I change my mind? Read on.

Each of these devices has been reviewed independently in Handheld PC Magazine -- the Cassiopeia E-100 in the May/June 1999 issue and the HP Jornada 430se and Compaq Aero 1530 (1520) in the November/December 1999 issue. My review will focus on comparing the three.

Display

The color HP Jornada 430se has a slightly better screen for use in the daylight than the color Casio. But the monochrome Aero blows both of them away when viewed outside, with its 16 gray-scale semi-transmissive super twist neumatic (STN) liquid crystal display (LCD). I know it's not color, but if you are outside and need to use your Palm-size PC a lot, this is the one to get. Gulp, did I say that? Me, Mr. Color? Fortunately, Compaq also makes the color-screen Aero 2100 with a similar semi-transmissive screen. The Aero 1520's screen contrast is even slightly better than my Palm VII.

The Aero has a high-contrast grayish-greenish display. I use it inside and outside and almost never have a problem seeing it. You can choose between two settings -- Higher Contrast or Higher Picture Quality. It looks like the higher contrast setting is four shades of gray and the higher picture quality is the full 16 shades. The screen looks better to me set on the higher picture quality setting although that probably slows it down a bit. The contrast is easy to adjust. Just hold the EXIT button down (the one below the action knob/wheel/lever/whatever) and push action UP and action DOWN to increase/decrease the contrast. Inside, where Palm-size PCs are mostly used, the color-screen units win, and big time.

WINNER INSIDE VIEWING: Tie ­ Casio E-105 and HP 430se. I love color.

WINNER OUTSIDE: Compaq Aero 1520. It's monochrome, but there's a color-screen version also.

RAM memory

The HP Jornada 430se, Compaq Aero 1520 and Casio E-100 all have 16MB of RAM. The Casio E-105 has 32MB. This is a big difference and a big deal to me. You always, repeat always, can use more memory.

WINNER: Casio E-105

Physical Size

The Compaq Aero 1520 will spoil you. It's the only current Palm-size PC that comes close to the Palm III, and the only one that I can forget I have in my 40S suit jacket or Nike t-shirt. The other two are OK but the Aero is super-thin: just right -- super right, in fact (see Screen 1). Good job Compaq!

WINNER: Compaq Aero 1520, hands down.

Screen 1: Side view of Compaq's Aero 1520, the smallest and thinnest Palm-size PC available.

"Joystick" and game playing

The Casio E-100 & E-105 come with a hardware joystick-type control button on the front of the unit (see Screen 2). If you're going to spend a lot of time playing games on your Palm-size PC, the E-100/105 arrangement is probably the best. Compaq's Aero 1520 has four quick-launch buttons on the front that can be configured for game playing by a program called QUtilities that Compaq wisely decided to build into ROM. Nice job, Compaq. Hewlett-Packard decided to place its quick launch buttons as softkeys on the bottom of the screen. This is not an ideal position for game playing.

Screen 2: The Casio E100/105 joystick-type control button is found on the front left of the unit, below the display screen. It can be used for menu navigation or game playing.

WINNER: 1st place -- Casio E-100/105
2nd place -- Compaq Aero 1520

Hardware bundle

HP's Jornada 430se retail bundle includes stereo headphones, a carrying case to clip onto a belt or notebook, a collectible Bond key chain, and a coupon for three free Bond movies. Neither the Aero nor Compaq gave me goodies like this although the Aero had small headphones.

WINNER: HP Jornada 430se

ROM & Cache size

The Jornada 430se has 8MB of ROM versus the Casio's and Compaq's 16MB. The Casio has the largest cache. ROM and cache memory size mean nothing to me, as the speed of the application is all that counts.

WINNER: Casio E-105

Backlighting

I like my backlighting turned all the way up: when I use it, I want to see the screen. I know you can turn it down to conserve batteries, but the whole purpose of backlighting is to see the screen when it's dark. Both the HP 430se and Casio E-105 have good backlighting. The Aero 1520 was disappointing. In direct sunlight it's great, but when you get in a dark room and have to use its backlighting to see the screen, it is almost not acceptable. It can be set to normal or reverse, but they both look poor and can't be seen except in closet darkness.

WINNER: HP 430se and Casio E-105

Hardware switches

All three devices have quick-launch buttons on the face of the unit. In addition, the Casio E-105 has the 'joystick" I mentioned earlier. The Compaq Aero 1520 had the best switches of the three devices. They were well located, large enough to find easily, and very clickable. The HP Jornada 430se has the quick-launch buttons silk-screened so they fit beneath the clear cover. I like physical buttons. The next version of the Palm-size PCs (to be renamed "Pocket PCs") apparently calls for a change in the navigation interface that employs the four buttons on the front in an N-W-S-E format to move around on the screen. If this is true, it may be hard to implement an upgrade to any Palm-size PC with four-in-a-line quick launch buttons.

WINNER: Compaq Aero 1520

Camera add-on

The HP and Compaq Palm-size PCs do not have this option. The Casio E-105 does (Screen 3). One can take pictures or videos and send them via e-mail.

Screen 3: Casio Cassiopeia E-105 with optional Digital Camera Card.

WINNER: Casio E-105

Free Outlook 2000

Compaq and HP give you a free CD copy of Outlook 2000 with their Palm-size PC. This is what I use and I love it. Casio doesn't provide it. I'd say Outlook 2000 is worth around $110 street price.

WINNER: Tie ­ Compaq Aero 1520 and HP Jornada 430se

Can you really get one?

The HP 430se and Compaq Aero 1520 are really available and you can buy one now. When I wrote this review, the Casio E-105 was still on backorder because of its popularity. By the time you read this, it may be in stock.

WINNER: Tie ­ Compaq Aero 1520 and HP Jornada 430se (and maybe Casio E-105)

Carrying Case

I have bought 8 PC Companion cases over the last 10+ years and they are either gathering dust in my closet or I gave them away. Why? When I want my data I want it now! No zippers, no Velcro, no lids, no pockets, no slipcases, NOW! And with a case you now have another thing to lose or carry when the device is out of the case. The HP 430se has a flip-over transparent screen cover AND a case. This is overkill. The flip-cover is sufficient. And if you don't like it, you can remove it. The Casio and Compaq units also come with a carrying case. Toss 'em.

WINNER: HP 430se (use without a case)

Connectivity Cables

Another thing I do not like is the cabling systems on all of them. The HP has both a serial and a power cable and there seems to be no way to separate the two. The AC cord can't plug directly into the HP. The Compaq docking station has a non-detachable sync and a detachable AC cable and the Casio has the reverse. Hey guys, let us carry either around when we travel.

WINNER: None, all do it poorly.

Docking station

The Casio E-105 and the Compaq Aero 1520 both come with a docking station. The HP 430se does not. I like the Aero 1520's best. I don't understand why Casio decided to put a disconnect switch on the E-105's docking station. You have to press it to disengage the E-105 and it seems over complicated. You can purchase an optional docking station for the HP Jornada 430se for around $20.

WINNER: Compaq

BIG LOSER: HP -- with no docking station

Built-in and add-on software

One of the big ways a manufacture differentiates a Palm-size PC from the competition is with additional software. The Aero 1520 comes with QUtilities and QMenu, two applications from Compaq that help users find, switch between and close frequently used applications. This improves the overall manageability of the device. Hewlett-Packard also includes a massive amount of add-on software with the HP 430se, including the OmniSolve calculator, bTask, HPC Notes (this synchronizes with Outlook Notes), the Hum MP3 player, Sierra Imaging's Image Expert CE, HP Easy Contacts, and HP Voice Contacts. I also like the Voice Contacts application, voice recognition software that lets you speak out a name and pull up a phone number from your Contacts database. I've use this on my HP 690 and it is way cool. The Casio E-105 comes with a fair set of add-on software, but its forté is multimedia.

WINNER, Utility and Productivity: Tie -- HP and Compaq

WINNER, Multimedia: Casio E-105

Which is more secure?

Hewlett-Packard has a superbly designed security system that allows you to specify a time-out period for your password. That is, you can tell it to only ask for a password after (say) 2 hours of inactivity. If it is stolen, your data is safe, but you only have to enter your password once or twice a day. If you forget your first password, you can have it ask you the question, to which you give the correct answer to get into your device. This second password can be an optional user-level password for other people since it lets you use the device but not change the settings.

WINNER: HP 430se

Backing up data

All include a backup program built into ROM that lets you back up the unit to an optional CF card. I rate any PC Companion without a backup program "Not Acceptable." Why? If you lose you data while traveling, where are you going to get a backup program to load to restore your data?

WINNER: Tie -- All three

Speed

Windows CE Lair performed a speed test on a wide range of PC Companions, using bSQUARE Corporation's bUseful Analyzer. The results are listed on their Web site at http://pda.tucows.com/wincelair/wincespeed.htm. Unfortunately, it does not included the Compaq Aero 1520. The HP Jornada 430se is rated as modestly faster than the Casio E-105, but I couldn't notice the difference in real world use. The 70 MHz Aero 1520 did seem a lot slower launching and executing applications. The speed of all three was quite acceptable when looking up an item in my large (1,570 items) Contacts list.

WINNER: HP Jornada 430se
Close second: Casio E-105

Battery Life

The Casio E-105 has a somewhat longer battery life and a much better backup battery than the HP 430se, but small inexpensive spare batteries and external chargers are available for the Jornada. All have excellent rechargeable battery systems. Casio sells additional lithium batteries for $10 cheaper than the Jornada. The Compaq Aero 1520 claims 14 hours per charge and I believe it. Its monochrome screen draws far less power than the power-hungry screens of the HP and Casio units.

OVERALL WINNER: Compaq Aero 1520

COLOR WINNER: Casio E-105
Close second -- HP 430se

Audio Quality

The Aero 1520 has a superb built-in speaker, which plays back voice recordings or audio books clearly and loudly. The 1520 includes AudiblePlayer built into ROM, allowing you to download and play audio books. The 1520 also has a mono headphone jack. Both the HP Jornada 430se and the Casio E-105 come with built-in speakers suitable for playing back voice messages. But they surpass the Aero with their stereo headphone jacks, excellent for listening to MP3 music. The HP 430se also has AudiblePlayer built into ROM and Casio E-105 users can download it for free.

WINNER Built-in Speaker: Compaq Aero 1520
WINNER Headphones: Tie -- Casio E-105 and HP 430se (both stereo)

Video

The Casio E-105 is tops in this category. It comes with a built-in movie viewer and has an optional Digital Camera Card that you can use to record your own videos (see Screen 4). I have a copy of the movie Matrix that just fits on an IBM 340MB microdrive (a CF-size hard disk that fits in the E-105's CF slot). However, MpegTV (www.mpegtv.com) recently released PocketTV, a free MPEG movie player for Windows CE. This brings the ability to play MPEG videos to any Palm-size PC. Casio, watch out!

Screen 4: The Casio E-105's Mobile Video Recorder and Player lets you make short videos and play them back.

WINNER: Casio E-105 -- by far, so far!

Printing from a Palm-size PC

Hewlett-Packard offers an optional $50 parallel printer cable. But there are 3rd party cables and serial-to-parallel adapters available for the Casio and Aero P/PCs.

WINNER: HP 430se

Automobile power adapters

The Casio E-105 and Compaq Aero 1520 have 12V car power adapters available. You can get one for the HP Jornada 430se from 3rd party vendors.

WINNER: Tie -- Casio E-105 and Compaq Aero 1520

Web site support

I find the Casio Web site somewhat hard to navigate, but you can usually find the data you're looking for (no FAQs, though). The Compaq Aero site is great and includes some FAQs. But a lot of it requires Adobe Acrobat Reader for the .pdf files, which may be slow for you if you access the site at 33.6K baud. HP's site just stands out over the rest to me. It has everything you would want and is the easiest of the three to navigate.

WINNER: HP 430se

Can these Palm-size PCs be upgraded?

The Windows CE operating system and built-in applications are designed to be able to be upgraded. But it's the hardware manufacturer that must decide whether or not to make the physical upgrade ROM chip. That decision is based on how many of the original units sold as well as how the ROM chip is attached to the motherboard.

In the past, upgrade chips were made available for many (but not all) Handheld PCs. The process was simple. You opened a cover (usually on the back of the H/PC), removed the old chip and inserted the new one. But we've never had an upgrade cycle with the Palm-size PCs. They are much smaller than the H/PCs and it's anybody's guess on what needs to be done to upgrade them. The chips are mostly surface-mount attached, meaning they can't be removed inexpensively. If upgrades were available, the manufacturer would probably require you to ship the device back to them. And I don't think that was ever done with H/PCs. If it is, I think we're talking $100 to $150. Here are some other things I've heard or noticed:

Casio Germany has said they will probably upgrade the E-10XG.

See Dennis Wolfe's comments on upgrading the Casio E-100/105 at www.brighthand.com/ROMupgrade.html.

HP has a history of offering upgrades on their keyboarded handhelds.

The Aero has a rear door that looks like it could be used either for a memory or CPU upgrade.

WINNER: No awards at this time!

Pricing

I did a search of the Internet for the best prices I could find. Here they are, from highest to lowest:

$573 ­ Casio E-105

$431 ­ Casio E-100 (E-105 with 16MB RAM)

$419 ­ HP 430se

$250 ­ Compaq Aero 1520

Which one should you buy?