Tried and True Hardware

Over a year ago, Casio released its first color-screen Palm-size PC, the Cassiopeia E-100. It and its successor, the E-105, proved to be the most popular of the color-screen Palm-size PCs. This was because Casio focused on creating an excellent multimedia device. The E-100/105 was the first Palm-size PC to include a stereo headphone jack and a built-in music player. It also accepted an optional Digital Camera Card, allowing it to record and display still images and video. Casio decided to base the hardware of their first Pocket PC, the E-115, almost entirely on this successful design. With the exception of a slightly different coloring of the outside case, the hardware of the new device is identical to the E-100/105.

The E-115 is slightly larger than the other Pocket PCs, but still small enough to slip into your pocket. It has three application launch buttons on the front of the device and a large "cursor pad" button you can use for navigation and game playing. The fourth application launch button is found on the left side of the E-115 and is set up to activate the Start menu. All application launch buttons can be re-configured to open any application on the Pocket PC. The E-115 has a clear 65K-color display that is very suitable for indoor viewing, but fades out in bright sunlight.

Three previous articles review or comment on the hardware of the E-115's predecessor, the E-100. Check out "A Tale of 3 Palm-size PCs" in the March/April 2000 issue, "Multimedia Powerhouse" in the November/December 1999 issue, and "Casio E-100" in the May/June 1999 issue. All can be found on our Web site (www.pocketpcmag.com).

Standard software and extras from Casio

The Cassiopeia E-115 Pocket PC comes with all the standard Pocket PC applications from Microsoft built in. This means you don't have to install them, and unless you physically destroy the E-115, the applications do not corrupt. In addition, Casio built in two new applications. Mobile Calendar provides a different and simpler way to view and enter Calendar appointments (Screen 1). Mobile Address Book does the same for Contact information (Screen 2). Also built into the E-115 are Casio Menu (an iconic start menu (Screen 3), CF Backup (lets you back up all or part of your E-115 to a CompactFlash storage card), an e-mail setup tool and a dialer utility to connect to AOL.

Screen 1: Casio's Mobile Calendar provides a different and simpler way to view and enter Calendar appointments.

Screen 2: Casio's Mobile Address Book provides a different and simpler way to view Contact information.

Screen 3: Casio's user-definable Menu application provides a simple iconic start menu that lets you launch your applications with the tap of a large icon. By default, Menu is associated with one of the hardware buttons on the front, making it easy to open Menu and launch additional applications.