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I always thought that PDA’s were for mugs ... until I got my hands on a Casio 105E ( Cassiopeia ) in 1998. What an amazing piece of kit that was ... so much so that, 10 years on, it’s still my favourite PDA. Great Stereo sound, crisp video and some really playable games - that’s the Casio.
Mobile Computing, as it is now called, has never made as big a leap forward as the Casio did compared to what came before it. I’ve expanded my collection to include many later Casio models too: namely the BE-300 and EM500. The BE-300 was a great machine with a horrible interface which didn’t take advantage of it’s considerable power.
Thanks in no small part to a Russian Programmer, all that changed! The BE-300 with alternative O.S. ( like Bee Interface ) is a real joy to behold. Several really cool O.S.’s sprung up following the launch of the Be-300, and the best are PPX, eXpod and the aforementioned BE-Shell. These can be downloaded for free from the net, and several genuinely useful user groups still exist.
The EM-500 is simply an improvement on the E105 / 25 which runs PPC. The E105 only runs CE 2.2, which was dropped pretty sharpish by Microsoft, hence a serious lack of support / apps. If you want an early E105 / 25 go for one that has the ROM upgrade to CE 3.0. There’s no other way of upgrading: the factory ‘chipped’ them on request, there is NO software upgrade in existence.
A friend in the U.S. sent me over the Audiovox PPC4100 - a lovely little thing ( though not practical as a phone ). Sadly, the ROM battery is soldered onto the mainboard, so once it dies that’s just too bad. Needless to say, when I decide to come into the 00’s with my PDA interest I will be making sure that the unit has a replaceable backup battery! Nothing beats simplicity, and being able to go into the Chemist’s to buy a straightforward CR2025 battery.
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