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The most usable handheld in 2018?

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Mobi Page Icon Posted 2018-12-07 2:49 AM
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The toughest thing about HPC Fan's challenge is the 2005 limit. But if Stingraze can go to 2011 with the Sony Tablet P, then I'd go with the BlackBerry Bold 9900, which is about the finest piece of engineering I've ever had my hands on... I can touch type on it at a rate that's ridiculously fast and of course it's very portable.

Text editing works great.
Emails are not a problem: LogicMail, which works without a BlackBerry plan, is still reasonably serviceable.
Syncing PIM to Outlook still works well over bluetooth or USB.
The big problem with the device is that it's starting to have real issues with security certificates, so WiFi/Browsing are becoming more and more limited.

All things considered, I think it's my favourite handheld device ever.
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stingraze Page Icon Posted 2018-12-08 4:41 AM
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I noticed Japanese OS and U.K. Language setting's "heaviness" is lighter on U.K. Ver.

It uses less resource since it doesn't have to predict and change into Katakana / Kanji / Hiragana.
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Rich Hawley Page Icon Posted 2018-12-08 3:36 PM
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Hmmm… I guess the correct response cannot be made until you define what you determine a "handheld" is. You mentioned the MP900 series.

If you allow anything that size, then what about the Sony PCG-C1VE. The picturebooks were tiny subnotebooks, and even today they are perfect for doing what you listed. And they came out in the very early 2000s.

I had one for a while and enjoyed it. My Fujitsu P1000 was only a little larger, but had far better battery life and had a touchscreen. Both of these were far smaller than the Jornade 820 or MP 800 series.

To me a handheld should fit in your pocket and hand… easily. In this case my Treo 650 filled the bill nicely, and the SD wifi card handles WPA nicely. Alas, Sprint no longer supports this phone, but did for many years. But then since cellular service is out, then my HX4700 with VGA does it all, modern browser, built in wifi, bluetooth.

Hardware however, is only as good as the software that supports it. Although 5 years after 2005, my original Samsung Galaxy 1 far out performs anything any handheld within your guidelines running a Android 4.4 cuztom rom.
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HPC:Fan Page Icon Posted 2018-12-08 7:50 PM
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Oh, I loved the Sony PCG-C1VE. It's size and the fact it ran Windows XP like a champ was great. I haven't toyed with one in over ten or so years, but I'd like to get another one someday. I'd also like the Fujitsu P1000. Never seen that before now, looks like one of those computers that'd be fun to have.

And yes, I remember I bought an HX4700 from you and was amazed at what it could do.

Let's mix it up a bit.

What's the best handheld for writing?

Criteria:
Must have usable keyboard, has a screen that's readable and more than just a few lines (no DANA or Alphasmarts!), allows you to write in formats still recognized today for easy transfer, not made after 2001 and runs a mobile OS like WinCE, Garnet OS, EPOC etc., and of course it must be portable.

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Jake Page Icon Posted 2018-12-08 10:50 PM
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I still have a PCG-C1VE. I dual boot between Win2K and Puppy Linux 4.3. Yeah, the battery life of the standard battery is brutal, but I use an extended battery, which is pretty good, and I yanked the hard drive for a compact flash card, and that helped battery life, too.

As for writing, prolly the Sharp Mobilon 4100 or (maybe the Casio A-22T) for outside, the J-720 for inside, but that's the super compact approach--I've never used a NEC MobilePro, but I'm almost positive that Rich would vouch for one of their keyboards over anything I've cited.

The EPOC5 word processor is phenomenal, but doc conversion is a drag and file swapping a pain, too (no networking). The Psion 5MX keyboard still a gold standard to many, but best of luck with that screen cable...

Jake
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Paianni Page Icon Posted 2018-12-09 1:23 AM
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As with all legacy I.T, handhelds would be more usable today if they weren't disadvantaged by bloated software and websites, now perceived to be a prerequisite for modern life. That being said, being stuck on obsolete and unsupported platforms doesn't help.

Edited by Paianni 2018-12-09 1:24 AM
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Jake Page Icon Posted 2018-12-09 1:46 PM
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Since the vast majority of my devices are antiquated, the Links2 browser has been their savior. The text browser, coupled with its nifty knack of rendering only key images, even works on Windows and romps on Linux as far back as 8.04.

Too bad Links2 never made it to WinCE or Android, for that matter. I've tried text browsers in Android and they were either ineffectual or abandoned or both.

Jake
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Rich Hawley Page Icon Posted 2018-12-09 9:44 PM
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I got my Bachelor's degree using a MP780…it was great. And the wifi kiosk at my university allowed me to upload files directly in Pocket Word with automatic conversion to whatever format the professor preferred.

Years later, when I had become an adjunct professor myself, that feature still worked with the Mac laptops the gave us. Seamless file conversion taking place invisibly by the server software.

So, yeah, the larger MP keyboards were superb for text entry.
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fantablium Page Icon Posted 2019-01-03 3:50 PM
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I still use my Jornada 728 everyday, its been damn reliable and can sync with windows 10! Don't bother with internet as I have a phone but I am contemplating a gemini....
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Jake Page Icon Posted 2019-01-03 4:35 PM
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@fantablium: can you catch me up on this--how are you syncing w/ Win10 and w/ which version Outlook?

Thanks,
Jake
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Duckworth Page Icon Posted 2019-01-06 5:11 PM
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Jake - 2018-12-09 8:46 AM

Since the vast majority of my devices are antiquated, the Links2 browser has been their savior. The text browser, coupled with its nifty knack of rendering only key images, even works on Windows and romps on Linux as far back as 8.04.

Too bad Links2 never made it to WinCE or Android, for that matter. I've tried text browsers in Android and they were either ineffectual or abandoned or both.

Jake


Links runs perfectly on Android with the Termux package of Linux utilities. You have to use the elinks version but it works great.
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Jake Page Icon Posted 2019-01-07 4:35 PM
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Thanks for that, Duckworth.

Jake
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rogiervdheide Page Icon Posted 2019-01-10 4:00 PM
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My 720 just syncs with Windows 10 using Microsofts Mobile Device Center. I simply connect the cradle to my laptop using USB.
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/931937/description-of-windo...


Edited by rogiervdheide 2019-01-10 4:00 PM
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ntware Page Icon Posted 2019-01-10 9:58 PM
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Well, for me the best device even for today's modern needs is the all-time favorite J-720. Rich got his Bachelor's using a mobilepro, I got mine using a J-728 that I still regret having sold. Having used a Jornada during most of my teenage years, I got pretty much used to its small and clumsy keyboard. I got another Jornada last year and I still use it to type stuff. My trick to make it still usable today was to use terminal services client. I configured a WinXP virtual machine in my university's server which I use as a remote desktop for my handhelds. This brings me full Windows XP into my little Jornada! I can even use Google Chrome with it. The only problem is the super low resolution that makes the web pages very hard to read (a lot of scrolling). A mitigation for that is to use Nyditot Virtual Display and set the resolution to 800x300. The font gets a bit blurry, but it is still readable.

My other favorite handheld device, which I'm currently using as my main computer, is the super sexy Sony Vaio P. I recently got a Japanese version, the VGN-P90NS with better processor and internal SSD. It is still very slow for modern standards, but very usable for my needs. I also use the Remote Desktop trick with it, so most of the time I'm using the Vaio P connected to my Windows 10 Server. This gives me a very good performance anywhere I can get an internet connection.



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C:Amie Page Icon Posted 2019-01-12 8:41 AM
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https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/cosmo-communicator

This thread is a lie. It's 2019 now!
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