Professionally, i originally trained as an engineer and am working on an MSc in Manufacturing Engine...
Professionally, i originally trained as an engineer and am working on an MSc in Manufacturing Engineering.
I have also worked on a number of professional Web development projects.
I love my gadgets, but am selective in that in addition to functio...
Member since:04.01.2001
Reviews:8
Members who trust:2
The Casio E125 is the latest evolution of their Cassiopeia range of Pocket PCs, and feature improvements on the already rather good E-115
The first thing you notice about the Cassiopeia is the screen with excellent resolution and colour depth. AFAIK it is the only pocket PC with a 16bit screen (64K colours) the Compaq and HP offerings being only 12 bit (4096 colours) which makes a difference if you want to view photo type images. It doesn't perform quite as well outdoors as the Compaq IPaqs screen but still viewable with some shading.
So what's the damage? #379+vat from Dabs direct. So the E-125 had better be more than a pretty face.
As stated before the E-125 is an evolution of the previous model, and the packaging hasn't really changed, so it's still quite a large pocket PC, comparable to the HP Journadas, and not as slim as a bare Compaq Ipaq. But not out of contention when you consider most people will use an Ipaq with an expansion sleeve.
Standard features which Casio highlight include:
A faster 150MHz processor. It's difficult to see how this has changed things as the previous model seemed to work fine, but more speed can't be a bad thing, can it?
32MB of RAM - Similar to the other pocket pcs out there, it sound like a lot more than a palm, but the Pocket PC OS need to use more RAM for itself, so it's probably more comparable to a Palm OS machine which might have 12-16Mb (the only real option for that would be a Sony Clie with extra memory stick)
Pocket Media Player You can now watch video files and listen to MP3s, don't expect videos to be like DVDs but again the screen helps out a lot here.
USB interface on the cradle. This allows for much faster synchronisation with your desktop, but most new generation machines have this.
Wireless access, you can get on the net through the pocket PC either using a compactflash modem connected to your mobile (available from Xircom) or through an IR connection to your mobile (provided your mobile has an IR modem).
The LiIon battery last about 5 hours between charges which is enough for a day or two of usage, if you need more power between charges you can get a spare battery and swap them out relatively easyily, something not possible on most of its competitors.
Conclusion The Cassiopeia is a great machine with the long gradual development process paying off. The only real concern is the size of the unit. The main competitor and leader in the PocketPC field being the Ipaq. The IPaq is marginally cheaper, but when you factor in an expansion jacket the Cassiopeia turns out to be a cheaper solution and about equal in bulk. The Cassiopeia is limited to just the Compactflash 2 slot for expansion, (the IPaq has a PC card option) but most accessories are being made available in this format (modems, wireless LAN). You can even get an IBM 1GB Microdrive to work in it, something Palm users can only dream of at the moment!!
Handheld - 64 MB RAM - Screen: 3.5 in inch - Display: TFT active matrix - CPU: XScale PXA310 - Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi - Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.0, Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.0 Classic
Handheld - 128 MB RAM - Screen: 4 in inch - Display: TFT active matrix - CPU: XScale PXA310 - Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi - Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.0, Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.0 Classic