First look at Windows Embedded Compact 7

I recently came across a nice deal (85 USD including shipping) on Sylvania's newest netbook, the SYNET7WIC, running Windows Embedded Compact 7 on the the 800 MHz Via VS8650 processor. I have to say I'm not particularly impressed thus far.

First off, Sylvania opted to leave out a lot of standard features of WEC 7: it doesn't have the Flash support present in my CE 6 Zenithink ZT-180, and has IE CE 6 instead of the Internet Explorer Embedded present on my SmartQ V5. (Fortunately, the YouTube app on the device still does the job.)

Speed-wise, it seems just a shade slower than the TinyBook despite the faster processor. (But then, even the ZT-180, which is rated at 1 GHz, seems a little slower than the TinyBook.) Application compatibility is not noticeably better than CE 6.0 (and remember that Windows Phone 7 apps are not in .exe format); indeed, I'm getting a brand-new type of error message on a lot of non-.NET CF apps: "Unable to import library [DLL name] ! Program will exit." This message shows up even if the named DLL file is present in the app's folder, \Windows, and/or \Windows\System. And I'm not getting any .NET CF apps working on it thus far that don't also work on my CE 4.2 .net, CE 5, and/or CE 6 devices, despite a newer build of .NET CF 3.5 (3.5.10181.0).

More testing to come.

Ouch, sounds pretty harsh. This is the problem when there is no one writing programs specifically for it and Microsoft largely re-engineered the Kernel for 7.

Once you've settled in and explored the forets, would you write a review of the device?

CEGeek, when you come across a CE tablet that has true suspend like we have come to love on our old HPCs, let me know. Even my wifes Pandigital Novel 7 seems to have that...and it is an Android hybrid of some sort.

But I can be web browsing on it, turn the device off, and then when I turn it back on, I'm still at the same page, with the device only taking the time it needs to reconnect to my home wifi.

Just like my HPCs, I can be working with a document, turn it off and come right back to it when I power back on...why the newer CE devices don't do that I don't know...but it drives me bugs nuts...

I've noticed that even the suspendable CE 5 devices I have (ViewSonic V212, Fourier Nova 5000EX, and Mintpass MintPad) use significantly more power during suspend than my older CE devices. All of them run out of power within a week while in suspend, compared to 2-4 weeks in my older CE devices.

Maybe WEC 7 is pickier about some DLLs, particularly aygshells and GXs. CE 6 seemed not to like most MFC-based apps (at least those requiring the Pocket PC version of mfcce300.dll and a few requiring mfcce400.dll) - I'd usually get the "serious error and must shut down" message. (Only in one of those cases - and on one device only - have I been able to overcome that error with one version of doclist.dll.) I'll keep the trial and error process going until I run out of options.

I just noticed something else: the SYNET7WIC has built-in USB Bluetooth support. I plugged in my recently-acquired USB Bluetooth adapter, and opened a program in \Windows called bthsettings.exe. It then opens a "Bluetooth Settings" app and then, when I click "Add New," it searches, finds, and recognizes my phone and the Flytech POS234 I mentioned in another recent thread. But, weirdly, the app window exceeds the vertical size of the display, so I actually have to use WinWatch to move the window to reach the "Pair Device" button. But both paired successfully.

Hm, thanks for this fine hint. I would have never detected
the Bluetooth Settings .exe in \Windows.

So I did exactly as you described ( also learning to use the fine
Winwatch.exe program ) trying to connect to my old Samsung
Handy. The search is successful but when I try to connect
I have to enter a/the PIN for the Handy. I simply put in the
usual PIN I have to enter when I power on the Handy.

Then : there was also a request to enter a PIN on the Handy
( for the device with the hostname of my netbook as name )
Here I didnt know what to do and simply put in the same PIN
as before ( does the Bluetooth stick in the netbook require
a secret PIN ??? ) but then the devices appeared as disconnected
in the Settings program...

What do I do wrong ? What are the correct PINs ?

BTW : I have no idea how to exchange images between netbook
and Handy...

I'm having a similar issue with connecting my phone to the SYNET7WIC - it says "Connected" for about a second and then goes back to saying "Disconnected." The only service listed under "View Info" is "Remote Access Point Service," and I really have no idea how one gets online this way between a 3G phone and a WEC 7 netbook, since I assume it's not via DUN protocol. Remember, though, that I'm a techno-idiot and have only learned from the wisdom of others (hint, hint) followed by my own trial and error.

The CE Embedded netbooks do seem to be pretty pointless to own unless you are desperate for that Microsoft Windows UI. Almost everything nowadays in terms of netbooks and tablets that are running Android or even a full desktop OS can do more things, more efficient, faster and cheaper in the long run. Which explains why many of these chinese netbooks are not advertised as having CE because everyone knows it is utterly useless. Even Jlime on the Jornada is capable of far more than the stock HPC2000 OS they shipped on the thing.

Paspie, I have to disagree. I think it is all in the eye of the beholder. If you want your device to be able to run a zillion programs and do a zillion things...then perhaps so. But if you are like me and only want to be able to do light surfing and play chess or backgammon...they you are more than satisfied with the CE operating system.

I can run more programs perhaps under Android on my 8650 machine...but I sure cannot do it faster. Opera works the same on device with either OS installed, but it is faster under CE than Android.

And no one can convince me that the OS file structure and heirarchy is simpler under Android....arrrgh!

Windows may be foolproof but it is still a toy compared to any OS based on Linux. Any geek who knows what they are doing can get much more functionality out of the latter than a typical Microsofty computer.

By the way, it has nothing to do with the hardware that the OSes run on. Its only fair if the two run on the same device which is why I brought up Jlime.

I agree Paspie...that is what I was comparing. I've loaded Android on my 8650 netbook and my 8650 tablet. Then I've loaded CE on the same devices. In both cases the CE is far faster in response, booting....pretty much everything.

I really believe that Android's popularity with netbooks and tablets simply is a result that everyone is familiar with it on their cellphones.

But I could be wrong...sure wouldn't be the first time. And I will be the first to admit that the library of software available for Android has grown exponentially in the past few years...to the point it is overwhelming now.

Aye, there's the rub. There are a lot of things CE can do, but few folks interested in developing software these days. (Even xda-developers.com's Windows Mobile forums are turning into a ghost town.)

I've paired the SYNET7WIC with my XP PC, but of course ActiveSync is not shown as a service. (The ActiveSync files are missing from the SYNET7WIC, even though Microsoft claims that WEC 7 supports ActiveSync connectivity as well as connectivity to Windows Mobile Device Center.)