Pocket PC Pros and Cons

The Windows Mobile Pocket PC

The Pocket PC is a pen-entry device small enough to hold in your hand or slip into your pocket. It is based on the Windows Mobile for Pocket PC software, which includes the Pocket PC operating system along with productivity and entertainment software, and set up/configuration utilities, all from Microsoft. Pocket PCs are developed by different manufacturers, but they all have many similarities. We’ll discuss those first, and then look at the features that differentiate the devices.

Common software features: All Pocket PCs listed in this section come with Microsoft’s Windows Mobile 2003 for Pocket PC software built in and ready to use. A few have the Second Edition version of that software, which adds the ability to display applications in portrait and landscape views. A thorough description of the software can be found in the "Quick Guide." You can find a brief description of the software included with Windows Mobile 2003 in “At A Glance.”

One of the ways Pocket PC manufacturers differentiate their devices from others is by including additional productivity and entertainment software with their Pocket PC. Some of these programs may be built-in while others come on a companion CD that ships with the device and must be installed by the user. This add-on software suite varies from one Pocket PC to another, but there tend to be some common elements. For example, every Pocket PC comes with a utility that lets the user back up data to a storage card. And almost all manufacturers provide a task manager application that lets you close, open, and switch between applications quickly. We’ll indicate if a particular device has a strong set of add-on applications, but you’ll have to check out reviews of the specific devices (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/reviews.asp) for details about the add-on software.

Note: Because Pocket PCs use flash ROM to store the built-in software, all Pocket PCs are physically able to be upgraded as enhancements, bug fixes, and newer versions of the OS and applications become available. Microsoft makes these upgrades available to the device manufacturers, but it is up to the manufacturer to make them available to the end user. For a variety of reasons, device manufacturers do not always offer software upgrades for their Pocket PCs.

Common hardware features: Pocket PCs vary slightly in size and weight, but they are all approximately 5 x 3 x 0.7 in (12.7 x 7.6 x 1.8 cm) and weigh 5-8 oz (140-225 g). All Pocket PCs have 65K-color touch screens that are roughly 2.25” wide by 3” tall (5.7 x 7.6 cm). The diagonal measurement of these screens varies from 3.5 to 4.0 inches (8.9 to 10.2 cm). All screens can display images in QVGA resolution (320x240 pixels), but some of the newer models can also display in full VGA (640x480 pixel) resolution.

Pocket PCs are pen-entry devices—you use a pen-like “stylus” to enter text and data into the device by “writing” on the screen or tapping on an image of a small QWERTY keyboard. Most Pocket PCs use a version of the Intel PXA processor. These processors incorporate “XScale” technology, which allows them to change their speed dynamically to meet the needs of the application being used and to conserve battery power. A few Pocket PC models from Hewlett-Packard use “StrongARM” processors developed by Samsung.

The Pocket PCs described in this article have anywhere from 32 to 128 MB of SRAM, which is used to store files and run programs. They have 32 to 64 MB of flash ROM, which is used to store the operating system and built-in applications. On a number of the Pocket PCs, a portion of the flash ROM is available to the user for data storage and program installation. The advantage of having this user-accessible flash ROM is that even if the batteries die completely, data and files stored in flash ROM are safe. The newest units have more dedicated flash ROM user storage.