Saturday, September 09, 2006
PDA is In
I picked up my x51v from the USPS today - I'm so glad they're open on Saturday, or else I'm not sure how I'd ever get my packages. I quickly charged the x51v and powered it on to verify it worked and that it was the correct model. It is the 624 MHz Intel XScale processor version. So I think I got a great price, since I believe this version is selling for $500 new. Processor speeds can be varied to save battery, so I just left the clock rate on auto.
First thing I noticed watching lectures on this much larger, 640x480 screen is that the 240x320 resolution lectures do not scale up to fill the full screen in full screen mode. The smaller resolution is standard on most Pocket PCs. Also, it could be that something was screwy with the way that the 240x320 resolution lecture was encoded - they had some technical trouble and had to stitch the lecture together from two separate pieces.
Funny thing though is that the hi-res, 512 kbps encoded lectures play great on this unit. The videos are choppy, but the audio gets prioritized and it's very watchable. I will most likely be downloading and watching the hi-res versions due to the screen size issue. If WMP could stretch the smaller res videos, then I'd go with the lores ones. Battery is drained 50% by a hires lecture (1hr 20min).
Another plus about this PDA over the last smartphone I had was that this comes with a standard headphone jack. No expensive/annoying dongle to adapt a proprietary jack to the standard stereo jack.
WIFI with WAP-TKIP worked great, and licenses were acquired no problem.
As for the portable desk, I figured out just the thing I need. I'm going to get one of these:
http://www.copquest.com/37-3000.htm
And then I'll cut out a window in the bottom portion. I'll then cover the entire top with a clear acrylic, glued on somehow. The result will be a large flat writing surface that securely holds/hides the PDA. The video will still be visible through the window, though I can cover it to write on the notes if I want.
I'll need to have some type of holder for the pda so it doesn't slide around inside the box, but at the same time, the holder should not get in the way if I want to put papers inside the box. (Maybe elastic) Pens can be stored inside the box too, which would be convenient.
I picked up my x51v from the USPS today - I'm so glad they're open on Saturday, or else I'm not sure how I'd ever get my packages. I quickly charged the x51v and powered it on to verify it worked and that it was the correct model. It is the 624 MHz Intel XScale processor version. So I think I got a great price, since I believe this version is selling for $500 new. Processor speeds can be varied to save battery, so I just left the clock rate on auto.
First thing I noticed watching lectures on this much larger, 640x480 screen is that the 240x320 resolution lectures do not scale up to fill the full screen in full screen mode. The smaller resolution is standard on most Pocket PCs. Also, it could be that something was screwy with the way that the 240x320 resolution lecture was encoded - they had some technical trouble and had to stitch the lecture together from two separate pieces.
Funny thing though is that the hi-res, 512 kbps encoded lectures play great on this unit. The videos are choppy, but the audio gets prioritized and it's very watchable. I will most likely be downloading and watching the hi-res versions due to the screen size issue. If WMP could stretch the smaller res videos, then I'd go with the lores ones. Battery is drained 50% by a hires lecture (1hr 20min).
Another plus about this PDA over the last smartphone I had was that this comes with a standard headphone jack. No expensive/annoying dongle to adapt a proprietary jack to the standard stereo jack.
WIFI with WAP-TKIP worked great, and licenses were acquired no problem.
As for the portable desk, I figured out just the thing I need. I'm going to get one of these:
http://www.copquest.com/37-3000.htm
And then I'll cut out a window in the bottom portion. I'll then cover the entire top with a clear acrylic, glued on somehow. The result will be a large flat writing surface that securely holds/hides the PDA. The video will still be visible through the window, though I can cover it to write on the notes if I want.
I'll need to have some type of holder for the pda so it doesn't slide around inside the box, but at the same time, the holder should not get in the way if I want to put papers inside the box. (Maybe elastic) Pens can be stored inside the box too, which would be convenient.
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