PocketPCReviews.net Software & Hardware Reviews
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PocketPCReviews.net Software & Hardware Reviews |
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Recent Reviews |
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03-AUG-2005 |
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A couple of years ago, we reviewed the then newly released WebIS Pocket Informant 4 from the perspective of a first-time user. At that time Pocket Informant was by far the best Personal Information Manager (PIM) we had seen. Today we revisit Pocket Informant (PI) in its latest form: WebIS released Pocket Informant 2005 (PI 2005) – the name given to PI6 – fairly recently and as always, followed that up with a couple of additional releases to make it even better. I've been using PI since our editor reviewed PI4, and it is one of only a few programs I use not just daily, but most of the day. This new version of Informant, like its predecessors, is by far the best PIM we've come across yet! Join me on a whirlwind tour of appointments, contacts, tasks and notes all in a VGA compatible package.
Oh, but wait! There IS more. Whereas we won’t be looking at it today, another WebIS product - Mail 2.1 – is a great replacement for the basic email client from Microsoft. Together with PI 2005 you could easily have the perfect Outlook® replacement! Click here for more.
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24-MAY-2005 |
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PielFrama has a way of surprising us. We’re used to their very high quality leather cases – no surprise there (unless you’re a first time customer). But for this age-old Spanish company who, for decades have specialized in hand-crafted leather goods, to come up with something as different as aluminum cases is something of a pleasant surprise. Today we have a quick look at Piel Frama's aluminium PDA cases. The one we 'road tested' was for HP's hx4700. We also will “weigh” that one up against the traditional leather case for the iPAQ 4700. Have a look at the details here.
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14-JAN-2005 |
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Ever wanted to have an extra pair of eyes when flying? Someone who alerts you to conflicting traffic even when an overtaking aircraft is outside your normal line of vision? You need a TCAS system for that, just like the airlines have. Or, if you budget doesn’t stretch past the 300 dollar mark you can opt for the very capable TS Micro from SureCheck. Click here to see who’s on your six… |
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29-NOV-2004 |
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Software for professionals doesn’t come any more comprehensive than the exhaustive databases for the medical world brought to us from the folks at Epocrates. If any medico does not avail himself of this indispensable information he is not doing himself a favour, nor his patient! Today we’re looking at the Essentials suite of software for the PocketPC. We do this not from a medical professional’s point of view but with the somewhat biased eye of someone who appreciates well-crafted software. Click here for more.
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03-NOV-2004 |
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The dream of housewives and bachelors alike: someone who does all the housecleaning regularly, thoroughly and inexpensively. I spend a fair bit of time doing housecleaning on my computers: getting rid of junk files that clutter up and waste valuable memory space. This is even more important on PDAs. Enter MemMaid from DinarSoft. Check here to see how good she is… |
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28-OCT-2004 |
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I’ve spent about 3 months with arguably the best-connected ultra-portable notebook in the world, most of that time on the road and all of the time the Flybook being the only computer I worked with. How did that go? Have my enthusiastic first impressions (see our July 21 review) mellowed or did I discover the Flybook is for keeps? Follow me as I put my traveling companion to work. Click here for more. |
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29-SEP-2004 |
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If you have a choice of 20,000 similar products which will have a very dissimilar end result when consumed, you need a guide. Any guide will be better than none at all but few in the know will disagree that, when it comes to movies, Leonard Maltin is the Oracle. So when LandWare teamed up with Leonard to craft the ultimate Movie Guide, did they deliver? Find out here. |
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02-SEP-2004 |
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USB flash drives have been around for quite a while now. Many companies now manufacture their own USB flash drives in common sizes such as 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, or even 1GB. The difficulty in making a USB flash drive is trying to differentiate it from the many competitors that exist in the market. It is difficult because there is only so much that you can do to make your own flash drive different. The main factors involve the size, style, and the speed of the drive. Today, we will be reviewing Sandisk’s flagship USB flash drive that attempts to be different from the others. From the name of the product, you immediately know it has Titanium of some sort, a very strong metal that you can predict will make the product much more durable. Although Sandisk makes other flash drives such as the Cruzer mini and micro, this product is supposedly faster than both. In this review, we’ll find out if it has what it takes to stand above the rest of the flash drives. Click here for more...
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28-JUL-2004 |
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There hasn’t been such excitement in the PocketPCReviews team for a long time while anticipating the arrival of the Asus MyPal A730 with VGA screen for a review. With the high demand for this pre-production unit (it was the only one in Australia at the time of writing) we only could have it for a few days. Not long enough to do our customary in-depth review, complete with benchmarking and comparisons. That’s why this review is in 2 installments: today the First Impressions and upon general availability here we’ll do the number crunching. Splitting this extensive write-up in half will also bring it back to our normal review length again. Click here for the Love-at-First-Sight part (salivating allowed – but only above own keyboard, please!)
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21-JUL-2004 |
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In business it pays to be well-connected. For road warriors it becomes even more important to be able to have access to the Internet and other devices via all available means. And you want it in the smallest possible package. Let me introduce you to a close to ideal travelling companion, the Flybook from Dialogue. If you’ve been attracted to the likes of FlipStart, the OQO or any other ultra-portable notebook, you owe it to yourself to have a good look at the tablet-style Flybook. You expect it to have WiFi and Bluetooth, but add a SIM card slot for GPRS (there’s even a CDMA model), a CF / PC card slot, 2 FireWire ports and suddenly you have an ultra-capable machine. Did you say you want it in Ferrari-red? Come and click here for Part I of this extensive review.
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08-JUL-2004 |
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RU0 Games is also the maker behind the breakout type game Walls & Balls. Based on what I’ve seen, they seem to make games that provide tons of levels with many features. Now they have released their second game called 3D CEdiCE. The objective of the game is to basically match the dice together to clear all the dice from the board. Although the concept is fairly simple, RU0 Games boasts that the game offers 150 levels (more levels to be added along the way), adjustable difficulty, and a unique game engine to make the game look good. Click here for the next review levels.
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28-JUN-2004 |
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What’s the best way to display your favourite photographs? Most digital shots never get printed but spin around on hard drives into oblivion until called up from the grave for a brief appearance on a monitor. But there is an occasional image – even in my portfolio -- that deserves a better lot than that. And even a large print-out may not do justice to that shot you’re really proud of. You want its brilliance, colour saturation and luminescence to jump at you! The PhotoGlow display unit will add that dimension to your choice photographs in a way that you’ve never seen before. And I wish I could demonstrate that in real life but the limitations of your monitor won’t do justice to it. Still, let me try and put some verbal zing into the description.
Click here for more.
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25-JUN-2004 |
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When I first heard of ‘Burgerama’, I was thinking of a type of game similar to Lemonade Tycoon. I was wrong. Instead, Burgerama is a puzzle game with food as the backdrop story. BallShooter games is the company that released the award-winning title BrickSlider. They have also remade classic games for the Pocket PC such as Pac Man and Lode Runner.
[Check out this review by Ronald here.]
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16-JUN-2004 |
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Watching movies on my Pocket PC has not really been practical until now. It required a lot of work such as converting the movie to fit the screen on my Pocket PC, ensuring that the file size is small enough to fit onto a storage card and making sure that the audio is in synchronization with the video. Today, I will be reviewing the latest version of Pocket-DVD Studio for Pocket PC from PQDVD that manages to combine all these processes into a single program. By making it easier to do these things, you’ll be on your way to putting movies onto your Pocket PC in no time at all.
Click here for the full view by our new contributor Ronald Ko who was writing for Subzero and PPCzone before. Welcome aboard, Ronald!
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09-JUN-2004 |
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If there has ever been a time when protection is necessary whenever you log on the Internet, it’s now. We need to be shielded from viruses, hacks, worms, identity theft and all the other net nasties. But why don’t we do it? Is it complexity, cost, the constant updating or the feeling that there is no all-in-one solution? AlphaShield has come up with a hardware firewall solution that promises perfect protection with easy setup and at a very reasonable cost. Is it a mirage or does it really work?
Find out by clicking here for the full review. |
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08-JUN-2004 |
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From the extensive list of reference books in MobiPocket format we selected 2 more titles this month: Oxford Collocations and Dictionary of Psychology. If you are a student of English the Collocations dictionary is a must and we’ll explain why. Click here for more.
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31-MAY-2004 |
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Hard on the heels of our SureFire Aviator review – the ultimate “illumination tool” for pilots, we now present the Pak-Lite 9V LED flashlight. It’s completely at the other end of the spectrum in size and price and that’s a great thing. This is an incredible handy light but before you order a dozen, let’s shed some more light on the little critter. Click here for more. |
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24-MAY-2004 |
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Would you pay some $160 dollars for a set of earphones? No, not for headphones but “just” for in-canal type earphones that you can use on your iPod or Digital Audio Player. While that may sound like a lot of money it may well be worthwhile if you can really hear the difference. We’re testing (very subjectively, I might add) the EARS EM3 Universal Fit Monitor Earphones from Future Sonics (FSI). Are we rapt with this professional product?
Click here and hear the rest of this review. |
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21-MAY-2004 |
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It's always a pleasure to review leather products from PielFrama. The products themselves are exquisitely crafted from fine leather but also a lot of thought has gone into the packaging and presentation. They are perfectly suited to give to someone special and, yes, sometimes that special person has to be you, I guess... Today we look at a couple of mobile phone cases and a leather mousepad. |
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10-MAY-2004 |
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If your life is ruled by the clock and you’re juggling a dozen appointments and twice that many tasks, you need something more substantial than your PDA’s in-built Calendar. Perhaps one of the “SuperPIMs” like Agenda Fusion or Pocket Informant might be just the ticket out of your daily mayhem. But what if you’re balk at the complexity (or price) of these programs and want a simple program to handle your scheduling tasks better than the Calendar you’ve outgrown? There’s nothing scary about trying on SuperCalendar from ScaryBear Software. Click here for more. |
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29-APR-2004 |
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Mature technology means consumers have more choices. In the crowded field of Bluetooth GPS receivers you can already choose from nearly two dozen models. Let’s see what sets the Acore AG-600 Bluetooth GPS apart from the others. Is it endurance or performance? Is it features or looks? Or is it price? If you want a combination of “All of the Above”, read the full review here. |
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13-APR-2004 |
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Is there any such thing as the ultimate MP3 player? Judging by the number of brands and models on the market is clear that everybody has a different idea of what he or she is looking for in an MP3 player. Nonetheless, the Diva Gem from Daisy Multimedia is coming very close to today’s ultimate MP3 player for me. It’s handsome, simple to use, costs nothing to run, is very affordable and its memory is infinitely expandable. And of course it has an inbuilt FM radio. Fast forward to the review by clicking here. |
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07-APR-2004 |
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If someone markets a flashlight as an “illumination tool” it sounds like the epitome of marketing hype. You can only do that if your products go way beyond the concept people have of normal flashlights. SureFire is the name synonymous with premium power torches, a company where the military go to get the finest that money can buy in illumination tools. I had the pleasure of testing out one of the latest SureFire products, the A2 Aviator, a flashlight specifically designed for use in cockpits. Even if you never have a need for such a product, let me show you what flashlight technology is all about these days and what a thrill it is to have an absolutely reliable and brilliantly designed product in your hands. Click here for some light on this subject. |
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29-MAR-2004 |
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It wasn’t that long ago that we reviewed the excellent Mobipocket Reader (see our review posted on 12-12-2003) and we certainly had no plans to revisit the MobiPocket folks anytime soon, other than to check out their amazingly rich libraries of eBooks. However, the new features in version 4.8 plus the eNews Creator tool leave us no choice. I’m excited about these developments for more than one reason. And while we’re at it we’ll have a look at another two books from the Oxford stable. Click here for the review. |
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10-MAR-2004 |
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Reviewing the latest version of ScanSoft’s Dragon NaturallySpeaking reveals an unexpected bonus for Pocket PC users: the program installs a voice recorder on your PDA, allowing you to dictate all you want whilst away from the computer. The magic of typing much faster than you ever thought possible became even more appealing by discovering that Dragon NaturallySpeaking is capable of doing much more than just taking dictation. But how much of a learning curve is there? Is it worth the considerable investment, both in time and money? I'll give you the answer now: it depends. Personally, I'm very enthusiastic about this program for several reasons. But even if you think it’s not for you, have a look anyway. You may be pleasantly surprised. Hopefully, this review will answer many of your questions. Click here to find out more about DNS7. |
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24-FEB-2004 |
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When I first heard about RepliGo (many moons ago) I didn’t have the need to carry all sorts of oversized, esoteric documents with me. And I thought you still would have to physically scan these documents, leading to all sorts of readability problems. Well, if you like a fully automated process, RepliGo is the only way to go! From the first moments of RepliGo’s smooth installation, indicative of the whole Cerience experience, to actually reading complicated landscaped documents on your handheld, it’s an exhilarating ride. Just pay the fare (or take the 14 day free ride) and enjoy the view(s)! Click here for more. |
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19-FEB-2004 |
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Not everybody wants or needs a password utility but if you do you might as well go for the best. That’s, of course, my not-so-humble opinion. But, in the words of good ‘ol Dr Phil: “Don’t substitute my judgement for yours!” so let me explain why PicturePassword appeals to me. PicturePassword was actually written for me. Not literally, of course, but for folks like me who want and need password protection but not the hassle of keying in at least four digits every time you turn your PDA on. One click on a “secret” spot in a nice picture will Open Sesame! Click on this – not so secret – link to see what SOFTAVA crafted with their PicturePassword. |
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06-FEB-2004 |
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A first look at the surprisingly handsome AnexTEK SP230 reveals a top-notch design that makes few compromises to either phone or PDA functions. If you are looking for an all-in-one device this unit might serve you well. It features a Tri-band phone with video transmission, GPRS as well as fairly standard PPC specs but with a generous 64 MB of user-accessible RAM. AnexTEK is a newcomer in the hotly contested arena of our mobile companions but they’ve got a good many things right. Check out here how this unit tested out. |
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Most Popular Reviews |
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06-FEB-2004 |
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A first look at the surprisingly handsome AnexTEK SP230 reveals a top-notch design that makes few compromises to either phone or PDA functions. If you are looking for an all-in-one device this unit might serve you well. It features a Tri-band phone with video transmission, GPRS as well as fairly standard PPC specs but with a generous 64 MB of user-accessible RAM. AnexTEK is a newcomer in the hotly contested arena of our mobile companions but they’ve got a good many things right. Check out here how this unit tested out. |
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05-SEP-2003 |
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When you’ve been a PocketPC user for some years and have gone through several models you tend to develop a keen sense of what would be the ideal PDA for you. In checking out the hp iPAQ 2210 did I come close to the ultimate machine? Very close. And here’s why. |
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07-JAN-2004 |
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In business it pays to be well-connected. For road warriors it becomes even more important to be able to have access to the Internet and other devices via all available means. And you want it in the smallest possible package. Let me introduce you to a close to ideal travelling companion, the Flybook from Dialogue. If you’ve been attracted to the likes of FlipStart, the OQO or any other ultra-portable notebook, you owe it to yourself to have a good look at the tablet-style Flybook. You expect it to have WiFi and Bluetooth, but add a SIM card slot for GPRS (there’s even a CDMA model), a CF / PC card slot, 2 FireWire ports and suddenly you have an ultra-capable machine. Did you say you want it in Ferrari-red? Come and click here for Part I of this extensive review.
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07-JAN-2004 |
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When Dell launched the first Axim they launched Competition with a capital C in the PDA world. I was still snugly ensconced in my iPAQ world, knowing that the iPAQ remained the King of the Hill. “They must have built the Axim down to a price,” I thought, “by having lower specs and leaving out quality.” Boy, was I wrong. The new Axim X3 is easily one of the better designed units around and the review unit came even with a spare battery. So, come along and see what Dell devised for us and discover that the X3 can easily hold its own against the other brands whilst not costing you the earth. Click Here To Read Review |
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10-JAN-2004 |
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PocketPCReviews.net apparently is the first review site in Australia to receive the new iPAQ 4350 from hp so we’ve been working overtime to get this first-hand impression off to you! That will be a good start to the new year, we reckon. If the built-in keyboard is what you’ve been waiting for, have a look at what else this long and slender unit has to offer. With Bluetooth and WiFi you’ll be very well connected indeed. Click here for more. |
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20-OCT-2003 |
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The sleek design caught my eye. And anything without wires is a big plus on my checklist. But what’s the sound quality like? Is it easy to use? Is it something you would want for your cell phone? Let’s find out the answers to these and more questions here when we examine the RadioTalk. |
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04-FEB-2004 |
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On my desk sits a globe, by now probably 30 years old. I still refer to it occasionally but the geo-political map is hopelessly out-of-date. However, I now have a three-dimensional globe on my PDA that will really make me toss the old globe on the scrap heap. Pocket Earth is one of the nicest looking applications I’ve come across. But eye candy alone is not sufficient. How useful is it? Very practical indeed. Let me walk you through the latest interactive version from Blue Point Studio. |
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19-JUN-2003 |
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What’s in a name? Frankly, a good name for a product should be catchy, easy to remember and a good description of what the product actually does. IMAGEtank conveys clearly what it is intended for: a storage device (tank) for images (digital camera images particularly). Undoubtedly a good name. But also a bit limited as it is capable of transfer of data as well. How good does it perform though? |
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23-OCT-2003 |
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Bluetooth and GPS – a perfect match. Mention Rikaline in this equation and you’ve got a 16 hour, high-sensitivity receiver that will be hard to beat! With the Bluetooth GPS 6031-X7, Rikaline engineered a fantastic receiver with some of the best specifications in the market place. And it even comes with changeable colour “wings” for the fashion conscious! Join us on this in-depth review when we put the new Rikaline through its paces. Click here for more. |
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27-MAR-2003 |
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This is a review that has had a long gestation time. It’s been several months in the planning, several weeks in the making and several days in the testing. And you can read it in just several minutes. Such is the life of an Editor... Was all this work worthwhile? You bet! The Emtac Crux Bluetooth GPS Receiver is the very best – and most expensive – GPS we’ve reviewed to date. Share my excitement and read about it here. Read Full Review Here |
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05-NOV-2003 |
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If you’re fairly new to digital photography and want some guidance on pocketable cameras, we have tested a couple of Minolta’s latest in the ‘small is beautiful’ department. First up, the DiMAGE E323 with its retro-styling and the funky X20, the smaller sibling of the Xt which we reviewed in depth a few months back. Let’s explore a few things you’re gonna like about these two cameras. Click away for more by clicking here. |
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Archived HARDWARE Reviews |
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Archived SOFTWARE Reviews |
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Asus MyPal
A730 VGA PocketPC