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Palm Vs. Pocket PC War Analysis:
semperaptus.com
There's a War Going on In Our Pants!
(the Palm OS vs. Pocket PC)
by SemperAptus Staff
We've all heard the battle cries of Palm Pilot and Windows CE users over the past 4 years. Many casualties have come of this fight; Philips dropped out of the fight after developing the ground-breaking Velo and Nino PDAs, Everex had a brief spurt of product only to be squelched before launching their ultimate color palmtop. Now, for your bloodthirsty pleasure, we stage a battle like no other: the steel cage death match of operating system versus operating system.
In this corner... Palm OS
Announcing the undefeated champion of the handheld arena: Palm Inc.'s Palm OS. This featherweight fighter operates on the simplest of processors and consumes less battery power than your average universal remote control.
And in this corner... Pocket PC
And, announcing the undisputed underdog, Microsoft's Pocket PC (the line of devices running Windows CE v3.0). Now on it's sixth OS revision, Microsoft has been trying for years to perfect Bill Gates' "Mini-Me" operating system designed for handheld computers and soda machines.
The rules
The fight will consist of three rounds: system features, built-in applications, and subjective opinion. The first round will focus on hardware and general OS capabilities, the second round will focus on software and the third round will be "graded" staff opinions divided in categories. To be fair and consistent, only color devices will be used in the tests.
ROUND ONE: SYSTEM FEATURES ---->
Round One: System Features
(the Palm OS vs. Pocket PC)
System features are, undoubtedly, the most difficult to compare. While the Pocket PC hardware has 2-4 times the amount of memory available, Pocket PC applications and data often require 2-4 times as much space. The same can be said for processor speed, where a device that screams at 206 MHz on the Pocket PC may very well yield the same performance as the 20 MHz Palm IIIc (Editor's Note: As Palm applications become more color-dependant, we feel the 20mhz processor might prove to be a weak point). Thankfully, not all system comparisons are that difficult to make.
First, the Palm Pilot edges out the Pocket PC in battery life, since one of the Pocket PC devices yields only 6 hours of power. Our staff loves the Pilot's automated infrared receive capability and the smooth way it handles incoming IR data (as evidenced in Palm's "train meeting" commercial). At press time, we were able to find much lower street prices for the Color Palm Pilot than any of the Pocket PCs. To be fair, Pocket PCs have just recently gone on sale, so we expect their prices will drop as soon as the initial rush for devices is over. But this is important for people interested in an immediate purchase. Finally, the Pocket PC offers absolutely no connection to the Macintosh platform, making the choice in the matter a no-brainer if you're an Apple Computer household.
The area that the Pocket PC shines in is multimedia. With thousands of colors, versus the Palm's 256 and more than three times the pixel resolution, displaying photos and web pages is far more impressive on the Pocket PC. Also, the Compaq iPAQ is the only device in our tests that has a screen with full readability in broad daylight. In addition, the Pocket PC has the benefit of an entire suite of multi-media applications; sporting an audio book reader, MP3 player and the invaluable voice recorder. The Pocket PC also "one ups" the Pilot in data entry methods with single stroke (graffiti), mini-keyboard and full handwriting recognition as well connection options (to the desktop) offering serial, IR and USB. Speaking of the computer connection, the Pocket PC synchronizes nearly 6 times faster than the Pilot and offers automated (no-button) synchronization.
It's nearly too close to call in this category, so let's move on to a comparison of the built-in applications.
Head-to-Head Feature Comparison: Operating System
Palm OS Pocket PC
(Must check site for proper format)
Applications Address Book
Calculator
Calendar
Expense tracking
Games
Mail
Security
Memo pad
To-do list Address Book
Calculator
Calendar
Expense tracking
Games
Mail
Security
Memo pad
To-do list
eBook reader
Internet Explorer
MP3 player
Voice recorder
Street Maps
Battery Power* (color units) 11-12 hours 6-12 hours
On-system Character Input Methods 2 3
Color Levels 256 4,096-65,000
Connection Options COMM, IR COMM, IR, USB
Cost (MSRP) $499 $499-$599
Infrared: Automated Receive Yes No
Memory 8MB 16MB-32MB
Pixel Resolution 160x160 320x240
Processor 20 MHz 133-206 MHz
Synchronization: Automated No Yes
Synchronization: Speed* 115,200 kpbs ~690,000 kbps
* These statistics are from the manufacturer's information, not our testing environment. Please note that individual user results may vary.
ROUND TWO: BUILT-IN APPLICATIONS ---->
Round Three: Subjective Opinion
(the Palm OS vs. Pocket PC)
by SemperAptus Staff
Head-to-Head Feature Comparison: Staff Opinion
Winner (Must check site for format and info)
Appearance Pocket PC
Communications features Pocket PC
Ease of use Palm Pilot
Internet connectivity Pocket PC
Number of commercial/freeware/shareware applications Palm Pilot
Out-of-the-box experience Palm Pilot
Out-of-the-box synchronization Pocket PC
In our final round, we wanted to compare some of the more subjective components of PDAs our first category being the most subjective of all. Appearance is the ultimately personal choice, but we think that even Jeff Hawkins (the creator of the Palm Pilot) will tell you that the Compaq iPAQ and the HP Jornada 540 series are far more attractive than the bland-in-comparison Palm IIIc. It is as if Palm didn't even bother to come up with a new design for their color devices.
Communications and Internet connectivity categories also go to the Pocket PC, with it's built-in TCP/IP, RAS dial-up capability. But the Palm Pilot captures ease-of-use and out-of-box experience based on it's simple operating system and user set up. The system walks you through graffiti and basic procedures, where the Pocket PC only shows you how to cut-and-paste using their poorly conceived tap-and-hold interface.
The Pocket PC returns to the winner's circle with out-of-the-box synchronization. ActiveSync is an excellent synchronization system and works flawlessly (surprise) with Microsoft Outlook. The Palm Pilot finishes the contest with a win in the available applications category.
So, who wins?
If you've come this far in our review, you've doubtlessly found the PDA of your choice. We hope our head-to-head review has given you enough information to pick the device that satisfies your needs. For our staff, the choice is easy. The Pocket PC is a no-brainer for all of the power and capabilities it offers. The Palm Pilot still has a number of valuable offerings, but the Palm IIIc just doesn't stack up against the newest line of Windows CE devices. Of course, the Palm V has a number of unique advantages, but a head-to-head of black and white devices is a whole different review.
Published: 6/1/00 |
