Review of Palm Treo 700W

MobileWhack.com has put together a review of the Palm Treo 700W, which is the new Windows Mobile 5.0-based Smartphone. This is one of the few “Smartphones” capable of running Pocket Genealogist as well as other PocketPC/Windows Mobile-based genealogy software.

Unfortunately it has a lower-resolution touchscreen (240×240) and 128MB memory (as the review points) and the 700W ends up being a mixed blessing: It’s a good Smartphone for the phone user who happens to use a PDA here and there. It’s not a great Smartphone for heavy PDA users who live and breathe by the PDA.

BusinessWeek has also reviewed this phone.

Deep Discounts on Dell Axims

From Dell Home & Home Office: “For a limited time, purchase select new Dell Axim Handhelds and get instant savings! Take 35% off Axim X51v 624Mhz Handhelds. Or choose an Axim “Deal of the Week,” a specially configured handheld solution, and save up to 40%! Orders must be placed through Dell Home Electronics & Accessories to qualify.”
This means a Dell Axim 51v starting at $324!

This unit won both LAPTOP Magazine and PC Magazine’s Editor’s Choice Awards just a few months ago.

The VGA-Out support is great if you want to do any mini-presentations at a family reunion (there are VGA -> S-Video converters available). I have the previous version, the X50v, and it’s been a solid PDA. It’s very hard to get a Windows Mobile PDA at this price with both VGA resolution (great for the Windows Mobile/Pocket PC genealogy applications and a fast processor.

The specifications:
* Microsoft® Windows MobileTM 5.0 software with Windows Media Player 10 Mobile
* Powered by the Intel® XScaleTM PXA270 Processor at 624MHz
* Brilliant 3.7″ color TFT VGA display with 640×480 resolution
* Integrated Intel® 2700G multimedia accelerator with 16MB video memory
* Integrated 802.11b and BluetoothTM Wireless Technologies
* Packed with 64MB SDRAM and 256MB Flash ROM
* Integrated CompactFlash Type II and Secure Digital / SDIO Now! / MMC card slots provide flexible expansion
* VGA-Out Support with optional VGA Presentation Bundle

Source: Pocket PC Thoughts

Palm LifeDrive Review

There is a new review of the Palm LifeDrive over at DesignTechnica.com. It was written by Brandon King, and he rates it a 7.5 out of 10. This Palm device could be for you if you happen to need a PDA and a media manager (photos, etc.), however they weren’t happy with battery and hard drive performance (it does have the most capacity out of all of the Palm devices though).

Ultra Lightweight Laptops

MobilityGuru has a rundown of several small Intel-based notebooks, “Ultra Lightweights”, including the Toshiba Libretto U100, with a 7.2 inch display and the Fujitsu LifeBook P1510D with an 8.9 inch display (not only that, it’s a Touchscreen!), as well as few larger notebooks.

We normally focus on PDAs, but some of these laptops these days are under three pounds, and a 7.2 inch screen with an actual keyboard (albeit cramped) could make for a useful platform for a genealogist who’s just not happy with a PDA, but doesn’t want a large laptop.

Source: Small-Laptops.com

Portable Projector Reviews

If you have money burning a hole in your pocket, and you’d like to jazz up your family reunions and genealogy presentations, PC Magazine has a review of some of the latest portable projectors, the Canon Realis SX50, the Sony VPL-CX20A, and the ViewSonic PJ256D. The ViewSonic is the cheapest, running around $1300 and on up. This is not for those on a budget, but if you could see using these elsewhere, not just a few times a year, they might very well be worth it. They are made for computers or standalone media components (DVD/VHS, etc.), but there are PDA cables/extentions available that would allow you to hook your PDA upto one (I know, for instance, that Dell makes a cable for their Axim PDA series).

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