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Casio E-100ANew Multimedia Palm-size PC!
CASIO takes the
Palm-size PC to NEW HEIGHTS! The Casio E-100 is one of the new breed of color-screen Palm-size PCs, but it's more than that. Casio has taken the definition of the Palm-size PC to new heights with their active matrix color LCD, stereo sound and multimedia support in the E-100. It has a sexy silver and gray case that improves on Casio's prior designs. The E-100 is slightly larger (3.93 x 5.15 x .78 inches) than the earlier E-10 and E-11, but it's still easy to slip in your pocket and hold in one hand. It's slightly heavier (8.9 ounces) than previous versions, but it's one of the lightest of the newer color-screen Palm-size PCs. It has side grips that allow the user to hold the unit better than previous designs. A Multimedia Palm-size PC Casio is positioning the E-100 as a multimedia machine, as well as a personal information manager. The E-100 Plus comes with a built-in video player and a desktop PC converter. The desktop PC application allows a user to convert MPEG, AVI as well as Quicktime videos into movies that can be played on the E-100. Videos with or without sound play well on the device. The sound is clear and the video smooth and clear. I have a video of the unit playing a video on my website (www.cewindows.net). One of the reasons the E-100 is being called a multimedia machine is because it sports a fast and clear 320x240 screen that displays 65,536 colors. The 4" diagonal active matrix LCD has bright and uniform backlighting. Only the video player and some other 3rd party applications take advantage of the additional colors; the standard Windows CE applications only support 256 colors. The E-100 is the first of the Palm-size PCs with stereo headphone support. The E-100 ships with a Casio MP3 player software. This provides high-quality stereo output through an earphone jack on the left side of the E-100. The Casio MP3 player has the ability to turn the display off while playing, to conserve battery power. The user is able to hear both channels on stereo MP3 recordings via the headphone jack, and the quality of the sound is excellent! (Xaudio provides a freeware MP3 player for other PC Companions. It supports stereo as well, but it does not allow the user to turn the backlight off like the Casio version does. For more on this, visit www.xaudio.com.) The E-100 also comes with a decent built-in speaker, on the bottom front of the unit for better sound. Finger Real Estate The E-100's navigation and action buttons seem best suited for a right-handed user holding the unit in his or her left hand. Located on the left side of the unit (i.e., left with the unit facing you) are the Power, Exit, microphone record button, and an integrated "action jog wheel." This latter device lets you move up and down in menus and lists, and then select items and options. Located on the front of the unit, just below the display, are the quick launch buttons for Calendar, Contacts and Tasks. These can be reprogrammed to launch any application. Also located on the front of the E-100, next to the quick-launch buttons, is a large button I call a "finger joystick." It's the traditional up, down, right, and left arrow keys built into one button. You use it, along with the action jog wheel to navigate on the E-100. The finger joystick will be very useful for playing games. As I mentioned, the E-100 seems better suited to a right-handed user. It's not that a left-handed person couldn't use an E-100, but the jog wheel is easier to use with the thumb of the left hand than the fingers of the right. Connectivity The E-100 has a CompactFlash CF+ type II slot for additional storage and peripherals like Ethernet, modem and pagers. It also has a docking station to connect to your serial port as well as an IrDA port. The E-100 ships with Windows CE Services 2.2 for desktop connectivity and supports mobile channels in 256 colors. Under the Hood The E-100 raises the bar for the fastest Palm-size PC to 131mhz! It also has 16 MB of RAM in the E-100 and 32 in the E-100 Plus. These units are using the NEC Vr4121 MIPS CPU, which has 24k cache on the CPU for higher performance. The unit is powered by a Lithium-Ion battery which can be charged in the cradle or via the AC adapter directly plugged into the unit. The battery life is expected to be 6 to 8 hours. Applications The E-100 ships with the standard Windows CE applications, including Pocket Outlook, Inbox, Channels, and Notetaker. It also comes with a backup and restore utility to allow users to backup all their memory to a CompactFlash card while on the road. You can also restore data to the E-100 without having to connect to a desktop PC. The E-100 Plus adds the ability to play MP3 audio files in stereo and the video player. Users who purchase the E-100 can purchase the MP3 player and the video player separately. The E-100 also includes Pocket Database, Schedule Viewer, Casio Menu and Financial Calculator on the bonus CD ROM. Also, available for free from Casio's Website is PalmPilottm PIM Conversion, Avantgo Client 2.0 (off-line web browsing), and Audible. The E-100 will be available at the end of April. The list price for the E-100 will be $499 and the E-100 Plus $599. Casio will capture the attention of customers with the multimedia capabilities of the E-100, and the addition of the joystick and the active matrix LCD will make this unit a hot game machine.
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Chris De Herrera is a special correspondent and
contributing author for Handheld PC Magazine. He maintains one of the best Windows
CE Web sites (Copyright © Thaddeus Computing