The world in brilliant colors....
Written: Jan 24 '01 (Updated Jan 24 '01)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Brilliant Display, Good for gaming, slim size.
Cons: Expansion is limited by no I/O and hard to find MMC cards, 16mb.
The Bottom Line: The one to buy. Great price, solid construction and no quality problems - this is an ideal alternative to the dust plagued ipaq and the poor display of the HP.
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| timbuktu's Full Review: Casio Cassiopeia EM-500 Pocket PC |
or at least your PDA screen.
The Casio EM500 was released much at the same time as the Compaq Ipaq 3600 and the HP Jornadas. Casio decided to target the em500 at a younger generation, and billed it as a multimedia device. Overshadowed by the speed of the compaq and the options of the Jornada 400 series, the em500 went largely overlooked for many months as a serious PDA contender.
I decided to purchase my em500 when, like many others, I couldn't get my hands on a Compaq Ipaq. After having it for about 2 months, I couldn't be more thrilled with it.
Here are the key features (and drawbacks) of the em500:
Incredible display
The casio PDAs have the most vibrant displays of any of the PDAs currently on the market - displaying 6400 colors. (the ipaq and the hp have 16bit displays).
Speed
With a 150mhz processor, the casio is second only to the compaq ipaq (206mhz). Never having used the ipaq, I can't comment on the different, but the casio has always performed speedily. The only slow downs come when opening the ms ebook reader or pocket explorer, and even this is kept to only 3-4 seconds. Recently, some users have discovered that the em500 can be overclocked to as much as 200mhz (180 stable) with a fairly simple operation. While obviously not for everyone, if you have the need for speed, the only drawback to overclocking yours (other than having to open it up) is slightly reduced battery life.
Memory
One of the biggest gripes about the Casio is the 16mb of built in ram. Unlike on computers - the ram on PDAs serve as both program memory, and storage space. This can be pretty limiting when you add together the amount of space used by preinstalled programs, avantgo channels and any additional programs you may want to install. It's also a measely amount when you consider that you can add up to a gig of storage to the HP or Ipaq with the IBM Micro drive. Fortunately, you can install programs to an external MMC card easily, and for every day usage I find my internal memory plus 1 16mb and 1 28mb MMC card more than sufficient.
Expansion
Taking a departure from the standard offerings, casio has included a MMC slot to allow for expansion. MMC cards are postage size storage cards that come in 16, 28, 32 and 64mb capacities. Unfortunately, MMC does not support and I/O devices like modems or ethernet cards. In addition, MMC cards are generally expensive in larger capacities and hard to find. This can put a serious damper on any expansion plans and is possibly the biggest drawback of the casio.
But -
Recently, specifications for the next generation of MMC cards has come out - SD cards. These cards allow for larger storage capacities, include technology for securing the data transferred on it, and I/O. Casio has gone as far as to announce that the em500 will support SD storage cards, but has not made any announcement about whether or not I/O SD cards will be supported. In addition, Palm, Inc has commited to using SD cards in future palms so support for SD technology and availability of cards promises to be good.
If modem connectivity is important to you - you're not totally out luck. Casio sells a serial 56k modem that plugs into a standard phone line for $159. They also sell several cables that will allow you to connect your em500 to a cell with a modem and dial up to the net wirelessly and Psion sells an IR modem that works well with the casio's IR port.
Software and other Goodies.
The casio comes bundled with the basics including pocket ie, avantgo, ebook reader and a few games and utilities. The amount of software available for the pocket pc is growing day by day. Utilities and games ranking highest among them.
One of the most indespensible utilities I've found thusfar is from http://www.jimmysoft.com - and allows the em500 to go into landscape mode. This is a great feature that makes reading books and web pages far more enjoyable.
Originally bought as a geek toy, I'm finding my casio to be more and more useful on a daily basis. Currently, Casio is offering a $100 rebate on this handheld which brings the average price down to just $399. This is a deal that can't be beat for a quality WinCE handheld.
Resources for learning more:
http://www.pdabuzz.com
http://www.brighthand.com
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 499
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Epinions.com ID:
timbuktu
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Member: Elizabeth Fulghum
Location: Boston, MA
Reviews written: 14
Trusted by: 2 members
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