Pros and Cons & Editor's Choices
For a feature by feature comparison and pricing see our At A Glance section. Complete reviews of most of these devices can be found here.
Pocket PC 2002
The Pocket PC is a small pen-entry device that you can easily hold in one hand. Pocket PCs vary slightly in size and weight, but all are approximately 5 x 3 x 0.7 in (12.7 x 7.6 x 1.8 cm) and weigh 5-8 oz (142-227 gm).
All Pocket PC 2002 devices have 240 x 320 pixel color displays 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 3.8 inches (8.9 to 9.7 cm).
Most of the current Pocket PCs are powered by a 206 MHz StrongARM processor, but some new ones are on their way using Intel's 400 MHz XScale processor. (See sidebar, page 18) All come with 32 or 64 MB of RAM and 32 MB of flash ROM. On a number of the devices, a small portion of the flash ROM is available for data storage and user-installable programs. The advantage of this is that even if the batteries die completely, files in flash ROM are not lost.
Manufacturer battery life estimates vary from 8 to 14 hours. Independent worst-case scenario tests put battery life between 1 and 4.25 hours. All Pocket PC 2002 devices connect to a desktop PC and synchronize data using a USB connection. All come with a USB cable and AC power adapter as standard accessories.
Audiovox Maestro Pocket PC 2002
Manufactured for Audiovox by Toshiba and similar to the Toshiba e540 Pocket PC, the Audiovox Maestro is one of the smallest, lightest Pocket PCs available. Audiovox sells an optional cable that lets the Maestro connect with the Audiovox CDM-9100 phone. Two reviews of the Maestro are available on Pocket PC magazine's Web site (www.PocketPCmag.com/May02/audiovox_dumas.asp and www.PocketPCmag.com/May02/Maestro_CDM9100.asp). Additional information is available on the Audiovox Web site (www.audiovox.com/pda/index2.html).
Pros
- Small size
- Built-in CF and SD expansion card slots
- Connectivity with cell phone
- Price
Cons
- No Flash ROM storage
- No longer manufactured
Casio Cassiopeia BE-300 Pocket Manager
Not a true Pocket PC, Casio's BE-300 Pocket Manager is based on the Windows CE operating system, but the built-in applications are from Casio. The BE-300 has a Menu application, a Personal Information Manager (Calendar, Contacts, Tasks, Notes), an e-mail client (with HTML mail viewer), a Web Browser (HTML 3.2, frame support), and other applications. It also comes with desktop PC synchronization software from Casio. Unlike the Pocket PCs, the BE-300 uses a 166 MHz MIPS processor and comes with 16 MB RAM and 16 MB flash ROM. The BE-300 is one of the smallest, lightest Windows Powered devices available. It has a built-in CF card slot and an optional PC Card unit that adds a PC Card slot to the device. At $200, the BE-300 is the least-expensive Windows Powered solution. A review is on the Pocket PC magazine Web site (www.PocketPCmag.com/Nov01/BE300.asp). Additional information is available on the Casio Web site (www.casio.com/personalpcs/).
Pros
Cons
- Not a true Pocket PC
- Less built-in and third-party software
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