Archive for August, 2006
The Palm Operating System (OS) has always been the OS of choice when it comes to PDAs. However, Mr. Bill Gate would never let anyone dominate any field of computing without any fight from Microsoft. So Microsoft had introduced Microsoft Mobile OS (Pocket PC), based on the Microsoft Windows OS, to compete with the traditional Palm OS. Manufacturers of PDAs now had another reason to produce more PDAs and people at large were more confused as to which OS should be their choice when purchasing PDA.
For those who are not yet familiar with the OS for PDAs, lets take a look at both OSes and see if the information presented here can help you make decision as to which class of PDA would be your choice, if you havent already purchased one.
Personally, I dont think Palm OS-based PDA is better than Pocket PC-based PDA or vice versa. Both have their own strength and weaknesses. So the final choice, I guess is of personal preferences and budget eventhough to some people depends on how much they hate Mr Billl Gate…(pun intended).
Price Palm OS PDAs tend to be cheaper than Pocket PC PDAs. Palm OS devices often have somewhat slower processors and less memory. But that doesn’t mean they’re slow, rather the Palm OS is a highly optimized OS that doesn’t need much horsepower to run compared to Pocket PC. The Pocket PC OS is based on MS Windows, so naturally it’s resource-hungry, and it needs all that processor speed and memory to run speedily….(sound familiar?)
Integration to Windows Application This is a strong selling point for Microsoft to push for its Pocket PC OS for PDAs. Since a lot of people are using Microsoft Office either at work or at home, it is only natural for these people to be able to work on the same base application when working with their PDA. Users can import and export documents created with Microsoft Office applications and work on these documents on this documents on their PDAs…out of box. However, some functionality or document formatting may be lost due to limited functionality supported by the mobile version of Microsoft Office application for PDAs. While Palm OS doesn’t have built in support for Word or Excel, there are some great 3rd party software to allow you to work on these Office documents on the PDAs.
Contact management, calendaring and to-do lists Both OSes handle these basic PDA functions quite well. If this is the main reason you’re buying a PDA, then get a Palm OS model. Some of them are small, cheap and great choice as a PIM tool. Most people still find Palm OS PDAs the best for these tasks because it takes fewer clicks to get to the info you need.
Size and weight Generally Palm OS based PDAs are smaller and lighter than Pocket PCs however this fact is becoming less concern as Pocket PC devices are getting smaller due to market trend.
Ease of use and simplicity Palm OS is clear winner here. Palm OS interface is very intuitive and let you master the functions in no time. Pocket PC OS, though powerful, generally requires a longer lurning curve to master.
Battery life This is very subjective. It all depends how the device is used and what kind of features it has. Generally though, with all parameters being equal, many reviewers have concluded that Palm OS PDAs runs longer than Pocket PC PDAs.
Integration with Outlook Microsoft has an unfair advantage in this department for obvious reason, but that is expected for both Outlook and Pocket PC OS are from Microsoft. Palm OS requires third party software, for example Pocket Mirror, to let users synchronize the Palm PDAs with Outlook.
Handwriting recognition Both OS handles this function quite well. Depending on models, both Palm OS and Pocket PC PDAs , may feature Graffiti, Graffiti2 or other recognition capabilty methods.
Music, MP3 and multimedia Both OS handle these features quite well. owever if you are into watching movie on the PDAs, a high end Pocket PC device is the way to go.
Connection to Internet Devices based on both OSes can handle internet connection via modem dial up.
Multitasking Microsoft has upper hand here. You can open multiple applications at one time on Pocket PCs but that requires more resources to run fast enough. Howeve only one application can appear at any one time on the screen.
Screens quality Generally Pocket PC devices offer better screen resolutions but Palm OS based PDAs are cathing up wuite well here due to high demand for multimedia applications running on PDAs.
Third party software Microsoft has to say sorry here. Palm was the pioneer in terms of PDA and has captured more than 70% worldwide market share for PDAs. Naturally it offers better choice when it comes to avaialbility of third party software for PDAs.
Conclusion
Like I said, which one is preferred OS really depends on individuals. However, generally we can conclude that Palm based PDAs are cheaper and easier to use. Pocket PC PDAs on the other hand has better integration to Office applications so if you want Windows familiarity on your PDAs, then Pocket PC is the choice.
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Overall The Xda Atom Exec PDA-phone from O2 is loaded with goodies such as slim design, a faster processor, more memory, Personal Information Management (PIM) applications and handy tools to keep you busy all the time meddling with its features. While you are on the move, send emails anytime, anywhere with Microsoft® Outlook Mobile The processor power is good enough to let you run multiple Microsoft Office mobile applications seamlessly at the same time, making short work of even the toughest jobs. |
With Wireless LAN and high speed download transfers of 11Mb/sec, you can also download emails over a cup of coffee at your favourites Wi-Fi hotspots.
Other connectivity options are abound, and that includes 802.11b Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 1.2, Infrared and tri-band (900/1800/1900MHz) GSM/GPRS/EDGE.
Feeling like taking pictures? The O2 Xda Atom Exec comes with 2.0 Mega Pixel camera with strobe flash capture let you snap any moment in vivid colours, both day and night.
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On the entertainment front, the O2 Xda Atom Exec will not leave you bored with its MediaPlus featuring FM Radio, built-in speakers, Windows Media® Player 10 and Equalizer.
For those who likes to do data entry and typing using the keyboard would be didsappointed as there is no keyboard in this otherwise a very pleasing smartphone especally in terms of performance. There is also no support for 3G. |
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Full Specifications
Dimensions : Approx. 58(W) x 102(L) x 18.5(T) mm
Weight : 140g with battery
Warranty : 12 months for main unit 126 months for supplied accessories
Platform : Microsoft® Windows Mobile™ 5.0 software with Messaging & Security Feature Pack Microsoft® Office Outlook® Mobile with Direct Push Technology Microsoft® Office programs for Windows Mobile™ Pocket MSN® for access to MSN® & MSN® Messenger
Processor : Intel XScale® PXA 27x processor 520MHz
Memory : 192MB Flash ROM 64MB SD RAM MiniSD memory card slot
Display : 2.7” TFT QVGA LCD display with touch panel, 240 x 320 dots resolution, Support 262K colours
Audio : Stereo speaker, Speaker with receiver, Supports speaker phone operations
Camera : Colour 2-mega-pixel CMOS camera, Preview mirror for self portrait, white LED strobe flash, Support still image and video capture
Connectivity : Built-in Wireless LAN, Infrared IrDA, Bluetooth®, Integrated GSM/GPRS, Tri-band EDGE phone, Mini-USB connector, Stereo audio jack
FM Radio : Windows Media® Player 10 with Equalizer controls, Playback support: MIDI/MP3 / WAV / WMA/AMR formats
Ring support : 64-chord MIDI, MP3, WAV and WMA ring tone formats
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Overall Touted perhaps as one of the best all around smartphone ever seen by some of the PDA reviewers, Palm Trea 700w is the first Treo ever running on Windows Mobile 5 operating system. As such, Treo 700w naturally includes Microsoft Office Mobile Suite, featuring Word Mobile, Excel Mobile, and PowerPoint Mobile, which are very handy for creating anad managing respective documents. |
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In addition to that, support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync allows you to receive Outlook e-mail in real time (along with POP3 and IMAP4 accounts, including Hotmail and Yahoo), appointments, contacts, and tasks directly on your device.
For browsing the internet, the smartphone comes also with Internet Explorer Mobile. One nice feature in the 700w is the ability for you to conduct a Google search without first launching the Web browser and go to the site. |
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The Palm Treo 700w, however, doesn’t share the same sharp resolution as the Treo 650 (320×320 pixels). At 240×240 pixels, images and text on the Treo 700w don’t look as defined as on the Treo 650, and despite the fact that Treo 700w displays 65,000 colors, they look a bit washed out. Having said all that, the display still performs satisfactorily.
The device suppports Bluetooth wireless option connectivity. It doesn’t, however, support connection through Wi-Fi. To complement this drawback, a support for Wi-Fi card is available. |
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The Treo 700w also features a 1.3-megapixel camera and a self-portrait mirror.
Entertainment wise, this smartphone offers the ability to play multimedia files using Windows Media Player 10 Mobile, so you can listen to music and watch videos, plus it supports WMA, WMV, and MP3 files, among others. |
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The dual-band (CDMA 800/1900; EV-DO) Palm Treo 700w is said to have an excellent call quality. Conversations were loud and clear on both ends of the callers. Speakerphone quality however was a little problematic where caller on the other end said the caller voice sounded far away.
The Palm Treo 700w’s battery is rated for a talk time of 4.7 hours and a standby time of 15 days, which is decent for a phone
One of the design advantages of Trea 700w is its ability to be used in one-handed operation. With the combination of the useful shortcut keys and the Today screen, you could perform most operations without having to break out the stylus–truly convenient for working on the go.
Specifications
Cellular enhancement protocol : CDMA 2000 1X EV-DO
Built-in devices : Camera, Antenna, Display
Dimensions : (W x D x H) 2.30 in x 0.90 in x 4.40 in
Weight : 6.40 oz
Standby time : Up to 360 h
Vibrating Alert : Yes
Bluetooth enabled : Yes
Operating System provided : Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0.2
Max supported RAM : 64 MB
PhoneCall features : Caller ID, Call history
Input device type : Stylus, Keyboard, Touch-screen, 5-way navigation button
Digital audio standards supported : MP3, Real Audio
Audio input type : Microphone
Audio output type : Speaker(s)
Flash memory installed : 60 MB
Color support 16-bit (64K colors)
PowerTalk time : 282 min
Power device type : Power adapter
Wireless connectivity : Bluetooth
Width : 2.30 in
Depth : 0.90 in
Height : 4.40 in
GPS System/Navigation : None
Do you own Treo 700w?
Share with us your experience.
PDAs is one of the electronic gadgets thats is growing in popularity and would continue to expand, thanks to the advance in various technologies such as software, microprocessor, design and not forgetting to mention the ever increasing numbers of internet-era hi-tech consumers who are always looking for new PDA offerings to fulfill their mobile computing needs.
We are very optimistic on the market outlook as far as PDA is concerned. According to a recent Gartner reports, world wide sales of PDAs in the second quarter of 2006 rose to a record high of 3.7 units. This is 2.7% increase compared to the second quarter 2005. Good news for the high-tech mobile computing consumers is that despite the rise in the sales, the profit drops 4.1% to about US$ 1.38 billion. What it means is that the price of PDAs are getting cheaper by the day, as manufacturers race to win consumer’s confidence in their product offerings, that translates to more people buying PDAs than ever before.
Despite the existence of almost countless review websites in various categories of mobile computing devices, we believe there are always rooms for new players. PDAs Review not only aims to be a popular one stop information center for all kinds of PDA-related news and resources, we also hope to be able to fill any gaps that may exist out there.
As we are the new kid on the blog, we welcome any suggestion from readers to help us understand what you are really looking for in sites like this. While we can’t promise to satisfy everyone, we will definitely try our best to make you keep coming back to PDAs Review for every needs you have with regards to PDAs.
We will see you again very soon with our first review, in the mean time do let us know what brand of PDAs you currently own and tell us what you wish it can do better for you.