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Windows CE 5.0 'Palm-size PC'

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CE Geek Page Icon Posted 2012-05-22 10:53 AM
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I saw a cute little point-of-sale PDA on eBay and couldn't resist, picking it up cheap when no one else bid:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/190676871509?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trks...

It boots directly into CE 5.0, with no overlaid interface. It's suspendable and synchronizable, and also seems to retain nearly all settings after reboot if you suspend it once before soft resetting (like the Netbook Pro). (It does, however, dump the cePIMs databases. ) Very little in ROM though: nothing in \Program Files, no Media Player files, and no version of .NET Compact Framework installed. Nice accessories, though: in addition to the card reader attachment, it came with two anti-glare screen covers (one on it plus one spare), and even a spare back cover.
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Rich Hawley Page Icon Posted 2012-05-22 11:28 AM
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They sell an extended battery for that thing that looks like you could use it with wifi for more than 8-10 hours straight!
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CE Geek Page Icon Posted 2012-05-25 7:14 AM
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Wait, there's more:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/140749588959?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trks...

I got these the same day. They also boot directly into CE 5 without any overlaid interface, and are also fully suspendable. Processing feels pretty fast too. Apart from being built more rugged, these do retain the cePIMs databases - but how to make a sync connection with the PC remains a mystery (though the very few Web pages that talk about the device do mention ActiveSync as a method of transferring files, there is no discussion as to how the hardware connection is made with the PC). Display size is 480x272, and display rotation is supported (though there are no native files or controls for this; I'm using the same third-party files that work in some of my other CE 5 and 6 devices). These cannot read SDHC cards, though. (The card slot is inside the battery compartment, and you have to remove the battery to get at it. Fortunately, there appears to be a rechargeable backup battery inside, as it retains all data for at least several minutes while the main battery is out. ) They do come with .NET CF 1.0 onboard, as well as a version of Windows Media Player 9 that shows up in full screen. There's a flash storage folder, but it's only 100 MB in size. (The seller did slightly miscalculate the RAM; clearly it's about 75 MB, not 750. )

Both these and the device in the first post have built-in Bluetooth and 802.11g WiFi. Battery life seems pretty decent on both; the latter pair both appear to be good for 4-5 hours of use.
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CE Geek Page Icon Posted 2012-06-04 1:36 AM
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Correction on the above: the mention of ActiveSync is from an online PDF about the WavePOS software, which both devices are made for - and the reference is to the WF35 (on which, by the way, the H/PC 2000 version of Pocket On-Schedule installs, opens, syncs, and retains data nicely). On the other device there still remain Bluetooth or WiFi ActiveSync connection as possibilities - but either would of course require manually creating a partnership using ActiveSync Partnership Creator. I've already used this method on the device and my PC, but so far I still get the "You must create a partnership before using ActiveSync" error message. I'm waiting to receive a new USB Bluetooth receiver for my PC, though, so thus far I can only test the WiFi connection method, which of course as a rule is not supported under CE 5. (The only CE 5 device I have that supports network sync is the ViewSonic V212.)
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CE Geek Page Icon Posted 2012-06-16 2:35 AM
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Bluetooth sync worked! Now I have an ActiveSync partnership with the POS234 and can sync PIM data for both Pocket On-Schedule and cePIMs. (Network sync also works now that a partnership exists.)
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Rich Hawley Page Icon Posted 2012-06-16 11:41 AM
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Cool, what are you using on the desktop side for the bluetooth?
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CE Geek Page Icon Posted 2012-06-16 7:07 PM
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One of those tiny little generic USB Bluetooth adapters, using the native Microsoft Bluetooth driver built into XP SP2.
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CE Geek Page Icon Posted 2012-06-17 3:24 AM
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Wait - there's still more:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/170851093248?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trks...

These have CE 5 as well, but with serious drawbacks: 1) only 48 MB of NAND storage (even the RAM totals 128 MB), with no expansion slot or USB port (the cradle pictured in the listing was not included, and I'm inquiring with the seller about whether it's still available); 2) while it retains some settings on reboot, it always resets the time to factory settings, and there's no suspend (even tapping on Start -> Suspend does nothing, nor does the power-on button power it back off - you actually have to navigate to an applet called PowerOffNow); and 3) very few apps onboard - just WordPad and a few testing applets for the built-in GPS and other services (no actual GPS program, no Internet Explorer, no registry editor, not even the Electronic Golf Organizer program mentioned and shown in one of the images), and .NET CF 1.0 SP3. (Even the Control Panel applets are limited: no Volume & Sounds for example.) Unlike the above two devices, this one displays the classic taskbar with multiple buttons when more than one app is open. The one nice feature is a transflective screen that is fully readable outdoors while also bright indoors (the only PDA other than my old Sony Clie PEG-SJ22 that has this feature). I opened up the back and found no internal card slot. It also doesn't appear to have Bluetooth.
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CE Geek Page Icon Posted 2012-06-17 11:32 PM
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The one nice thing about having 10 of those, though, is that you can do some experimenting and still have several that work fine. On one of these, in hopes of finding a way to change the behavior of the device I tried renaming the user.hv file in the \NAND Flash Disk\Documents and Settings\Default folder, and it sure did change the behavior - now it won't boot, getting stuck on a blank blue screen that normally appears before the desktop loads (on this device now I guess you could call it another version of the BSOD). One down, nine to go.
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Rich Hawley Page Icon Posted 2012-06-22 1:16 PM
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Hey, I'm the only guy around here allowed to make bricks out of working devices....
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CE Geek Page Icon Posted 2012-06-22 6:00 PM
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I'm negotiating with the seller over a sync cradle for these. Maybe I'll get lucky and be able to open it in ActiveSync like I did when I temporarily bricked my Augen eGo.
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indstr Page Icon Posted 2012-06-22 6:30 PM
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Hey, is there anything similar to the Mobilepro 900 that has a CPU that can run closer to 800mhz or 1ghz?
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Rich Hawley Page Icon Posted 2012-06-23 12:26 AM
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There is...but it doesn't run Windows CE....
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indstr Page Icon Posted 2012-06-24 12:22 AM
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Shame, I think my next upgrade will probably be a full x86 machine. But that will probably be a while. I'm mostly content with the MP900 for now.
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CE Geek Page Icon Posted 2012-07-05 7:55 AM
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More on the second device (POS234): Took me a while to discover it, but it has a G-sensor. Once while poking around the Control Panel I noticed that the Display control has an extra tab labeled 'Rotate.' When I looked inside that, I found two settings: one for default orientation (0, 90, 180, or 270 degrees) and the other to enable the G-sensor to rotate the display. The auto-rotation works pretty well on one of them (too well at times - I have to remember that it goes to the default position when parallel to the ground), but on the other it's only done 180-degree auto-rotation once or twice, clearly indicating a faulty G-sensor.

I gotta say that this one is pretty fast despite having a processor rated at only 400 MHz (a Bulverde X-Scale variant - the PXA27x). The thing flies through most Web pages in Opera Mini, and has that cool inertia feature when you swipe the screen with a stylus (where the display continues to scroll a bit longer after the end of the swipe). (It only responds to hard contact, though, like a stylus tip or fingernail - fingertips don't work.)
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