Q. Hi Judie,

What’s the state of affairs with Pocket PC Phone devices these days (Not Smart Phones but true PPC phones). I’ve concluded that it’s still best for me to have two devices because so many do one or the other better. Like my first printer, scanner, fax machine. It was a good printer and fax.  :-) I need to have a really good phone and a fully customizable PPC. I’m also committed to Win Mobile due to years of software purchases.

Thanks,

L e x

A. Hi Lex,

[Ed. note: I should mention that it wasn't even half a day after Lex sent me his question before he also forwarded two excellent and related posts that had been made on Mobility Site. The first post was about David Haskin's article Another Nail In The PDA's Coffin and the other was entitled Smartphones...Why Have They Not Taken Off?, which referenced a question asked in C|NEt's feature comparison report, Sleek and Sexy Smart Phones With Big Brains.]

Since you specifically asked about the state of true Pocket PC Phone Editions (and not Smartphones), I’ll let you know what I think: choices are decent – as long as you don’t mind a 2.8″ screen. HTC is cranking out various Pocket PC Phone Edition models, there is the Treo w/wx, and TechFaith Wireless (i-mate’s new partner) is also making quite a few PPC PE models. These are all fully customizable Pocket PCs, and many of them offer quite a few connectivity options out of the box, including GSM/GPRS, CDMA, WiFi, Bluetooth, and Infrared.

The bad news for anyone that actually uses their PPC Phone for more than quick information lookups is that 2.8″ screens seem to be here to stay. The day of the >3.5″ phone screen appears to have ended with the HTC Universal and Sharp-Willcom W-ZERO3, which I feel is a complete and utter shame. I hate that we seem to have lost the option to get anything larger. Every time I see an announcement for an otherwise promising PPC or PPC PE, the first thing I look at is the screen size, and anymore, they are all sub 3″. While this is probably fine for many people’s usage, it is not good at all for those that must do extensive work away from the office on spreadsheets, databases, documents, or yes…even reading eBooks. Convergence is king, but there is a massive trade-off. Not everyone wants their main PDA to also be their main phone; not everyone needs the smallest and cutest package possible.

Oh gosh – I seem to have stepped onto my soapbox…sorry!

Carrying a better than average mobile phone and a non-GPRS/CDMA enabled Pocket PC or Palm PDA has become the natural response by many. Unfortunately, it looks like even this option is also being threatened: there simply haven’t been very many new old school (meaning non-GPRS or CDMA enabled) PDAs of any kind announced in the last year – much less those with larger screens. I’m wracking my brain, and with the exception of a couple of lower end iPAQs and the Fujitsu-Siemens Pocket Loox VGA PPC models, I can’t think of any pure PDA devices that were announced in 2006. Even the new iPAQ 5915 and 4900 series are being marketed as “travel companions” or “entertainment devices” – even though they have WM5 Pocket PC operating systems.

Well…there was the 5″ screened DualCor cPC, which may or may not ever be readily available, and which is priced well out of the average PDA purchaser’s budget. :sigh:

Can anyone think of any others?

Lex, I honestly don’t know what to tell you; the trend seems to be convergence with a smaller screen. Those of us that don’t necessarily want our phone to be our main PDA may soon be SOL. Our choices are drying up and unless we are more vocal about what our needs are, we may soon be “making do” with what we already have – long in the tooth PDAs with their glorious 3.5″ and larger screens and aging operating systems. Bah humbug! :neutral:

Q. Hi Judie!

While researching the internet for the best value VGA pocket pc device for my use, I came across your article titled “HP iPAQ hx4700 Pocket PC” at Gadgeteer. Then I went to your website in the hope of finding more recent articles that will help me decide what to buy. Aside from e-mail and web browsing on the go, I would be using it mainly to store an electronic bible and to read e-books. I will appreciate your expert opinion on the best value VGA pocket pc devices I should seriously look at.

Thanks in advance,

Benny

A. Hi Benny,

Your question goes very well with Lex’s, answered above. There is a good list of VGA PDAs on the FirstLoox site. Unfortunately, many of the PDAs listed are growing slightly long in the tooth, and others are not easily available everywhere.

If I was looking for a good value on a non-GPRS/CDMA, yet still WiFi and BT enabled VGA Pocket PC, I would definitely recommend looking at the easier to find iPAQ 4700 / 4705 and the Axim X51v. These can generally be found for less than retail either new in the box or very slightly used from reputable sellers on eBay. The Axim can still be ordered directly from its manufacturer. If you want a VGA GSM/GPRS/WiFi/BT model, then I would have to recommend the still pricey HTC Universal.

Anyone have any other suggestions? Let’s hear them! :-)

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