Sharp OZ750 Operation User Manual download pdf

NetWare Connection June 2000

recently stockpiled a set of nine handheld computers that

would leave any gadget collector drooling:

• Casio Cassiopeia E-100

• Compaq Aero 1530

• Handspring Visor Deluxe

• Hewlett-Packard Jornada 430se Palm-Size PC

• Hewlett-Packard Jornada 690 Handheld PC

• Hitachi ePlate HPW-600ET

• Palm Inc. Palm V

• Palm Inc. Palm VII

• Sharp Wizard OZ-750

Why would anyone need nine handheld computers? No

reason at all. In fact, for most people, owning one handheld

computer would probably suffice. But then, I didn’t say I owned

these products, did I? They were loaners (alas). Seven vendors

agreed to send the products so I could test and review them on

behalf of NetWare Connection. (For a brief description of the

unique highlights and low-lights of each handheld I tested, see

“Something To Talk About, Something To Think About” on

p. 18.) To that end and for several weeks, I evaluated the hand-

helds by carrying around one or two at a time and shamelessly

flaunting them as my own.

Handhelds, as the name suggests, are computers that are

small and light enough to hold in one hand and that, at the

very least, serve this purpose: to help you stay organized inside

and outside of the office. To do so, handhelds provide easy

access to daily-use information that you constantly check and

change—information such as telephone numbers, task lists,

and perhaps most important, your daily schedule. Of course,

many handhelds enable much more, but the point is that none

of them enables less.

During the 3 1/2 weeks that I evaluated handhelds, I dis-

covered a few key points of comparison that you should con-

sider if you are in the market for a handheld. If you think

you’re not in the market for a handheld, be warned: I didn’t

think I was either. However, if you spend a few hours or a few

weeks (like I did) using one handheld (or nine), you may join

the millions of handheld users worldwide who consider these

personal digital assistants absolute necessities they can ill-

afford to lose. As for me, I remain undecided as to whether or

not I actually need a handheld, but in any case, I want one.

COOS-OWNERS OF THE HANDHELD MARKET

Most of the key points of comparison among handheld

computers revolve around which operating system they run:

Palm OS from Palm Inc. (previously Palm Computing, a 3COM

subsidiary) or Microsoft Windows CE. Other than the Wizard

OZ-750, all of the products I tested run either the Palm OS (3.1

or higher) or Windows CE. (For more information about Wizard

OZ-750 and the other products I tested, see “Something To Talk

About, Something To Think About” on p. 18)

Specifically, the Palm V, Palm VII, and Visor Deluxe run the

Palm OS. The Cassiopeia, Aero 1530, and Jornada 430se Palm-

Size PC run Windows CE 2.11, which is for palm-size Windows

CE products. The ePlate and Jornada 690 Handheld PC run Win-

dows CE Handheld PC Edition 3.0.1. (See Figure 1 on p. 12.)

This preponderance of only two OSs is no accident: Palm

OS and Windows CE products dominate the handheld com-

puter market. In fact, according to Jill House, an IDC industry

analyst, of the 5.5 million handheld computers that shipped

worldwide in 1999, more than 75 percent of them were run-

ning either Palm OS or Windows CE.

Of the two OSs, Palm has the most solid market share.

House reports that in 1999, Palm had 55.5 percent of the

market, and Windows CE products had only 20 percent. Of

course, as Hewlett-Packard (HP) product manager Elaine

Gasser points out, Palm’s dominance is limited to the market

for products with a palm-size form factor. When it comes to

products with the slightly larger handheld form factor, products

commonly known as handheld PCs (H/PCs), “Windows CE

has the lion’s share,” Gasser says. House supports Gasser’s

claim, reporting that in 1999, Windows CE had 89.5 percent

of the handheld PC market.

PALM OS VERSUS WINDOWS CE—TAKE YOUR PICK

Asking which handheld OS is better, Palm OS or Win-

dows CE, is like asking which cola is better, Coke or Pepsi.

FEATURE

Linda Kennard

Illustration: Jeffrey Pelo

Thumbs Up

for Handhelds

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Summary of Contents

Page 1 - Thumbs Up

6NetWare Connection June 2000recently stockpiled a set of nine handheld computers thatwould leave any gadget collector drooling: • Casio

Page 2 - FEATURE Handhelds

Subjective answers aside, the answer tothe question, of course, is that neitherOS (or cola) is inherently better thanthe other. (Although Palm OS and

Page 3 - Texuries or Techcessities?

In addition, Microsoft recently re-leased the latest version of Windows CEcalled Pocket PC, which offers more ap-plications and features. Pocket PC ha

Page 4

from using Jot first, and that may be thecase. However, I took a short timed test tosee which of the two I could use morequickly. To test myself, I wr

Page 5 - INFO SYNC’ING

estimate that the speed would be thesame or faster than you could hope togain using Graffiti. Incidentally, I also find it interestingthat while Jot i

Page 6

I also found the actual synchroniza-tion process to be equally simple (al-though different) for both Palm andWindows CE products.Palm HotSyncPalm OS p

Page 7 - Please visit our advertiser

to what I consider the nearest somewhere,the state capital. Unfortunately, neitherthe state capital nor anywhere else in mystate is covered by Palm.Ne