Good Pocket PC 2003 PDA for the money
Written: May 20 '04
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Product Rating:
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Pros: - built-in camera (no flash)
- removable battery
Cons: -accessory only from Viewsonic
-tiny bit bigger than others
The Bottom Line: If you decided get a color PDA with PPC OS, V36 is definitely a keeper, or if you rather have the wifi instead of camera, look for the Asus A620
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| rogerc77's Full Review: ViewSonic V36 Pocket PC |
I currently own a Palm Vx which has been with me for years without problems. When my g/f wanted a PDA for birthday, I suggested giving her my Vx and then I get a switch to PPC to see what the rave is about them the last couple years. Of course she declined my offer and wanted a new PDA with color screen, and with a camera. I immediately suggested that for what she intends to do (which is mainly schedules and contact info) any cheapo organizer with 64KB or 128KB memory will do. Again, she declined and wanted the cool looking color PPC PDA.
Originally, I was looking at the latest ASUS Mypal A620 which is in the same price range as V36 but got built-in wifi instead of camera. Even though I think the built-in wifi will be much useful than the camera, my g/f disagrees so that's why I picked the V36.
When I baought it, it has a $140 CDN rebate which is comparable to other $100 off rebate in the US, making the choice much easier. I've couple other reviews complaining about having to soft reset often, but I've never had it freeze on me the times I used it. My dad also baought one because of the deal and having seen the unit we have, and he hasn't reported to me of any problem he has either.
The first major difference of the V36 I noticed compare to my Vx is the battery life. I don't use my PDA that much, so sometimes I go by weeks without charging it. But these new bright color displays seem to drain battery quite fast as well as having to power the much faster processors, it needs to be charged at least once a week of small usage with mainly standby time. Speaking of battery time, which brings up another reason why I picked the V36, it has a removable battery which are much more common now among PDA. You can buy a spare battery to alternate with the new one so you'll never run out of battery as well as using the battery up completely before charging to maximize battery life.
Before you make up the decision to buy a PDA, really think hard what you are going to use it for. My g/f's now happy that she got a brand new color PDA. I still think a simple electronic organizer would suffice. But with any new electronic gadget, people usually get it because it's so cool having one, and that doesn't exclude a color screen PDA.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 200
Recommended for: Gadget Lovers - Trendy and Hip
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Epinions.com ID:
rogerc77
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Member: Roger Chen
Location: Burnaby, BC, Canada
Reviews written: 19
Trusted by: 0 members
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