Archive for September, 2006
I am compelled to write this posting after I have read a lot of comments in a few review websites about the LifeDrive. From the reviewer point of view, I really like the functionality of this device. It has everything a lot of people are looking for in a PDA. But life is never straight forward, using the device can be totally different experience all together.
I found out the real life experience using the Palm LifeDrive is a mix bag of dissapointment as well as satisfaction.
Check out this comment from a user…
I have owned this palm pilot for two months or so now and I only noticed one thing and that was that the live drive would freeze up on me from time to time. I think this issue is caused do to many task at once, i.e. touching one link then another then the fist link again real fist seems to make the system or processor move slow or freeze. I your palm freeze’s just take a brake because you will need to wait for it to die before you can use this item again. Other then that which is caused by the operator not the gear itself this is assume. Everything your read on this site is accurate and correct. Hope this helped
Then there is this comment from another LifeDrive owner…
I was considering buying this seemingly “cool” product because my friend had one. My friend used to bring it to work but that lasted only for a month. Why? It froze.
I was lured by the manufacturer’s presentation of its specs but I knew that they were only deceiving me. Most of the cool stuff featured are the ones that customers of Amazon are complaining about. My opinion is based on the 117 reviews on Amazon. I have painstakingly read every one of them. I have noticed that the customers who gave high ratings are the ones who have been using their Lifedrive for less than 4 months and/or those who have never experienced a major crash yet. Wait till they do.
I have read all the reviews on Palm T|X and I am convinced that this indeed, outperforms the Lifedrive.
Few other LifeDrive users have these nice things about the smart device…
I had the pleasure of reading some of your reviews, and quite frankly, I don’t know if I should feel fortunate or laughing out loud, not to be rude, but literally, given that there is absolutely nothing wrong with mine…..
…..I have not had one single reset that I am not aware of. Perhaps the only down side is that the unit does take an extra second to load, but after a while, I hardly notice it. It doesn’t have a camera which some of you might prefer. Other than this, great unit.
I have my Lifedrive a couple of weeks now and i can’t imagine my life without it any more.
Before this palm i used a Palm M515 and i have to say the application lag that people talk about is almost the same as on my m515 and i don’t mind it.
It’s a great tool for me the battery life is better then i expected (i don’t run out of power for days).The only things i don’t line about this palm are:
- Power switch. it’s a slider switch and for me it just doesn’t do the trick. Ok i like the part that you can lock your palm with it.- loose power connection. I would have liked it better if it would be possible to charge the lifedrive through your usb cable. Now you have to take the power adapter with you on your trips.
So all said i love this palm and be smart if you get it first upgrade to version 2 (free download at the palm webpage)
Till now my palm did a soft reset once and never hung on me.
All those user reviews mentioned here can be read at Reliable PDAs
Moral of the story is, before you buy any PDA, you should read a few reviews by PDA reviewers, then check out the comments from actual owners of the device and make your decision.
I hope you find this posting helpful. Happy PDAing 
I think Mr Bill Gates will be happy with this week posting. If last week I posted the top Rated Palm PDAs, lets look at the top rated Pocket PC PDAs for this week.
Again, the listing is NOT the Top 5 Pocket PC PDAs, but rather 5 most higly rated Pocket PC PDAs by PDA reviewers, so the numbering here is just for ease of reference.
The product review links that are included here are products reviewed only at CNET.com to give you a consistent review style.
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Dell Axim x51v Read product review at CNET.com.au |
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| 2. |
HP iPAQ rx3715 Read product review at CNET.com |
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| 3. | O2 Xda Atom Read product review at CNET.com.au |
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| 4. |
HP iPAQ rw6828 Read product review at CNET.com.au |
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| 5. |
Asus MyPal A730 Read product review at CNET.com.au |
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Are you in the market for new PDAs? If you are and have made a decision that the Palm OS-powered PDAs would be your next gadget of choice, you might still be thinking which PDA to buy. There are so many choices so I will try to make your choice a little easier.
I have scoured many PDA review websites and found out thefollowing Palm OS-powered PDAs have consistently emerged top as reviewers choice. I am listing here 5 top Palm PDAs for you to consider in your next puchase of Palm PDAs. The listing is NOT the Top 5 Palm OS PDAs, but rather 5 most preferred Palm PDAs by PDAs reviewers, so the numbering here is just for ease of reference.
Eventhough these 5 top Palm OS PDAs are derived from various PDA review websites, I have included the links to these products reviewed only at CNET.com to give you a consistent review style.
| 1. |
Palm Treo 700p Read product review at CNET.com |
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| 3. |
Palm Tungsten E2 Read product review at CNET.com |
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| 4. |
Palm LifeDrive Read product review at CNET.com |
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| 5. |
Palm Tungsten T5 Read product review at CNET.com |
I hope this short review would help some of you out there in your selection of Palm OS PDAs.
If you purchased any Palm OS PDA recently, let us know which model was your choice and why.
Overall
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If you dont like to carry a pure PDA and a
mobile phone, Palm LifeDrive is not for you. You can skip this review and go on with other products that combines mobile phone and PDA funtionality in one device.PalM LifeDrive is for serious geek who wants to “digitalize everything”. Photos, MP3s, videos, tons of documents, PIM applications that keep tracks of appointments, contacts and tasks. Did you say many PDAs can handle these tasks also? Yes, but LifeDrive comes with a whopping 4 GB of storage for you to pack virtually everything in this one small device.
LifeDrive Manager, gives you a one stop center for managing files easily on the Palm LifeDrive. It can handle file conversion, keep documents in several folders on your PC in sync as well as a repository for digital camera images if your camera uses SD cards. |
| With a USB 2.0 connection and a HotSync button, Palm LiveDrive makes it very simple to get those gigs of data, be it multimedia files or Office files onto the device.The LifeDrive uses a 4 GB Hitachi MicroDrive, a miniature hard drive designed for use in mobile gadgets. Power consumption is low. The device is also designed to handle bumps and shakes well, despite the mechanical parts of the drive.
Like any hard drive, data stored there is persistent, which means if the battery runs out, your data remains intact, unlike data stored in RAM on PDAs. |
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From the application software point of view, there are plenty of applications bundled to get you started.
Documents To Go 7 supports viewing, editing and creating native MS Word and Excel documents, viewing of native PowerPoint files and editing converted PowerPoint files.
Pocket Tunes is included for MP3 playback along with the Pocket Tunes plugin for Windows Media Player on the desktop.
Palm’s enhanced PIM applications: Calendar (with Agenda view similar to the Pocket PC’s Today Screen), Contacts, Memos, Notes (for handwritten notes) and Tasks. And you’ll get the usual host of standard Palm apps such as Calculator, Card Info, Expense, Dialer (the Palm can dial your cell phone for you over IR or Bluetooth), Voice Memo (for recording voice notes), SMS
and World Clock.
Value added software
Camera Companion: lets you use the LifeDrive as a photo viewer. Insert the camera’s card into the LifeDrive’s SD slot and you can use the Camera Companion application to copy all files from the card to the LifeDrive The Files application is a true file manager which allows you to browse, move, delete, open, beam and send files on the LifeDrive, just like file managers on Windows.
Media allows you to view photos, create sideshows with sound easily and watch videos. It supports JPEG, BMP, TIFF and GIF image formats. Media can play videos in ASF, MPEG1, MPEG4 and MJPEG formats. With LifeDrive Manager desktop application, you can automatically convert unsupported video to ASF format while copying it to the LifeDrive’s internal disk. Coversion speed can be a slow process though.
For Internet applications, you get the Blazer 4.1 web browser and VersaMail 3.1 for email.
The browser supports Javascript, bookmarks, history, cookies, proxies and SSL.
VersaMail, Palm’s popular email application supports POP, IMAP and SMTP servers, multiple email accounts, automatic email fetching and notification of new mail and filters.
Web browsing over WiFi on the 480 x 320 display is a pleasure and rendering times are good thanks to the LifeDrive’s 416 MHz CPU.
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There are other scores of desktop software for you to use as well.You can use the LifeDrive as if it were a USB flash drive with any USB-equiped computer. Run the Drive Mode application on the LifeDrive, connect its USB cable to any USB computer regardless of platform and the device’s 4 gig hard drive will mount as a removable drive so you can copy, move, reorganize and delete files.
In addition, you get LifeDrive Manager for Windows (no Mac version). This excellent application makes it easy to view and manipulate files on the MicroDrive and convert media files. |
WiFi and Bluetooth
Integrated WiFi is not common on Palm brand handhelds. LifeDrive, however, has both WiFi 801.11b and Bluetooth included.
The LifeDrive has Bluetooth 1.1 and uses Palm’s Bluetooth software to get you connected. The software can even be used to connect to, say, a GSM Treo 650 as a wireless modem and used a Universal Bluetooth keyboard with the LifeDrive.
Battery Life
The LifeDrive has a 1,660 mAh Lithium Ion battery which is a fairly large capacity battery. However, due to its very highly mechanical in terms of parts movement and scores of power hungry applications, battery life is not very impressive.
Conclusion
Palm LiveDrive is a bold new offering merging the PDA, hard disk-based MP3 player, photo viewer and portable video player into one machine.
Pros:
Dual wireless
Large storage capacity
Large battery
Nice software bundle
Cons:
Very expensive
Marginal battery life and not swappable
Slower than other Palm models
Cradle not included
Specifications:
Display: Transflective TFT color LCD. 65K colors, screen size diag: 3.8″.
Resolution: 320 x 480, supports both portrait and landscape modes.
Battery: 1660 mAh Lithium Ion rechargeable. Battery is not user replaceable.
Processor: Intel XScale PXA 270 416 MHz processor.
Memory and Storage: 64 MB program memory. 4 GB MicroDrive with 3.85 gigs available. 16 megs ROM for permanent OS installation. 32 megs of RAM
Expansion Port: USB 2.0 sync port.
Size: 4.76 x 2.87 x .74 inches.
Weight: 6.8 ounces.
Audio: Built in speaker, mic and 3.5mm standard stereo headphone jack.
Networking: Integrated WiFi 802.11b and Bluetooth 1.1.
Software: Palm OS 5.4.8 (Garnet).
Desktop software: Palm Desktop for Mac and Windows included.
LifeDrive Manager (Windows only) for browsing the contents of the 4 gig hard drive and copying/converting/syncing files.
Drive Mode for using the LifeDrive as a removable mass storage device. Rhapsody (desktop MP3 app).
LifeDrive software: PalmOne software: Media, Blazer 4.1 web browser, VersaMail 3.1, Addit, Files (file manager), Favorites
(launcher) and Camera Companion. PIM applications: Contacts, Calendar, Tasks, Memos. Also Notes (for handwritten notes and
drawings), Calculator, Expense, World Clock, Card Info, Dialer, SMS, eReader. 3rd Party software: Document To Go 7 (for MS Office documents), Pocket Tunes MP3 player, Handmark Solitaire, Adobe Acrobat Reader, Audible Player, eReader (ebook reader).
Expansion: 1 SD (Secure Digital) slot, supporting SD, SDIO and MMC cards.
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Overall Dopod838Pro is indeed an interesting hi-tech gadget, one of a kind in 3-in-1 category….3G + PDA + Phone. Read on to find out if this baby will end-up in your shopping list or otherwise. |
| Dopod838Pro is world’s first 3G Windows Mobile PDA phone with sliding keyboard. Fitted with a 360-degree jog wheel it allows users to check their emails and browse the Internet effortlessly with one hand. The QWERTY keypad is user friendly making data input a breeze for those who are used to keyboards. |
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The real power of this good looking smart device lies in its connectivity feature which simply says outstanding. Packed with seven (7) network bands into a slim package, together with WiFi 802.11g, the Dopod 838Pro is a the device for the modern executive on the go. If Quadband GSM support still not enough, you also have Triband WCDMA (850/1900/2100) support. |
Dopod838Pro is also equipped with HSDPA, a 3.5G wireless network that offers to 10 times more bandwidth than current 3G networks. Its WiFi 802.11g connectivity allows you to surf the Internet or download emails at speeds up to 54Mbps.
Powered by Microsof Windows Mobile 5.0, Dopod 838Pro’s Push Mail Technology allows users to be updated instantly which enables them to receive emails the moment they arrive in their inbox. Microsoft Office Mobile is also part of the package.
You can also log onto Pocket MSN at the click of a button, allowing you to access not only MSN Messenger, but also Hotmail and the MSN portal.
Did you say “Bluetooh?”. Yes…The Dopod 838Pro supports Bluetooth Wireless Stereo (A2DP), so you can enjoy stereo music wirelessly over compatible A2DP headsets.
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Do you take pictures often? Worry no more. Dopod838Pro comes with the 2 megapixel high picture quality camera, with flash and a unique macro lens and mirror. You can choose from eight shooting modes with five different effects. |
Do you like to listen to musics or watch movies. Download them to your Dopod 838Pro’s 128 MB Built-in ROM and 64MB RAM memory with persistent storage and watch them with the large 2.8 “ 65K colour TFT LCD screen with a brilliant 240 x 320 QVGA display.
In conclusion, Dopod83Pro is a versatile smart PDA phone with lots of features.
Specification
Operating System: Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0
Frequency: GSM Quadband (850/900/1800/1900)+WCDMA Triband (850/1900/2100)
Processor: Samsung 400MHz
Memory: 128MB ROM, 64MB RAM (persistent storage)
Size: 112.5 x 58 x 21.95 mm
Weight: 176 grams w/battery
Standby time: up to 220 hours
Talk time: up to 5 hours
Colour: Classic Black
Messages: SMS; MMS (English; Chinese support via CE-Star)
Email support: Outlook, multiple POP3, Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo mail
Push mail (in conjunction with Exchange Server 2003 SP2)
Recording: Unlimited (up to memory capacity)
Voice tags: Yes
Hands free: Yes
Mobile data connectivity: EDGE/GPRS/UMTS
Bluetooth: Yes, v2.0
USB: Yes (Sync and charge)
Main: 2.8″ 240×320 resolution (QVGA)
Colors : 65536 colors TFT screen (effective)
Supported ring tones: 40 chord polyphonic, MIDI/SP-MIDI/WMA/WMV/MP3/AMR/SMF
JAVA: Yes
Multimedia player: Windows Media Player 10 Mobile
MP3 player with music auto-detect and music alarm function
Primary: 2.0 megapixel CMOS w/flash and mirror
Secondary: 0.1 megapixel CMOS for video calls and self-portraits
Focus : Yes
Video Recording: Yes
Memory slot: MicroSD (hot-swappable)
Supported languages: English (Chinese via CE-Star download)=
Built-in Office Mobile and ClearVue Document Viewer (PDF)
Others: PenPower’s WorldCard Mobile business card recognition software