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ABC ~ All
'Bout Computers Picking a Pocket PC I bought a Pocket PC a week ago, and it’s changed my life. I know it sounds like an ad, but let me just put that statement in proper perspective. I am an experienced computing professional. I have used Palm platform palmtop computers since 1997, which makes me something of an early adopter. And I’m not easily impressed. Honestly. Three years ago, I almost bought an iPAQ. Looking back now, I’m glad I didn’t; I sat opposite a man who owned one of that vintage on a train just last week and I’d swear it was as big and chunky as a 1960 series Star Trek tricorder. Yuk. Mine is a nice, shiny, ever-so-tiny HP iPAQ 4150. I chose the 4150 for its integrated WiFi and Bluetooth capabilities and shopped around online to pick it up for just under £280. Thinner and smaller than my old Palm Vx, it’s just slightly bigger and half the thickness of a packet of cigarettes. But I’m a software guy and hardware does little for me – what can it DO? As it turns out, it can do an enormous amount. Straight from the box, it will run the Pocket PC versions of Word and Excel (yes!) and a great Pocket implementation of Outlook. Everything – contacts, mail messages, notes, tasks – syncs flawlessly with its desktop big brother. Also provided is more software than you can shake a stick at, including some specifically for the iPAQ – such as a picture viewer and a backup utility. I wasted no time in finding more software on the web, and it turns out that the platform is well supported. Whilst Microsoft seem to have balked at turning out Pocket-syncing versions of PowerPoint and Access, others haven’t. The former is provided in ‘Pocket Side Show’ (supplied on HP’s CD of utilities which comes with this model, whilst the latter is implemented superbly in ‘Data on the Run’ available from www.handango.com , a portal site for Pocket PC and Palm downloads. I’m only a few days into my trial period, but already the heady thrill of designing forms and writing SQL queries on a handheld has guaranteed my registration payment. Of course, much of this was available through the Palm platform, too. But somehow it was always more difficult. All these Pocket PC tools work and sync directly with the Microsoft software I use on my desktop every day, employing the same familiar look and feel, whilst the Palm versions were just a little different, and would rarely sync in a problem-free (or intervention-free) manner. So why have I waited so long to switch over? Well, three years ago, there was a worthwhile trade-off. Pocket PCs tended to be big and lumbering, slow in comparison to the sleek and fast Palm machines. Now, Pocket PC has caught up in a big way. The highlight of my Pocket PC ownership so far happened last night, in bed. My wife wondered out loud what the weather would be like today (we’re English – we do that sort of thing all the time.) I reached out to the iPAQ and used it to visit Yahoo Weather via the wireless network. Within a few moments, I was able to tell her all about the prospect of a hot day (although tempered by some cloud in the early afternoon), without having even to throw the covers back. Now, how cool is that? Ray Blake lives in England and spent 15 years training people in the financial services industry there. He had always used PCs in his work, and gradually realized he might make a career out of them. He and his business partner set up GR Business Process Solutions (www.grbps.com) which specializes in innovative IT to support knowledge testing and skills assessment. Although he spends a lot of time these days developing in VB and Access, Excel remains his favorite development tool, because, as he says, 'It can do everything; there's no computer application you can think of that you couldn't develop in Excel.' |
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