Now what on earth does anyone need with a pocket pc?
Written: Dec 24 '02 (Updated Mar 11 '03)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Pocket PC2002, lots of freeware available, CF and SD slot expansion, sync software
Cons: Battery not user replaceable, so-so battery life, battery eating toplit screen
The Bottom Line: Windows compatible files, widely available freeware and commercial software, CF/SD slot provides for great expandability
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| suemccartin's Full Review: Audiovox Maestro PDA1032C |
I went looking for a replacement for my ancient Palm Pilot Professional when I could no longer get the serial sync cradle to function in Windows XP. While I wanted a color screen, I didn't want to spend $400 for it either. While I'd heard of Audiovox (mostly car stereo and some other low end electronic devices like vcrs etc.), I'd never heard of the Maestro pocket pc. The current Compusa (till 12-31-02)deal bringing it down to $199.00 with instant and mail in rebates put this item on my list of possible candidates. After a bit of comparison shopping I just couldn't ignore the extra added benefits of files compatible with full versions of word and excel straight off the pda with no conversions necessary.
I won't even attempt to write the kind of in-depth technical review that others have already written about this product. Pocket PC devices are new to me. Ask me about desktop hardware and I can talk for an hour, but this little thing is all new to me! I'm going to try to give a good idea of what a device like this can do for you. This unit is basically the same thing as the Toshiba e570 and is made by Toshiba for Audiovox.
In the Box:
The Maestro unit
USB sync cradle
AC power adapter
driver cdrom with outlook 2002, activesync and a few other applications for pocket pc 2002
basic directions
Setup:
1. Remove the packaging materials.
Do the following two steps with the pc turned off and the maestro out of the cradle:
2. Plug the ac adapter into the back of the cradle (or straight into the machine for charging off the cradle).
3. Plug the cradle into an available USB port (you may not be able to use this device on a hub. Mine gave me problems when it was plugged into a hub--sometimes XP couldn't see that the pocket pc was connected to the cradle).
Boot your pc:
4. Install the software, the software cd includes activesync but there is a newer version available on the microsoft download site. I suggest downloading the newer version because it offers the ability to save programs being loaded onto the pocketpc to the storage card instead of only to main ram. You don't HAVE to load outlook 2002 unless you want to even though the software cd tries to make you think you have to load it.
I take it that in a windows 98 installation, the activesync is supposed to see your cradle and install the drivers. In Windows XP I found that the cradle wasn't seen until the Maestro was actually installed on the cradle and then the drivers installed just fine (i.e. the instructions don't tell you to do it this way).
Currently Microsoft is throwing in Outlook 2002 to sync your messages, calendar, contacts, notes and tasks. MS is supposedly going to discontinue including Outlook 2002 and start throwing in an older 2000 version because they think it's cutting into their profits (now that's funny).
CPU:
This unit uses the Intel StrongARM 206 mhz cpu
Screen:
The screen is a touch sensitive 240X320 reflective TFT screen displaying 65,000 colors. The screen is front lit and intensity is adjustable both in brightness and length of time the light stays on. If the front light cuts out you can reactivate it by pressing down the power button for a second or two (undocumented feature) or taping the screen. You can use your finger or a plastic stylus to move around the menus or activate programs, but the screen is really too small to do much with your finger.
Maestro unit layout:
Top left corner has a green/yellow status light and a standard 3.5 inch jack for headphones. A special headphone that offers remote functions is also available for the maestro.
On the top center of the unit are two slots for memory or device expansion. One slot accepts standard compact flash I or II(CF) 3.3V memory card, IBM microdrive or other CF compatible devices (if you've got any old low capacity 3.3V CF cards for your digital camera laying around you can recycle them here). The second slot accepts SD cards/devices (although the unit apparently doesn't support the secure digital functions of that card). Both expansion slots can be used simultaneously. The CF card slot is covered, even when in use (unless using a full sized card or device) and the SD slot is always open to the air.
On the upper right is a power button to take the unit in and out of standby mode.
Behind the power button on the right side is a slot to hold a small plastic stylus, two additional styli are included in the box.
On the left hand side of the tiny machine is a microphone, a push button to activate the recording function, and a infrared port which can be used in several different ways. (Note that the blue plastic accents on the left and right side of the machine are removable, although I haven't yet seen anyone selling replacement accents in different colors, it's clear they intend to make them available at some point.)
On the bottom front of the machine are five programmable buttons. The large round one in the center middle is something like a joystick in that it can do up/down, right/left for moving a cursor or playing a game (you can also press it to select). This button should also be able to do diagonal movement but from what I'm reading that currently doesn't work. Whether this is a pocket PC os issue or a device issue I don't know.
The buttons come preprogrammed to activate your calendar, task list, Home screen, and contacts (the big round one is setup to move the cursor by default and act like a screen tap or a finger tap. All 6 buttons (not including the power button) on the unit can be reassigned other functions.
On the lower left hand corner of the unit is a main power slider and a safety switch that prevents you from turning the power completely off without meaning to. For the most part, you should never need to turn the power completely off except in unusual circumstances when you might have to do a coldboot (this is just a tiny version of windows after all!).
In the center of the bottom of the machine is a slot that docks with the cradle to charge your battery and connect to your pc for synchronization.
Memory:
This unit stores the built-in programs, and the operating system (os) in 32K of non-volatile (data doesn't go bye-bye with the power off) memory (aka ROM memory). Your data and any programs you add on to the machine are stored in 32K of volatile ram (data goes bye-bye when the power goes off). Unless you use a CF or SD card and store your additional programs and program data on one of those cards when the power is completely off all your data is lost. Some web sites say the ROM memory on the Maestro isn't upgradeable (i.e. software updates) while others seem to indicate that it is. If I have to try a os or Rom software update I'll post on that later.
In addition to the synchronization functions, the pocket pc 2002 os provides a easy method of backup/restore to a CF or SD memory card (regular backups highly recommended). Between the two, you should never lose any data.
Built in software:
Pocket version of Word wordprocessor
Pocket version of Excel spreadsheet
Pocket version of Internet explorer
Business calculator that also has currency conversion functions
File Explorer
Microsoft Reader
MSN Messenger
Terminal Services Client
Email handling
Pocket media player
A notepad utility
Handwriting recognition functions (three different types depending upon application and personal preference I suppose). My handwriting is pretty good and I find the handwriting recognition works pretty good for me, however, if your handwriting is so bad it can't cope, there is also a popup keyboard for the hunt and peck crowd. (If you prefer to use a external keyboard there are supposed to be some out there that work with the maestro, when I get those specifics I'll post them here.)
Ok, now that I've got it what can I do with it?
In addition to keeping all of your appointments straight and storing your needed contact info (names, addresses, email addresses, birthdays, several phone number fields, stores everything you could need in this regard). There are a huge number of programs that run on the Pocket PC 2002 OS.
Pocket PC 2002 is the latest version of windows CE and some items designed for CE and ARM processors should also run fine on Pocket PC 2002. If you hunt around the web you'll find many, many sites offering themes (yes you can put pretty pictures on it and change color schemes) commercial software, shareware (try it and pay the author a small fee) and freeware (completely free, usually someone's programming project) that will run on this device.
While some software is priced what I call high, I find that many commercial applications cost less than ten dollars. Below are some examples of freeware themes and programs I found online.
Themes:
Spiderman theme
Batman themes
Wildlife themes of many descriptions
To use themes and activate them, you only have to get them into your "my documents" folder and click on them to activate them. Commercial theme creators and managers are available and microsoft also apparently offers one of their own that is apparently free (but basic).
Games:
Pinball (buttons are programmed to operate the flippers, color screens and basic sounds)
Hangman type word games
Guessing games like mastermind
Rubic cube type games
Miscellaneous:
Notepad software offering extra functionality
File browsers offering more functionality than the one built into the OS
City street maps
Other commercial software I've seen:
TV, Stereo, VCR control programs that use the IR port on the Maestro device to control all your expensive electronic remote controlled toys.
Pocket versions of Quake (game)
Pocket versions of Castle Wolfenstein (game)
GPS software (with a GPS receiver of course), including city map software that integrates with the gps receiver
Hardware toys I've seen for this device:
GPS receiver
Telephone Modem
Bluetooth receiver/transmitter
(For anyone unfamiliar with Bluetooth: This is a new standard for many handheld devices (cellphones, pdas, laptop computers) that allows data exchange, communication, and sometimes hardware control via any other device that also meets bluetooth specifications. Some malls are beginning to offer bluetooth nodes that will interface with any bluetooth device to offer such functions as internet access, sale adds and coupons, store layout maps, etc.)
What else?
If you have a modem or bought the package that includes the cellphone you've got all you need to surf the web with this little device.
Normally your traditional dial up service won't work with this device and you must purchase special service for the pocket pc.
If you purchase the bluetooth interface card, you can connect to a bluetooth web node for web surfing (I know very little about using this on the web so please defer to more expert minds on this subject). I would think that if you've got bluetooth setup on your desktop/laptop pc and your pocket device that it may be possible to share the internet connection in operation on your pc wirelessly.
The pocket pc 2002 os includes a pocket version of ms messenger so you can live chat with anyone using messenger on their pocket pc or desktop.
I'm sure there are lots of uses for this device that I have not yet seen discussed on the web. Doctors can use it to carry their PDR (prescription drug reference) around with them, perhaps write prescriptions on it for transmittal to your drug store, or keep patient notes for later transferal to the file.
The onboard windows media player allows you to use this device as a mp3 player. The built in microphone allows you to use it like a handheld tape recorder to record voice notes etc. The IR port allows software enabled to use it to beam files, messages, etc. to other similarly equipped (and os compatible I'm sure) devices.
I believe the unit can display jpeg format digital images with no additional software, there are also slide show utilities available for the unit so you could in effect use it like a pocket photo album.
I've read of a divx player available to display movies in divx format on the device.
Everyday use:
I've only had this device for a couple of days, so far I've loaded all my addresses onto it, installed a 32 meg cf card I had from an old camera, loaded a couple of games onto it, put some theme choices on it, and put a couple of appointments on the calendar. So far I've not found anything that will not run properly if it's stored on the CF memory card so I don't have any of my extra junk stored in the RAM memory. Software varies in the quality of the installer provided, some of the freeware took a bit of fiddling to get it loaded on the maestro and some other stuff I downloaded had a well written installer that saw the maestro device and automatically copied the software over with no intervention.
Alarms:
The reminder function on the calendar needs some work I think. As far as I can tell, you get one and only one alarm (the tones are selectable).
Sync/charge cradle:
Maybe they're all this way but I think the cradle is kind of hard to get the device to dock properly onto. If you don't get it on there "just right" you don't get battery charge or proper sync. A plain old usb cable is available that connects straight into the connector on the bottom of the device, I'm guessing it would work better than this sometimes quirky cradle.
Activesync software:
Does a good job of synchronizing your notes, contacts, tasks, appointments and anything else in volatile ram. After a bit of fiddling I got it figured out, it's not particularly intuitive.
When the maestro is docked in the cradle it appears as a device in the same area your hard drives are listed. When activesync is active and the maestro is docked you can copy files to it using the active sync file browser just like another drive. If you startup software on the device that needs to be activated (like the microsoft reader) the activation software can see the reader on your device and activate it when you go online (if you've got a microsoft passport you just hit a button).
Battery life:
Personally I think the battery life is kinda miserable but it is apparently about average for devices of this type. I find about two-three days of disuse and it should defintely be charged. Don't think you can load up a few games on here and keep the child happy for hours on end. You get about two hours of playing a game with the frontlight set to its lowest level before you get low battery warnings (at about 40% power). Music (mp3) files don't need the frontlight but the built in speaker is really tinny sounding so use the headphone jack for the best sound (people online say about two solid hours of mp3 playback before getting low battery warnings).
People on some of the forums have complained of battery problems with this unit if it's not used a lot and charged a lot. If you can manage it put it on the cradle every evening, the lithium ion battery uses memoryless technology. If you can afford to buy the extended service plan offered by compusa (full exchange plan, $59.00 for two years-includes a free case and screen protectors) I'd suggest getting it. If the battery goes on this device it's not something you can change yourself and you can bet it's going to be terrifically expensive; so in the case of a device like this, a service plan may be a justifiable expense.
External power:
The unit comes with an ac adapter that can be unplugged from the cradle and carried with you (110 only), a universal power adapter is available. 12 volt car chargers are available for this unit at around $20.00 off the shelf ($9.99 or less on ebay plus shipping). I've seen a gadget being sold on ebay that allows you to recharge the internal battery with a set of 4 double AA cells, (supposedly three to five full charges from a set of AA (regular or rechargeable) batteries) for around ten dollars plus shipping. I've also seen a cable being sold on ebay that allows not only sync, but charging of the battery from the usb bus. A lot of these are apparently aftermarket products that work with several units of this type that have similar power systems and connectors.
Conclusion:
You can spend a whole lot more money and not get as much functionality as is available with this gadget and a few add on toys. I'd love to have the bluetooth transmitter/receiver but right now the SD i/o card costs as much as the whole maestro cost ($150-$200) so I'll wait for the cost to come down on that toy. I think this is a great little machine and lots of people seem to agree with me. For this price range you can't find a palm os based pda with color screen and so many expansion options; at least I couldn't--not for two hundred dollars anyway.
Miscellaneous:
This is a url to a windows CE forum covering the maestro and other pda type products: http://discuss.cewindows.net/cgi-bin/ubb/Ultimate.cgi?action=intro
Update: Audiovox has a OS update on its site for the Maestro. You download the update, transfer the file to the maestro using activesync and run it to accomplish the update. So apparently the unit does have upgradeable flash ROM for the OS and built in program storage.
Update: Battery life increases dramatically (by at least an hour) if you turn off the sound for games. Belkin supposedly makes a external keyboard for this unit although I've yet to find a model number for the one that works. There are a couple of external keyboards that use the IR port to communicate with the device, other than the fact that the ir port on the maestro is located on the side and not the top, any keyboard of that variety should work. I saw a review of a full screen touch keyboard (software) for a telephone/pocketpc product perhaps that will be made available for sale for other units running this os.
update 1-2003: I've had this gadget for a little while now and I want to make a few comments.
1-the microsoft activesync works great...when it works. I've had to uninstall it and reinstall it several times in windows XP professional; it's apparently really sensitive to registry changes. New software installations have knocked it out several times. MS is now up to activesync 3.6, however if you go to the regular download area only 3.5 is available, 3.6 is only available if you go to the url provided on the activesync software itself.
2-I've had to cold boot (from power off) the unit a couple of times for various problems; removing the unit from the cradle without hitting the power off button first is a sure recipe for a hard freezeup. I also recently installed Mapopolis platinum plus map software for my gps and it apparently installed a system file on the pocket pc that prevented sync with my main system; only a cold boot got the machine syncing again with my desktop. Be really sure you stay on top of your backups. If you don't have a backup on your maestro it's not an easy intuitive thing to restore it from your pc, at least I haven't figured out how to do so yet. You must restore from the backup on the maestro first (to restore the machine name etc) and then sync to get everything back up to date.
3-I purchased a Compact Flash based GPS unit from semens.com. Holux makes the GPS unit and it's based on new exceptionally low current draw technology. A half hour of use didn't even take the onboard battery down ten percent. For $214.00 (that was a special price, normally $230.00 ) you get the CF card GPS, an external antenna (necessary if you can't mount your gps on the dash where it can see the sky or you want to put the external antenna on the roof for even better reception), Mapopolis Platinum plus mapping software and a year subscription for all the maps you care to download (offers turn by turn directions, auto rerouting if you miss a turn, favorites, all the standard features). I haven't used it alot yet but I had it up and running in just a couple of minutes and it installed flawlessly on the maestro and was able to point to my exact location on the map. This unit has a few really good writeups that I've found on the net and it found the satellites pretty quickly (some can take ten minutes or more to find the satellites from a cold startup). It also supposedly rather quickly finds the satellites again after a loss of signal (such as if you would drive through a tunnel or other such strong obstruction of the sky)--I haven't had that happen to me yet so I can't say. The other unusual characteristic of the Holux is that you can get drivers for it so that it can be used in a laptop and not just on your pocket pc device. The only thing I can say I don't like about any CF device that extends beyond the slot, as this one does, is that I'm always terrified of knocking the cf slot cover off the machine; Audiovox should have gone with a pull off cover instead of the permanently attached hinged afair that they ended up with. Of course when you go to a CF device you need a SD card for storage of the maps since the CF slot is taken up by the gps receiver. The mapopolis application takes up very little room and the average map for a full state is around 28K so you could fit a lot of maps on a SD card if you were tripping around the country. Mapopolis has US maps, some basic Canada maps and will soon have Europe maps (probably extra).
4-There is an aftermarket gadget available that will let you put four AA batteries into it and use it to charge your maestro device (they also claim you can use standard alkalines but I've read the voltage may be too high on alkalines and you should probably stick to the lower voltage rechargeable batteries--these gadges apparently don't regulate or limit the voltage in any way). Metal Hydride rechargeables work in this gadget and it can be bought on ebay for about 10.00 plus shipping. Well worth it and it works like a charm.
update 1-28-03: Hmm, trouble in paradise. Took out the gadget to charge it and sync it and it was totally dead (as in turn it on and get the default startup screen, asking me to setup the touch screen, etc.). I've been charging it regularly and the last time it was on the cradle was two days ago when I installed my new CF wifi card (it wasn't left installed on the machine) so either something it loaded killed my machine or it just crapped out on its own. The other worrisome problem is that it will not currently recognize my SD memory card (the card is fine, I put it on my external reader and all the files are there as they should be). I'm very glad I bought the extended warranty as I believe my thirty days is either up or nearly up for a store exchange. More on this if I'm able to get it working or get a new toy.
update 1-29-03: Well apparently there is a known system registry issue that occurs with the Maestro and possibly any other pocket pc device with more than one memory card slot (i.e. it's probably an os issue). The problem involves the naming of the memory cards and the possibility that they may not be recognized by the machine; as happened to me. There is a fix for the problem but it requires editing the pocket pc registry, something you can't do without a third party utility, and, also not an operation for the inexperienced. Fortunately I still had my other CF card with all my old data and backups on it. It would recognize the CF card but would not recognize my SD card. I was able to restore from the CF backup first, then it could see the SD card again so I could restore from that much newer backup. So the rule with this toy is apparently to keep both a current SD card backup and a CF card backup in case the stupid thing decides it won't see one of the cards it hopefully will see the other one. I still don't know why it just suddenly died like this unless I'm running into the widely yelled about battery thing. I fully charged it last night, this morning I looked at the onboard charge meter and it was saying the battery was already down to 90% so I'll need to watch it carefully for a little while to see if the battery is going flukey on me. I guess I'd better get in the habit of charging it every night need it or not.
update 2-8-03: Warm Reset/cold reset. The unit does have a warm reset button, it's nearly invisible on the left side of the unit next to the IR port. I have a hewlett packard photosmart p1000 printer with an IR port, hewlett packard has a utility for pocket PC 2002 that allows an IR port on the device to send prints to many HP printers with an IR port. I've loaded the utility and it sees my printer and identifies it instantly but every time I try to print it fails. So it's supposed to work but doesn't at this point. Battery life continues to just plain suck, carry one of those gadgets that lets you recharge with double AA's with you, you'll need it. Since the latest pocket pc 2002 update on audiovox's site the battery problem seems to have gotten worse. I find if you stop all running software it doesn't go down quite as fast but I still think it was lasting longer when I first got the unit. The Toshiba 570 has the same crappy battery and the complaining is just as loud with that unit. I came across a couple of companys offering a upgrade to 64 or 128 ram for the maestro, the 64 is reasonable the 128 costs as much as the whole machine did. It's still one of the few pocket pc devices available with both CF and SD slots, most devices only have the SD and I believe one of the compaq units offers a "sleeve" to add a additional CF slot to a machine that has a single CF slot. If someone can upgrade the memory I hope that someone will also come up with a way to replace this crappy battery.
update 3-2003: Just another quick note on the battery. Leaving it on the charger till the light turns green (full charge) is simply not enough charging apparently. My battery life seemed to be getting shorter and shorter (till I was down to less than 24 hours on a charge) until I started leaving it on the charger overnight, now I seem to be getting the full 2-3 days of standby time I was getting when I first got the unit. So the lesson is, at least a few times a week charge it overnight.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 199.00
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suemccartin
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Location: Florida, USA
Reviews written: 289
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About Me:
Been building computers for 10+ years. I work to support my computer habit.
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