Pocket PC vs. Palm: Battle of the PDAs

By Dave Grober and Mike Hurley
21 December 2000 11:13 AM
Tags: browser, handheld, palm, pda, download, pocket pc, mike, dave

Pocket PC envy?

Mike
Great, just what I need: Another ISP bill. With my Pocket PC I can go online wireless or wired, using my existing ISP, or via cellular, or via wireless service, or via wireless or wired LAN. I'm not bound to some proprietary "snippet" service that charges by the kilobyte.

And browsing the Web on a Palm? You're joking right? Pocket PC comes with a full-featured Web Browser, Pocket IE, and with the SSL download you can access secure sites, shop, bank, etc. Of course, you could always choose another browser, too. Whack Force, for example, lets you browse offline. Of course, the Internet is also a great place for news. AvantGo is embedded in Pocket IE (although an update is available), and you can try Yodlee2Go for personalised information. Or read newsgroups with Ink Spot.

And, yes, Dave, Pocket PC can do all of the PIM functions of the Palm: Contacts, Tasks, Calendar, etc. You can find your contacts by voice with Voice LookUp. Plus, it includes sync-able Pocket versions of Word, Excel, and Money. Sync with your desktop only, or directly to Exchange and Domino servers with XTND-Connect. Connect to a variety of hosts with software like pkHpc and Telnet Force. I can even put command-line power in my hand with XT-CE and CEDOS.

And the cherry on top of this PDA chocolate sundae: I can customise my Pocket PC's interface with great downloads like GigaBar and Dashboard. With Copilot, I can even emulate a Palm on my device, although I can't imagine why I would want to.

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Talkback 2 comments

    It really does not matter whic ...Anonymous -- 19/09/02

    It really does not matter which device one chooses to use. They both provide the basic functionality needed from a PDA. If one wants to spend the extra cash, the Pocket PC does offer more power and it does run a version of Windows (yikes!), but the palm is cheaper and fufills more than all the needs of the normal user. The only real reason that the Pocket PCs are dosing as well as they are is the Monopoly known as Microsoft. If they ran a proprietary OS like the Palm does, no one would pay the price for them. For the user who is money wise and wishes to use the real industry standards and not the unilateral dominating standards of Microsoft, the palm is the choice. The Pocket PC is for the user who does not mind endorsing an oppressive company in order to get a few more whistles and bells that few others are cmopatable with anyways.

    Gothmog, lord of balrogs, high capitan of Angband, was come...

    Pocket Pc is Pocket **** Sorr ...Anonymous -- 14/06/04

    Pocket Pc is Pocket ****

    Sorry about the vulgar language, but it is!

    Microsoft tried to make their OS for PDA's too much like their OS for desktop.
    The result?
    Too much screen space is used by crap, too much memory is used by crap, too much money is used by crap.
    In short, the result is similar to putting a ferrari engine into a bus.

    By that I mean that Microsoft Windows is ok for desktops, where you have the screen space, have the memory, and usually have the money. Heck, I'm typing this off Microsoft Internet Explorer.

    But when you try to put that into something that has, at best an eight of the screen space, and 250th of the memory of your average desktop, it is no good. This article must be somewheat outdated I realise, becuase you talk of monochrome screens. Palm has caught up with the new Tungsten range, which can match and beat the performance of any Pocket PC anyday.

    Sorry, but PalmOne and PalmSource are the way to go.

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