Beauty is only skin deep
Written: Nov 11 '00 (Updated Feb 04 '01)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Uses inexpensive MMC cards.
Cons: Limited application.
The Bottom Line: The Casio Cassiopeia EM-500 is far too close in price to the Casio Cassiopeia E-125 which has a much better design. I strongly recommend the E-125.
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| review123's Full Review: Casio Cassiopeia EM-500 Pocket PC |
The Casio Cassiopeia EM-500 doesn't make any sense when compared to the Casio Cassiopeia E-125. The EM-500 has half the memory (16MB), can only use the new 64MB MMC cards (the largest configuration currently available), has no size advantages over the E-125, and without a CF slot is not able to take advantage of all the new CF devices such as modems and cameras--and costs only $100 less based on list price (note: the E-125 can be found at a $50 discount and more recently the EM-500 has been offered with a $100 mail-in rebate, making the EM-500 actually $150 cheaper).
Main memory is very important for the current generation of these devices until someone designs a PocketPC that allows consumers to use devices such as modems and cameras at the same time as providing a free MMC or CF slot for memory expansion. The EM-500 only comes with 16MB. If you want to connect to the internet with the EM-500, having half the memory of the E-125 will be a major disadvantage (assuming modems will be coming out to support the MMC card slot). For internet applications there won't be much space left to save e-mail and cache internet content from the web and run the internet applications themselves, such as Internet Explorer--there's no help from the MMC slot because that's very likely where your modem will be installed.
I also doubt that consumers will be satisfied with only 64MB to store MPG3 music selections, even if the MMC cards are small enough to carry around with the device. While MMC cards are supposed to be a lot cheaper than CF cards (not true at this point, see www.sandisk.com), I find the expandability of the CF slot on the E-125 to be amazingly flexible--CF cards come in configurations ranging from 8MB (CF memory) to 1GB (micro hard disks). Applications for the PocketPC are coming out all over the place. A 64MB option just isn't enough.
In addition, mounting the EM-500 in a cradle would be very awkward compared to the E-125. With the EM-500 there's a plastic or rubber cap that you remove from the connector. I had trouble getting it back on. With the E-125, you just slide away a plastic door to expose the connector and slide it back when you're done--nothing to get lost.
For the teenage market, the EM-500 seems like an awfully expensive portable music listening device--with some really nice features thrown in (and comes in pretty colors). I don't think I'd even consider it for the professional market. At best the EM-500 is a personal organizer. The expansion options available through the CF slot on the E-125, however, give it the potential to subplant a labtop (with the addition of a GoType keyboard). For either market, I would seriously consider spending the extra $50 to $150 to get the E-125, so you at least have a choice how far you want to scale up your PDA.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
review123
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Reviews written: 4
Trusted by: 3 members
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