I admit I am a fan of Windows CE. I like the instant on, long battery life and light weight. Nothing is perfect, and the early machines (this being one of them) just don't have what it takes. I bought this unit hoping to use it as a wireless web terminal (with my Lucent Orinoco wireless LAN). Luckily I found it on auction for $269, because if I had paid $999 for this I would be very angry.

This unit is the same as the Vadem Clio C1000. A nifty design which has a touch screen, keyboard and folds/flips in various arrangements. I was initially attracted to it because of this feature as well as the full VGA display, near-full sized keyboard and long battery life. The more I used this device, the more disappointed I got.

Disappointment #1:
The display - it is 640x480x8bpp passive matrix LCD. It is dim, and hard to read in bright indoor lighting. Because of its passive nature, updates are slow and anything moving becomes a blur. The other strange and disappointing feature is that the 256 color display is not a custom palette, but a fixed 3-3-2 (RGB) display that is very poor at displaying photos and true-color images.

Disappointment #2:
The keyboard. Although it is nearly full sized, it is slightly curved and the key placement/shape is off a bit. What this means is that I can type at about 50% of my full speed (normally around 80-100wpm). This is frustrating and lessens its value.

Disappointment #3: (and a BIG one)
The speed. This device is incredibly slow. There are several reasons for this. The first is that it incorporates a 90Mhz MIPS CPU. This is actually a decent 64-bit CPU, but Windows CE uses it as a 32-bit CPU and the MIPS compiler provided by Microsoft/bSquare produces inefficient code. To give you an example, I have a high speed internet connection (2Mbs downstream) and on fast machines, web pages load instantly. On the PV6000 it feels like you are connected with a 9600 baud modem. You can see the unit pause for several seconds while receiving data to figure out how to paint the screen. Really very poor as an internet terminal.

Disappointment #4:
Bundled apps. Very few bundled apps, not even a handwriting recognition package. It doesn't even include a FAX application - nothing. Very sad for a "$999" device.

I have relegated this unit to be a toy for my one year old daughter. The large touch screen is good for kids under 5 who can't yet handle a mouse. I have written a few simple cause-and-effect programs to stimulate her mind. She loves pressing buttons and touching electronic gadgets.

Maybe when it first appeared on the market it was a cool device, but today it is an expensive turtle. It is currently being liquidated on several internet auction sites (egghead, ubid). Maybe you can find a use for it, but I just found it frustrating to use.



Recommended: No

Amount Paid (US$): 269