Leaving My Laptop Behind

Every other year, I visit a major city with my Dad and my brother, to bond and to have some fun being tourists together. This year we settled on the Baltimore/Washington DC area. We planned for a five-day outing, and I was reluctant to lug my laptop along. I thought this would be a perfect chance to see if I could get by carrying only my iPAQ 1945 and my cell phone.

Business Uses

Wi-Fi networks are everywhere

I've added Wi-Fi capability to my iPAQ with SanDisk's Wi-Fi SD card (http://www.sandisk.com/retail/c-wifi-sd.asp) and found that it is just the ticket when I want to work remotely. The airport in Baltimore offered Wi-Fi access for $10 a day—a bit steep when all I wanted to do was check my e-mail. However, if it had been a long layover, it might have been worth it to browse the Web. The second hotel we stayed at had Wi-Fi access available, but the first hotel did not. Fortunately, there were an amazingly large number of unprotected Wi-Fi networks close to it. My advice to the businesses in downtown Baltimore: password-protect your Wi-Fi networks unless you're in the mood to share and don't mind the security dangers. Also, thanks for the free Internet access!

Checking my Hotmail

I use a Hotmail account for my e-mail. In order to view my e-mail in the Pocket PC Inbox, I use Adrian Software's HTTPMail Provider (http://www.pocketgear.com). This Pocket Outlook add-on allows you to access e-mail from your MSN or Hotmail accounts. There's no need to run separate software on your desktop to enable e-mail synchronization: the only requirement is that you have an Internet connection.

Better browsing

There are several sites that I can't fully access using the built in Pocket PC Internet Explorer, so I've upgraded to NetFront (http://nfppc.access.co.jp/english/). This alternate browser has advanced features, including a smart-fit rendering mode, Java support, and the ability to open up to five windows and move between them using a tab. Not only could I confirm my flight information, I was also able to look up directions to some of our tourist destinations at MapQuest (http://www.mapquest.com).

View faxes

I was expecting some important faxes and found a retrieval solution by using my eFAX account (http://www.efax.com). EFax is a service that lets you receive faxes via your e-mail. I temporarily forwarded my dedicated fax to my eFax number. My incoming faxes were then forwarded into my e-mail Inbox. Using Resco Photo Viewer (http://www.resco-net.com), I was able to view the faxes ( which came over as .TIFF files). While my Pocket PC's small screen wasn't ideal for viewing faxes, by using Picture Viewer's ability to zoom in and scroll around, I was at least able to read everything.

Terminal server

My brother Aaron Herwig is also an enthusiastic Pocket PC user. He has an iPAQ 4155 with built in Wi-Fi. I watched him use the Terminal Services Client software built into his iPAQ to access his desktop PC at his office via a Wi-Fi connection. This may be the ultimate remote access tool!

Personal Uses

A family photo slideshow

Since we would see relatives on this trip, I wanted to make sure that I had photos of the kids to show. I used the Album Generator feature on the desktop PC version of Resco Photo Viewer to sync the desired digital photos with the Pocket PC. It was easy to create a quick slide show of my family.

Take your family with you in a Pocket PC photo album created with Resco Photo Viewer.

Listen to music and watch movies