Which Pocket PC?

[Guest benzo]

I need some Pocket PC advice.

My requirements:

1. Built in wi-fi so that I can connect to the internet via my wi-fi enabled laptop (how far away from the wifi transmitter will the Pocket PC be able to stay connected to the network?)

2. Decent processor speed as I want to be able to read big pdf files off of it

3. Durable, as my job is relatively physical

4. Not too big, but I'm not too fussed with 'not too small'

Thanks for all your help.

Benzo

[Guest kyrkesmith]

1. In theory, 100m I believe. In reality, perhaps 30m? As far as I'm aware, the range the Pocket PC has is not going to be too different from your laptop's range.

Personally, I'd go for an iPaq, perhaps the h4150.

[Guest Taoski]

I got the h4150 and it is very cool.

Its small and wifi and blootoof and everyfing.

It has made my SPV redundant too.

PocketMusic

BetaPlayer

MorphGear

Bye bye SPV!!!!......

[Guest maxh2003]

I'd have to agree with the guys recommending the iPaq 4150. I just invested in one myself, a couple of weeks ago, and the thing is truly wonderful. WiFi connects to my home wireless LAN beautifully and *instantly* from up to about 30 metres (through two brick walls); Bluetooth connects me to the internet via the SPV E200; screen is beautiful (if a little yellowed when viewed at a bad angle). Processing power knocks seven shades of **** out of the E200. I can have no complaints with my 4150 whatsoever; it's the cutest piece of kit I own.

I can't think of a single thing missing from the 4150, unless you *really need* that biometric fingerprint reader on the ?5550?.

Having said that it *hasn't* made my SPV obsolete (so fear not, PicoDrive fans! :D ); you can't really use a PocketPC single-handed so for gaming on the move, the SPV is probably better. Music playing - both the SPV and the 4150 do a really good job (BetaPlayer, obviously).

[Guest Taoski]

Yeah... my screen is slightly yellowed too. I read somewhere that some 4150s have the fault and others do not. They said not to accept it if you get a yellow one as the next box might not be. Just depends if you can live with it i suppose. Might have been a dodgy batch perhaps.

PicoDrive on it runs like the clappers - still no sound though. :cry:

MorphGear is also an excellent emulator and has lead me into the world of Super Mario and Pokemon. :? It is better suited to play Gameboy and gameboy color games as you can play 2 handed and use the 2 right hand buttons as A and B - and with sound too!

Just need to get myself a cradle for the car so i can pipe it into my stereo and use PocketMusic. One of the skins (when in landscape mode) has huge buttons on - perfect for using in the car. PocketMusic is excellent on the PocketPC - the way it fades between tracks - and the interface is to die for! Well good. PM served me well on my SPV and its legacy lives on!

[Guest Monolithix [MVP]]

I'm thinking of getting a 4150 in a few months. It seems to have jumped £20-30 recently though (in most places) which is annoying. Hopefully by the end of the summer the new 63xx's will be out and pushing the prices of current PPC's back down :D

[Guest maxh2003]

It's a bit strange, a few websites have been sounding the death-knell for the PDA but I think with Wi-Fi they might now be coming into their own. I was amazed to find that my route home from work (a twenty-minute bus ride) goes past at least ten wifi hotspots, at least two or three of which are set for free access. If that's a measure of how many effectively-public hotspots are going to be available - and this is Sheffield, not London - then there's going to be a bit of a revolution. Free broadband internet access when you're out and about?! Apart from anything, you could make all your phone calls via SkypeOut and pay pennies instead of pounds, and what happens to all those GPRS and 3G data calls?! My GPRS usage has dropped to virtually-nil since I got my PocketPC because I can get my bandwidth much cheaper... :-O

Plus, even if they build Wi-Fi into phones - and I guess they will pretty soon now - a smartphone screen is always going to give a limited browsing experience. Browsing on a PDA form-factor device, by contrast, is only marginally less effective than using a PC...

Slightly different topic: coolest thing I've had my PocketPC do so far is play a live video stream of the cricket, off Sky, into the PC, through Windows Media Encoder and out over Wi-Fi as a 500Kbps stream. Picture quality was pretty amazing, only a ten-second lag on the playback, and the thing was stable for over an hour before I decided the cricket was a lost cause and turned it off...! Anyone got a cooler (and possibly even sillier) use for a PocketPC? :D

[Guest mact]

Hey guys, just got 4150 as well and I'm luvin in!!! The built in wifi is sweet. Got a few questions tho, do any of u use ur 4150 to sync with for sms? I need help in getting this setup - it's driving me nuts. Any help would be appreciated.