Newest Additons Part 3: HC4600 and N800

The second and third toy actually came in the same package so I will combine these for this part. I have a friend who found and sent me a Sharp HC4600 and a Nokia N800. Now, I wasn't able to play with the Nokia for a bit since it needed a charger, so I will talk about the Sharp first, but there won't be much to say on that one sadly as I broke it.

How did I break it? I was trying to change the cells in the battery pack, and I could have sworn that I had the polarity right, even checking it a few times, but when I put it all back together, I smelled that all too familiar smell of broken electronics. I let the magic smoke out of it. I am still a little sad but since the battery was shot and a new one was 60 bucks, I am not that sad really.

The Sharp was a Windows CE based PDA, known to many as a "Handheld PC" I have talked about these before I am sure, as I have a NEC MobilePro 780, as well as a Sigmarion III, but this isn't about them now is it? There wasn't a whole lot to really say about it ether in my opinion since I used the software many times, and the keyboard, while usable, wasn't amazing by any stretch of the imagination.

It did have a color screen, and as stated, a NIMH battery pack. It ran on Windows CE 2, using a MIPS processor I believe running at 75MHz. It didn't have much memory, and only a single PCMCIA slot for expansion unlike the NEC which has that and a compact flash slot, or the Sig III which has SD and CF. So like I said, there isn't much I can add on this one.

The next device that also came from my good friend Nathan is a Nokia N800. This is the second model, and second to last model, of the internet tablet series they had. This one needed a charger, and since the pin is VERY small, in trying to find one before ordering one, I ended up bending a contact inside of the socket.

So, while it is loose, it will charge if the cable is at an angle. I can replace the jack without even touching a soldering iron, since it uses a spring contact instead. I am going to wait until it completely breaks before I even attempt at opening it, and even then, I am not sure I want to risk breaking anything more than it is worth.

This is an interesting device since, like the Dana from Part 1, it also has dual SD slots. It runs on a version of Memo Linux, with 256MB of RAM. I will say that it isn't blazing fast, and while the browser is based on Firefox, I didn't have much luck getting it to load websites that I check to well. I have however found that it is perfect for playing mahjong, which is one of my favorite time killing puzzle games for sure.

Newest Additions Part 2: Dana

The first one that I got and will start off with is the one that I am using to write up most of post, with only some final editing done on a computer. In fact, I have already posted my first impressions on this device, and promised a full review to come soon. Of course, I have been lazy with that, and working on other things. The device in question is the Alphasmart Dana. Anyone who hasn't seen the previous post should look back.

I would technically classify the Dana as a PDA since it runs Palm OS, but the form factor is more of a laptop so to speak. I guess not a modern one, but if anyone is familiar with something like the TRS80 Model 100 form Tandy, which was technically a notebook PC at the time, would be the best fit in my opinion. Of course, this device was not a very common one for sure, but they are well known for being used in schools.

Alphasmart was an interesting company for me. They made a simple word processor that could hook up as a keyboard to any PC or Mac, whether through PS/2, ADB, or USB, and then send the text as if it was being typed up. The other models were not the same as the Dana in the case that it could run Palm OS applications as well. The other models, such as the Neo, could hold 8 files, and switch between them, but there was no SD card slot or any other expandable memory options.

The reason I went with the Dana was for those very reasons. The Neo could get a LOT better battery life, but it would have only been useful for writing. I am using the Dana for writing, and generally things I want to type up, but since it runs Palm OS I could use different software. Plus, it has a lot bigger screen which is very nice for me. I also love the fact that it has 2 SD card slots.

The only flaw that I have found so far is that Alphaword, while an amazing program since it allows you to use 8 files at once and switch between them by pressing F1 through F8, only saves in a PDB file that only opens in Alphaword. This means that if I want to get the text from it onto my Surface Pro, I need to use the USB cable and hit send. Of course, I could use other software like CardTXT but this isn't a HUGE problem for me really.

They were designed for use in schools, so they are pretty rugged and can take a drop. The only downside to that is they look kind of strange. I would have loved to have seen one that was more like a traditional laptop, but I will take what I can get.

Newest Additions Part 1

Well this is one of the first times in a long time since I have started writing a post several times. I got pretty far last time, but when I noticed I was that it was starting to get WAY to long, I decided maybe a this should be a multiple part post instead. I don't think many people want to read through well over 2500 words in one sitting anyway, and this way I can do more detail on each thing I got.

So for part one, I want to give everyone the quick facts, and then you can later choose what you want to read more about. So to keep this post short, sweet and to the point, as well as simple, here is a list of the new things that I got recently in order of oldest to newest. Think of this like a table of contents so to speak for the upcoming posts. If I remember, I will come back and make these into links about the item.

AlphaSmart Dana

Sharp HC4600

Nokia N800 Internet Tablet

HTC Touch Pro (Japanese X05HT version)

Sony Clie UX50

Lenovo ThinkPad X140e

Intel motherboard with Core 2 Quad Q9400 and 8GB of DDR2 RAM

BlackBerry Storm 2

Blackberry 8900

Another device I did get before all of these but failed to mention here was the Motorola Droid 4, so I will do something on that too. I have already posted my first impressions of the Dana, but I want to talk more about it.