Thanks @Torch, very helpful.
As a general matter, is it fair to say that PDAs without keyboards perform better than HPCs
(CPU speeds and bigger/faster SD & CF card standards
)? We have a few GBs in dictionaries and the Axim's "fast" CPU and storage can take up to a few seconds to search. While the HPC may have great form factor, we worry this generation of CPUs
(and storage
) might be too slow. All that said, we would like to try.
SIZE
I am looking for something bigger than the Axim but smaller than a laptop, maybe a bit bigger than the Casio Ex-Word.
The Casio is a clamshell, which closed measures 148mm x 106mm x 16mm.
- Main Screen, 5.3" 528×320 TFT main touch panel.
- Secondary Screen, Below the physical keyboard is a second touch panel, which is really convenient as one can write characters parallel to the desk, as opposed to on a slanted flopping screen
(2.6" 240×96 TFT
). Casio eliminated that second panel in 2015, probably to boost profits.
http://arch.casio.jp/exword/products/XD-N10000/
TOUCHSCREENTouchscreen required for writing in unknown kanji characters
INTERNETInternet not required
LOCATIONI'm in the US most often.
OPERATING SYSTEMI see EBPocket dictionary software support to CE2.11. The Pro license is no longer sold but the company seems to have provided a universal password in a txt file with the download.
http://ebstudio.info/home/EBPocket.html
Sigmarion IIIThat looked like an interesting option.
Pros
+Size
(189 mm x 117 mm x 21 mm
),
+Screen
(5.0" TFT 800x480
)
+Keyboard
+Perfect Japanese language support as a JDM model
+EBPocket made a dedicated dictionary .CAB file
(EBPocket.sig3_ARM.CAB
)
Cons
- CPU Performance of 400Mhz for PXA255
(vs. 624Mhz for PXA270 in the Axim x51v
)
- Poor software availability around CE4.1
(particularly regarding M$ Office
)
- Small & slow SD & CF cards? Need to research this a bit more as the Japanese dictionaries are huge
FYI SD & CF Cards - Size and speed standards increased a lot in the early 2000s. The 2003 Sigmarion III might have missed the boat but could have implemented some "future" specs before they were announced for better performance. I would guess:
>SD Card,
- max storage 2GB
- max speed of 12.5 MB/s
(SD1.0
)
**note in 2004, 25 MB/s under SD1.1 High Speed
(HS
). Used in Sigmarion III?
>CF Card
- max storage 128GB
(Wikipedia states 512GB are sold on the 1.0 spec too
). Who knows what a 2003 gizmo would accept.
- max speed of 16.6 MB/s
(The CompactFlash Revision 2.0 was released 2003
)
** note in 2004, 66 MB/s under Revision 3.0. Used in Sigmarion III?
> I read that CF Cards are more power hungry than SD Cards are. Not sure if that is true.
> SDHC CF adapter gizmos could be a back-door to boost storage.
> Storage is trial and error IME. For example, the 2005 Axim x51v confirmed to work with SDXC cards
(a 2009, Ver3.00 standard
), using 256GB "Class 10" SDXC Card from the SD slot
(formatted FAT32
). This is using a late WM6 ROM. I doubt the "Class 10 speeds would be applicable, however.
FYI bilingual support on Operating Systems- The Dell Axim x51v runs bilingual Japanese & English perfectly on WM6. I don't remember if the buggy WM5 could do that trick
(and probably didn't try as it was buggy and slow
). WM2003 Can NOT run bilingual; the OS must be set to Japanese ONLY for proper Japanese language support.
