Popular Pocket PCs

Many Pocket PCs are available on the market. Here’s a look at a few popular models:

@migo Pocket PC. UR There's @migo Pocket is currently the only Pocket PC on the market with a built-in PC Card slot, which means that you can use many of the available storage, wireless, and other I/O PC Cards. However, I own an @migo, and one of my complaints is that the side controls aren’t adequately positioned. Each time I handle the device, I always inadvertently activate the side controls. PC-Ephone's MIA is identical to @migo, except MIA has 64MB of RAM. The same company, PALMAX, manufactures both @migo and MIA.

CASSIOPEIA E-200. When designing the CASSIOPEIA E-200, Casio streamlined the boxy-looking design that the predecessor bore and added a faster processor (Intel's 206MHz StrongARM processor). The CASSIOPEIA E-200 comes with a CompactFlash (CF) Type II card slot on the top, a Secure Digital (SD) card slot on the left side, and support for an optional PC Card expansion pack. Thus, you can use a wireless Global Positioning System (GPS) card to find your way around town, a wireless LAN (WLAN) CF card for fast wireless access to the Internet at home, and an SD card to store your favorite MP3 files.

iPAQ series. One of the most diverse and popular PDAs is Compaq’s iPAQ series, which has a multitude of wireless connectivity and other options. The latest PDAs to feature the Pocket PC 2002 OSs are the Compaq iPAQ H3700 and iPAQ H3800 series. The iPAQ H3700 series looks basically the same as the original iPAQ H3600 series, except that the iPAQ H3700 series includes the Pocket PC 2002 OS and additional applications. The iPAQ H3800 series has a sleek look, a built-in SD card slot on the top of the device, and 64MB of RAM. The smallest Pocket PC on the market is the iPAQ H3100 series, which doesn’t include an expansion pack. You can purchase optional expansion packs for the iPAQ H3100. The expansion packs house a rechargeable battery and either a wireless WAN (WWAN) PC Card or CF card. When you add an expansion pack, the device weighs 13 ounces.

HP Jornada 560 series. Hewlett-Packard’s HP Jornada 560 series features an Intel 206MHz StrongARM processor, a streamlined size, and a flip-up cover that prevents dust build-up and screen scratches. The HP Jornada 560 series is the only Pocket PC on the market that has a built-in CF Type I slot. The CF slot gives the HP Jornada 560 series an advantage over the iPAQ series because the iPAQ series requires an expansion pack to use CF peripherals. However, many of the Pocket PC wireless-compatible cards on the market today are CF Type II. You can purchase adapters that provide CF Type II cards. For example, Atek Electronics’ CF Pocket 560 consists of a CF Type I insert in the front, which mounts in the HP Jornada 560 PDA's built-in CF Type I slot, and a CF Type II slot in the back.

Pocket PC e570. You get a lot of convenience with Toshiba’s Pocket PC e570, which contains two built-in card slots. One slot accepts CF Type II cards, which can accommodate such cards as IBM’s 1GB Microdrive. The other slot accepts an SD card. Having two slots means that you can use the CF slot for a wireless card or a GPS card and the SD slot for file storage. This device is one of the smallest and lightest of the latest generation of Pocket PCs.

MobilePro P300. NEC Solutions’ MobilePro P300 comes with a CF Type II card slot and an SD card slot. An optional PC Card expansion pack is available that can accommodate a PC card. Like the HP Jornada 560 series, MobilePro P300 has a screen lid to protect the easily scratchable screen. NEC Solutions has really hit the mark—MobilePro P300 has all the best features of the Pocket PCs on the market today.