The idea of comparing the features handheld computers manufactured by companies Casio and Palm, not accidental. The fact that the combined share of these two firms, according to authoritative estimates, far more than half of the global PDA market. By some estimates, 4 out of 5 sold in the world of pocket computers are manufactured in factories, Casio and Palm Computing. And Palm, Casio and today offers a range of devices, which can be rather neatly divided into 3 "weighted" (price) category. Lightweight: Palm m100 - Pocket Viewer PV-S450
Average weight: Palm Vx - Cassiopeia EM-500
Cruiserweight: Palm IIIc - Cassiopeia E-125
Palm m100 vs. Pocket Viewer PV-S450
Thus, the first couple, the youngest members of our competition. Both were presented to the public in late August - early September this year.
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Externally, Palm m100 and Pocket Viewer entirely different. First - plump and rounded, the second - thin and angular. Silver Pocket Viewer produces a strange impression, "Chinese Build: sharp jagged edges, line joints of body parts are not perfect. Thin cover that protects the screen, for some reason, made of dark gray. Palm black, but the bezel can be easily replaced by a color (blue, green, red, gold, etc.), as some cell phones. M100 screen is noticeably smaller than your opponent, but on the front panel has four shortcut buttons programs, as well as buttons to scroll up and down, essential when reading. But this - a little later. Protective cover Palm Black (varies by color by changing "face"), it provides a semi-circular window made of transparent plastic. In this window for a few seconds appear hours, as soon as the owner presses a dedicated button, after which the m100 off again. Appearances can be deceiving. Let's see what they can do. Screen Palm m100, as was mentioned above, the Pocket Viewer is inferior in size, but noticeably superior in picture quality. Illumination in Pocket Viewer normal (lit background), and a Palm - the inverse (highlighted letters and numbers on a dark background), invented for the sake of saving energy. If desired, using a special (free) programs can be converted into ordinary. Speaking of energy. Both devices are powered by ordinary batteries, AAA. Battery life up to replace them with approximately the same. I suppose that Pocket Viewer somewhat more wasteful when dealing with active illumination and recording information. The bottom of the screen, both devices is not involved under the image. On it are touch-sensitive buttons and a menu of applications, from Palm here is the area of handwriting, while the Pocket Viewer - the power switch device and the backlight.
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A set of built-in features is virtually identical: address book, scheduler, to-do list, notepad, charts and handwritten notes, etc. For some reason, the Pocket Viewer is not a calculator. At the Palm, as usual, no spreadsheets, but it is fixable through numerous third-party development, including free. Both devices are equipped with special software for the PC, creating a sort of analog desktop organizer, synchronizing with the handheld device to maintain the relevance of information. For synchronization and in one, and in another case, simply click on the stand. The resemblance ends there. Here's the thing. Palm has always been an open computing platform. Development tools are available and updated regularly, the technique described in detail. For developers can still access the source code of the operating system and applications. Thanks to its open and friendly policy of Palm Computing, today was created more than 10.000 a variety of applications for Palm OS, from serious business to the distributed free of charge.From a simple organizer Palm can turn into a terminal, a library of electronic books, piggy bank to collect the data dictionary, etc., can combine all these and many other features. Restriction imposes only a relatively small (2 MB) of memory. However, demand creates supply - have already appeared yourselfers, extending m100 memory to 8 MB for a reasonable fee. If such intervention is lost firm guarantee, but for many in this case the end justifies the means. Furthermore, Palm is equipped with two standard communication interfaces: infrared (IrDA) and serial (RS-232), which allow you to connect very different peripherals, as well as exchange data with computers (PDAs and desktops), cell phones, etc. Palm can send and receive e-mails, short messages SMS, it can be used to load into a cell phone pictures and ringtones. But the Pocket Viewer anything but of the organizer, not to be able to. In this regard, it is unclear why equip his already 4 MB of memory. Additional software for the Pocket Viewer is relatively small, the ability to connect external devices is not provided. This is the result of long closed platform to developers. Owner will have to settle for an e-notebook ... almost wrote: "with handwriting input. Alas, Pocket Viewer is not able to process a manuscript have to poke at the keys on-screen keyboard. Palm also equipped with high-speed ink Graffiti, based on tracing of simplified characters, plus the on-screen keyboard. There are, however, a group of users who did not recommend Palm m100. These are people who do not have a conventional computer (PC), even though the most simple. The fact that Palm needs to periodically connect to a PC to synchronize data while on the PC hard disk is backed up or archive all information Palm. When it is theoretically possible zeroing memory Palm, data can be recovered from the archives within minutes. Way to store data in nonvolatile memory such as Flash, used in the Pocket Viewer, virtually guarantees a 100% safety information in any situation, so Pocket Viewer less demanding regular synchronization. The downside - the tangible delays and increased consumption of energy recording information. Thus, the victory Palm "for the clear advantage? Perhaps. PV wants to be a computer, but while up to that status does not hold. A Palm m100, although it is called the organizer of all articles belongs to the handheld computers.
The next pair - Palm Vx and Cassiopeia EM-500
Palm Vx - the oldest of the participants in our contest. But in 2000, Palm Vx - is the most popular handheld, the leader in sales. His resounding success, he must above all the extraordinary compactness and gorgeous design.
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Palm Vx - a pocket organizer, extra-class. Ultra-thin and ultra-light. With perfect clarity and contrast of the screen. Equipped with a battery charger which is enough for a few weeks. Compatible with other PDAs, cell phones, Windows, MacOS, etc. With a mass of additional software and devices increase, from the modem to the outer folding keyboard. Razmeetsya, all of the above is based on a simple, polished and popular platform, Palm OS, which features partially described above. By the way, Palm Vx software is fully compatible with Palm m100, as described above. The fundamental difference - the operating system Palm Vx is rewritable Flash-ROM, as it allows you to quickly and simply update it. Such is the portrait of a device that sits in the middle weight division team Palm. Perfected an organizer, a simple and intuitive, able to adapt to its owner, and build their capacity as is needed. Casio has positioned in the middle weight category entirely different device, which was presented to the public in late August this year. This is Cassiopeia EM-500 Pocket PC, a powerful computer without "almost": color active TFT display, a processor at 150 MHz, 16 MB RAM, stackable (cards MMC) memory. Cassiopeia EM-500.Fashionable appearance is consistent with modern stuffing.
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Opportunities EM-500 is really amazing for a device this size. For it does not cause the slightest problem or playback of music files, MP3, or handling e-mail and SMS, no internet access and a walk through the pages of the web. This baby even has a pocket Word and Excel. The functionality of less than older brothers, however, view, edit and send more come via E-mail attached document or the price list does not amount to the complexity, even if the PC is not working up to one hundred kilometers. For readers, e-books provided for the program Microsoft Reader. Gamers can rest assured - if a little search, you can find the real DOOM and not only. Music lovers will appreciate the built-in MP3-player with stereo headphones. Additional programs. Quantify them smaller than the Palm OS, but quite enough. Due to the simplicity of porting applications to the Microsoft Windows environment Windows Powered (Windows CE), many major companies have ported their products to the Pocket PC (e-cards, interpreters, etc.). In addition, much of the "extra" for Palm to Pocket PC comes free with the purchase. Opportunities organizer subjectively realized is less convenient than a Palm. This is understandable: if the Palm organizer is a key detail, the EM-500 is no more than one option. As a "mirror" to synchronize the EM-500 uses a Microsoft Outlook (by the way, Palm Vx also able to sync with Outlook). Cinhronizatsiya is automatic, like the Palm. Cassiopeia is able to connect to a PC as a serial and a USB interface, which is much faster data exchange. This is especially true when working large amounts of data, for example when downloading files MP3. A couple of words about the screen. Cassiopeia screen contrast, a clear and easily readable. Shows 65 thousand colors, sizes and screen resolutions much higher than Palm. However, requires considerable energy consumption and poorly visible in bright sunlight. Unfortunately, you pay. Even capacity battery is not able to provide EM-500 longer battery life, more or less comparable to the Palm Vx. Owner Cassiopeia forced to always carry a charger, since battery life his PDA does not exceed 5-6 hours. Under normal circumstances, it is 2-3 days of use. Steyer of EM-500 useless. In addition, Cassiopeia is almost two times thicker and heavier than the Palm Vx, but oh, how it is critical to the handheld. So, I suggest fighting draw. Each of the strong contenders in their field, but is unlikely to seriously fight on foreign territory. Anyway, today. Have to choose between compactness, simplicity, and a decent running time on the one hand, and power is almost this computer - the other.
Palm IIIc against Cassiopeia E-125
The third pair - a device class. Casio's serves real heavyweight, Cassiopeia E-125. This model is an extension of the well-known Cassiopeia E-115 (has a more powerful processor and a port USB). Of EM-500 differs increased to 32 MB of memory and the presence of the expansion slot Compact Flash Type 2 instead of MMC. I recall that in the format of Compact Flash memory cards are available today and mikrovinchestery hundreds of megabytes, as well as modems, network cards, even a GPS-receivers. That is, E-125 - is a serious machine for the professional user, capable in some cases completely replace your laptop.
Defends the honor of Palm model IIIc. Actually, the heavy weight (ie, price) category can be attributed to the large stretch, only because nothing is more expensive Palm Computing is not currently producing. The real value of it only slightly exceeds the value of "middleweight" Palm Vx.
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Palm IIIc - the model six months ago. It is no secret that it was made for reasons of "make it". Public opinion criticized the Palm Computing (then a division of 3COM) for the absence of the device with a color screen. Palm long resisted, but in spring 2000 broke down and introduced the IIIc. The novelty was all as before, except for a color screen. Installing an active TFT display immediately led to an increase in size and weight of the CPC and shortened the time between battery charging. Although up to size and extravagance of Pocket PC is far, Palm IIIc lost his fair share of the competitive advantages of its platform. A new, that would help in the fight, almost got it. Expansion slots as there was no, and no, the screen kept the old 160x160 resolution. Besides the new display hardware does not seriously updated. Case for Palm IIIc: broad compatibility is still a decent supply of battery life and relatively low weight, handy organizer. Layer users who need just Palm and that's with a color screen (for example, to work with electronic maps and navigation) is quite broad, especially as the IIIc significantly cheaper than E-125 ($ 200). However, the victory Casio heavyweight no doubt. As sports commentators say, the fight did not work - Palm surrendered virtually without a fight. To summarize. Palm firmly holds the niche market handheld computers costing up to $ 450 it helps licensees: Handspring, TRG and recently had joined them Sony. Palm puts the mainstream users, this is understandable and justified. Casio is successfully promoting the powerful and relatively expensive PDA running Microsoft Windows Powered (Windows CE 3.0), is trying to penetrate the turf with low-cost Palm organizers, but it's not very successfully. The authors, translation:
Andrey Kuznetsov
