The prices I quoted are for free countrywide long distance and roaming.
This means from anywhere in the US, I can call anywhere in the US with no
long distance or roaming charges. I just check www.voicestream.com and they
do not have that plan. They happily charge you $0.49 / minute for roaming
and then there are long distance charges. One must compare the same plans.
My note was really a comparison of the methodologies used for data access,
anytime, anywhere. CDPD costs me only $40/month, for unlimited usage,
anywhere in the US.
Kind regards,
Denys. . .
Denys Beauchemin
HICOMP
(800) 323-8863 (281) 288-7438 Fax: (281) 288-7438
denys at hicomp.com www.hicomp.com
-----Original Message-----
From: HP-3000 Systems Discussion [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of
Dan Davis
Sent: Friday, October 19, 2001 3:17 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: OT: PocketPC vs PalmOS
I'd just like to point out that you're comparing the cost of your
internet access alone to the cost of internet + cell phone on the
visor. I'm not sure where you got the prices, but im paying $49/month
for 3000 minutes (50 hours) + $29 for 1500 minutes of data (25 hours).
This is cumulative, so i could actually use it for 75 hours / month
if I maxed both plans. There is no way I'm spending that much time on
either plan, and its a lot less expensive than the $200/month you
mention for 2000 minutes.
The Visor Handphone uses GSM, so you're pretty much stuck using
VoiceStream, the one downside that I can see (no choices). The upside
to this is that GSM technology is capable of being faster than CDPD,
voicestream has recently released 33.6 - 56k technology for GSM
devices. The new handspring Treo uses this technology and I'm betting
that next-generation Visorphones will be using the GSM tech as well.
It's usually referred to as G2.5 technology.
For CDPD access, there is the Minstrel and Minstrel S for Visors
(springboard), which costs about the same for Pocket PC and PalmOS.
On the flipside though, these are data-only modems so once again you
get stuck having 2 devices where the Visorphone takes care of both
functions in one device.
I'm not really saying here that you cant 'soup up' a Pocket PC more
than you can a PalmOS device, just that it costs a heck of a lot more
money to do so. I also dont see the resulting device being any more
usable than the PalmOS device - perhaps less usable.
-Dan
Denys Beauchemin <[log in to unmask]> wrote in message
news:<[log in to unmask]>...
> (I changed the subject line.)
>
> I do not see the problem. The table in the first link compares PalmOS,
> Windows CE and EPOC. The second link discusses how the Compaq iPAQ has
> displaced the Palm. It does not talk about how Pocket PC has displaced
> Palm, as I said, it compares two companies (Compaq and Palm.) The third
> link has two tables. The first one compares hardware: Palm, Compaq,
Psion,
> Handspring, HP and others. The second table compares operating systems:
> Windows CE, PalmOS, EPOC and others.
>
> The rest of your message is excellent. I am sure that you are correct
when
> it comes to prices. About the only thing I would caution you is to make
> sure you compare the capabilities. I can do things with a Pocket PC that
> you could never do with a Palm. Further, as you state, the Pocket PC
device
> is more powerful and has more storage than a Palm device. Does it need
more
> power and storage? Obviously.
>
> On my iPAQ ($500), I have installed a PC-card adapter ($150) and I have a
> Sierra Wireless AirCard 300 PC-card ($300). This gives me always on CDPD
> access at 19.2Kbaud. Now, I don't know about the cell phone plan you have
> but the ones that are available to me in Texas are all limited in terms of
> minutes per month. We are looking at 100 minutes (1.666 hour) for $30 to
> 2000 minutes (33.3 hours) for $200. I will bust the upper limit in a
single
> out of town trip if I had to use that to get Internet access. My setup
> costs $40/month for unlimited usage. Clearly the methodology I employ is
> much superior to the one you chose, cheaper and faster. At current rates
> and my usage patterns, in one or two months, I have saved enough money to
> pay for the difference in initial costs. After two months, your
methodology
> is costing me big time. Now, if you do not travel much or if you do not
> need wireless Internet access as much as I do, then your method is very
> usable. Perhaps you might want to see if it is possible to have CDPD
access
> on a Palm or Visor. I am sure that should be possible, as I understand
> there is now a CF-card format CDPD card.
>
> For wireless voice, I have another device called a cell phone. It has its
> own battery and its own headset. Mine is an older one, but it can have a
> small organizer on it. I have the organizer, but I do not use it anymore.
> It's a pain.
>
> (I am now looking for a new cell phone with Bluetooth technology. Yes,
the
> Pocket PC has Bluetooth capabilities, given the device and I can also have
> it in the laptop, simply by adding a PC-card. So far, I have found 3
phones
> that have Bluetooth: the Motorola Timeport 290, the Ericsson T-28 and the
> Nokia 6210. The Moto has it built-in and it is CDMA. The Ericsson needs
an
> additional module and is GSM. The Nokia needs an PC-card adapter and then
> you put in a PC-card Bluetooth access card. It is also GSM. So the Moto
is
> the only useful one for me, except that I can't find one and I would have
to
> change providers as my current one is TDMA based. I would thus need to
> change numbers, foregoing one that I have had for just about 8 years now.
> The alternative is to wait for a CDMA Bluetooth phone from someone.)
>
> Earlier, Peter da Silva posted a very thoughtful comment about having MP3
> devices on the Palm or using one as such. He recounts an incident where
> usage of the MP3 device drained the battery, leaving him with a hunk of
> plastic at an inopportune time.
>
> I was reading this past week, an article in PC Magazine about convergence.
> This is where you could buy one handheld or pocketable device that would
do
> multiple things; in this instance, be a Pocket PC or organizer, be an MP3
> player and be a digital camera. The author stated that would be a bad
thing
> because if the camera broke, you would either have to get the whole thing
> repaired, forego the use of the camera from then on, or replace the whole
> thing. I was thinking that even without breaking the unit, you would
still
> probably not want this device. Technology developments come in cycles,
and
> each technology has a different cycle. If you were to buy such a device
and
> it was the top end at that time, (which it would never be,) in a year,
> certain functions would be so primitive compared to the then current state
> of technology, you would probably stop using it. Instead of just
replacing
> that one function, you would have to replace the whole thing.
>
> Just after I sent this message, I was alerted to the following story:
> http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1006-200-7528362.html?tag=dd.ne.dtx.nl-sty.0
>
> In it your setup is discussed, along with its replacement.
>
> Kind regards,
>
> Denys. . .
>
> Denys Beauchemin
> HICOMP
> (800) 323-8863 (281) 288-7438 Fax: (281) 288-7438
> denys at hicomp.com www.hicomp.com
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: HP-3000 Systems Discussion [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf
Of
> Dan Davis
> Sent: Monday, October 15, 2001 10:16 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: OT: RE: PocketPC vs Handheld PC
>
> Denys Beauchemin <[log in to unmask]> wrote in message
> news:<[log in to unmask]>...
>
> > So I went looking further on the Internet, between compiles and
> > SQL pre-processings.
> > In a few seconds, I came up with this:
> > http://www.allnetdevices.com/wireless/news/2001/07/27/palm_loses.html
> >
> >
>
http://www.allnetdevices.com/industry/reality/2001/07/30/handheld_horse.html
> >
> > http://www4.gartner.com/5_about/press_room/pr20010726b.html
> >
> > These clippings definitely talk about number of units as market share
> > measurements. That is the way I understand these things, but perhaps
> there
> > are many people who understand market share to be total amount of
revenue
> by
> > segments, (PalmOS, Pocket PC, Psion and others.)
>
>
> There is still a big problem with the numbers. They are pitting the
> company Palm vs ALL Pocket PC manufacturers, as opposed to pitting ALL
> PalmOS manufacturers vs ALL Pocket PC manufacturers. Supposedly
> Handspring alone now sells nearly as many PalmOS devices as Palm
> itself does.
>
> After doing quite a bit of research on Palm vs Pocket PC, I decided on
> a Visor Prism. $299 for 8meg + color display, plus a visor phone
> which allows me to get cellular phone calls and get internet access at
> 9.6k (free when you buy a new visor and sign up for service). In
> addition I bought a GPS device ($142) and an MP3 player that has an
> additional 64 meg on it, an additional memory slot free, and its own
> batteries (~$150).
>
> Total cost for GPS + Cell phone + wireless internet + MP3 player +
> color organizer + 64 meg expansion : $620 (that includes the $20
> startup fee for the phone / internet).
>
> You cant even get close to that price with a PocketPC! The best you
> can do is get a Jornada 525, a 16 meg Pocket PC with serial synch
> connection (my visor has USB) for $299. Big problem with this and
> other low end Pocket PC devices is that they cant run the new version
> of Pocket PC 2002 - they dont use the new standard Intel ARM
> processors, so you are guaranteed to have problems running new apps in
> the near future. Plus, you'll still have big problems coming anywhere
> near the price point of the Handspring Visor with all those options.
> Just getting cell phone + internet will add $300 to the Jornada, then
> you still need to add a GPS (at least $150) and 64 meg for storage
> ($80). Now you're talking ~$850 for a low-end PocketPC with similar
> features as the Prism above, and that PocketPC is guaranteed not to be
> able to to run new Pocket PC apps. If you opt for a new ARM powered
> PocketPC, you are talking another $200+ so ~$1050.
> Thats like 70% more expensive!
>
>
> -Dan
>
> * To join/leave the list, search archives, change list settings, *
> * etc., please visit http://raven.utc.edu/archives/hp3000-l.html *
>
> * To join/leave the list, search archives, change list settings, *
> * etc., please visit http://raven.utc.edu/archives/hp3000-l.html *
* To join/leave the list, search archives, change list settings, *
* etc., please visit http://raven.utc.edu/archives/hp3000-l.html *
* To join/leave the list, search archives, change list settings, *
* etc., please visit http://raven.utc.edu/archives/hp3000-l.html *
|
