M. Alan Thomas II ([info]thecrazydreamer) wrote,
@ 2006-11-27 01:05:00
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Current mood: tired
Entry tags:rfc

RFC: Mobile Device
Request For Comments: Mobile Device

I really need something to replace my PDA and my Pocket PC.
If it can replace my phone as well, that would be a plus.

OS:
Something running Windows Mobile 5.0 seems like the way to go on this one.
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile/devices/default.mspx
Certainly needs to support a range of applications.
(Multimedia, translation, dictionary, who knows what I'll want; requirements below.)

Considerations:
Needs a QUERTY keyboard (possibly as an add-on). I'm not typing with my thumbs, damn it!
Needs word-processing software.
Needs scheduling software.
Needs a reasonable screen resolution.
Needs to be able to talk to my computer.
Probably should go online. (Web browsing is most important here; I want to be able to look things up.)

Also:
Ought to work in Japan in case I decide to teach there. (Power and data connectivity?)
Japan also seems to have cooler devices than the U.S.
http://www.microsoft.com/japan/windowsmobile/default.mspx

Problem:
It seems that I cannot actually get what I want out of what is available.

Comments?

Other Business: I still haven't gotten back into the hang of checking LJ regularly. Sorry. On the up side, I'm reading the Girl Genius mailing list again. I've missed playing "Guess That Offscreen Voice!"

(10 comments) - (Post a new comment)


[info]dugu_qiubai
2006-11-30 11:51 pm UTC (link)
Well, I would make suggestions, but they would all be Linux devices.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

[info]thecrazydreamer
2006-12-01 07:53 am UTC (link)
I'm actually not so concerned about OS for my mobile as long it as (1) talks to my Windows XP computer and (2) has plenty of programs available for it.

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

[info]dugu_qiubai
2006-12-01 04:35 pm UTC (link)
I presume you also care about how easy it is to make it talk to your computer, since I can get all sorts of things to talk to Windows if I go to excessive amounts of effort. Going through your considerations, I have a few questions and comments. First, how big is "reasonable" screen resolution? The bigger the screen is, the less you want it to have a cellphone included, since you really don't want to be holding up a giant PDA to your head to talk to people. Of course, Japan also uses different cellphone systems than the US does, so getting something that will work everywhere is really more trouble than it's worth. You may be better off getting something with Bluetooth and convincing it to connect to the internet through a Bluetooth cellphone. Wireless stuffs tend to kill batteries regardless.

I've never seen a QUERTY keyboard. Perhaps you meant a QWERTY keyboard? Those tend to significantly reduce the portability of a portable device, you know. For convenience, you could try to find a portable device that can act as a USB host, so you can just use a standard USB keyboard.

My recommendation is the disgustingly expensive Sharp Zaurus SL-C3200, because it can play Nethack. Only sold in Japan, so if you want it over here you'd have to get it from an importer like Dynamism. http://www.dynamism.com/sl-c3000/main.shtml

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[info]dugu_qiubai
2006-12-01 05:04 pm UTC (link)
Of course, if you don't really need 6 gigs of internal hard drive in a PDA that already has both CF and SD card slots, you could go for the much cheaper SL-C1000.

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[info]anison
2006-12-01 08:56 pm UTC (link)
Weirdly enough, the stuff I was reviewing never had a resolution above 640x480 except for a cell phone with 1280x1028.

My old Windows CE compy can run NetHack.

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[info]thecrazydreamer
2006-12-01 09:20 pm UTC (link)
. . . I should remember to change logins when using my girlfriend's computer.

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[info]dugu_qiubai
2006-12-02 02:13 am UTC (link)
I'm going to assume that you typed something wrong, because I find it hard to believe that a cell phone would have the resolution of my 17" monitor.

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

[info]thecrazydreamer
2006-12-03 12:31 pm UTC (link)
Well, it was in the "phones" catagory.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile/smartphone/details.mspx?id=8fff7df2-ab2d-4834-bb34-fca7ea3f931f

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[info]dugu_qiubai
2006-12-04 12:09 am UTC (link)
How misleading! The 1280x1024 is the maximum resolution the hardware is capable of rendering, but you'd have to have it attached to an external display device because the screen on the iPAQ is actually 240x240. Bad Microsoft!

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(Anonymous)
2006-12-04 04:25 am UTC (link)
^_^;

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