The Old Joel on Software Forum: Part 3 (of 5) - Pocket¨PC Syncronization at Home & Work

Pocket¨PC Syncronization at Home & Work

Any tips and advices when you want to Synchronize
Personal (From home PC) and Professional (PC at work)
with a Pocket PC

contacts
tasks
emails

I'm new to the world of PDA Synchronisation ...

Sinclair
Wednesday, November 19, 2003

have 2 partnerships, install the sync software on both pc's. related question: any experience with pocket pc phone edition, and any reason to wait a bit for a new version? there are phones selling now with pocket pc phone edition 2002, but there is a pocket pc phone edition 2003 out there. funny thing, MS will not sell the upgrade, only availble through OEM's

Christopher Hester
Wednesday, November 19, 2003

MS doesn't offer an upgrade because the OS needs to be tailored for every device which is done by the OEM.

Jonathan
Wednesday, November 19, 2003

I have used the siemens pocketpc phone for several months. I would say it is a very cool device. It sync's with outlook and does everything a PDA should. It lets me listen to MP3 on the airplane and of course, it is a phone. My three criticisms would be:

1. The battery life on most of these devices stink. Mine had to be charged every day.

2. They are too bulky to use as a phone. Sometimes I just want to go out and not take my work life with me. Cannot just stuff it in a pocket.

3. The hard reboot is your friend. It is a strange thing to have your phone lock up on you or get really slow. Sometimes you have to reboot about two times and all is well again.

Overall, if you can live with the first two, I would say go for it! They are really cool. I think mine ran version 2002 and I looked at 2003 a few months ago and nothing wowed me.

m
Wednesday, November 19, 2003

I have the T-mobile Pocket PC phone. Supposedly T-Mobile will be offering a free upgrade to Pocket PC 2003 in January (though they had promiced it for this month). The reason MS won't sell an upgrade is because it involves flashing the ROM, and they have to be respectful of whatever the carrier has put on the ROM, especially the radio stack that controls the phones access to the radio towers. However, there are websites dedicated to upgrading the ROM yourself.

I generally do like the phone, and I do carry it around in my pants pocket, though it is bulky. Some shortcomings: It doesn't really support many external devices, the SD card slot is memory only, not SDIO, and the sync cable slot isn't compatible with any of the other major PocketPCs. There are some folding keyboards, and a GPS solution or two. Battery life, memory, processor speed, and screen are all below what is standard on new Pocket PCs. The finish scratches up easily, and the case it comes with has two magnets that rub up against it.

Also, T-Mobile GPRS service has had long-term outages in the past. Using it to read the web isn't really that great, anyway.

There is a new version out, but it is not available in the US. It apparently has improved on many of these points, and even has a camera. It is has gone way up in price though. Suposedly the reason why the US carriers aren't offering it is that there is something better waiting in the wings, but I haven't found out what it is that they are talking about.

Keith Wright
Thursday, November 20, 2003