CE is the "most goodest"!
Aug 09 '00
From my Osborne to my Data General to my Toshibas, I’ve been a “laptop person” from the early 1980’s until a few years ago. My original argument for laptops included “built in” UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) and the ability to transport “everything” to a client’s site or your hotel room
Wait a minute. On the “road” you want those “special” spreadsheets, a word processor, e-mail, Internet’ access and perhaps some presentation stuff like PowerPoint. How often do you want CAD, Project or C++? Perhaps a PDA might do?
You are still a laptop person. You’re about to leave on a trip. Grab your computer: after you disconnect the printer, the Zip drive, the modem cable and the other peripherals that have “sort of” appeared over the past few months. Pack the machine, the cables and the power supply in your $100 case (that every thief in the airport will recognize) and depart. This really doesn’t make sense!
A better idea: a Windows CE machine (in my case, Hitachi HPW200EC). It will be less than two pounds, will fit in your briefcase/purse, have 10+/- hour battery life, and run the applications that you REALLY need. CE allows your Palmtop to partner with two “full sized” machines. Partnering involves saving files into a “synchronized files” folder (Outlook Express is by default also shared). When you “dock” your PDA, the partnership is “sensed” and any shared files are updated in either/both directions. Note that it’s not a good idea to change the same file on both machines between dockings: you may have to make some tough decisions as to which version is the most current.
How about storage? Most PDA’s allow you to divide Ram into a storage partition and a program partition (most CE’ applications will reside in Rom, by the way). Additional secondary storage can be via PCMCIA or Flash-Card: expensive, but check out eBay, Ubid and others for some “good deals”.
How about a protective case? They can be costly! I purchased a 10” X 7” padded, nylon, notebook cover with Velcro closure at my supermarket. Gave the spiral pad to my daughter and now have a cool, cheap case for the Hitachi.
Yeah, but every now and then I need to run some really esoteric applications. They either aren’t available for CE or cost a fortune! Gotcha!
Ever hear of the “thin client” concept? Thanks to firms like Citrix and Microsoft, we’re back to the mainframe days where the application executes on the server. The client (your PDA) sends keystrokes and receives “screen refreshes” from the distant host. A Citrix “client” package is available for many PDA’s. Maine’s Governor is promoting this concept for our school kids (Wonder how he found out about it?).
Lastly the typical PDA’ keyboard will let you (sort of) “touch type”. It won’t be 100/words/minute but it “gets the job done”.
I do love my PDA’s stylus (especially thinking back on the laptop' "sorrow" (not joy) stick. For you PalmPilot’ folks, how well does it replace a keyboard?
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Epinions.com ID:
showard
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Member: Steve Howard
Location: Lebanon, Maine
Reviews written: 73
Trusted by: 23 members
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