User interface issues and Hardware Differences
Quote Unquote
"IDC estimates that, by 2003, Palm will hold a 60 percent share of the handheld market. Microsoft, it predicts, will have gained a 40 percent market share with its Pocket PC operating system (not counting embedded Windows CE applications)."
The Pocket PC
There is a long tradition of user interface design that dates back to Xerox PARC and the pioneering work done on the Apple Lisa, the Mac and Windows, that have, for better or worse, established certain standards. For example, the Palm OS, Windows, the Mac and most other graphical operating systems always use an ellipsis (...) to indicate an option requiring further input. All menu items with an ellipsis on these platforms always include an option to exit out of a decision, usually with a "Cancel" button. Thus, a Windows or Palm Pilot user may select a menu option such as "Save As..." knowing full well that no immediate action will be taken.
Windows CE 3.0, probably to save screen real estate, seemingly does away with this behavior some, but not all of the time. There are three dots after the word "Options..." and an OK button. There is no ellipsis after the Delete Page option in the Edit menu of the task launcher screen, but it DOES give you a cancel option. Elsewhere, the Find... command has the ellipsis (which of course makes sense), but has no OK or Cancel buttons at all. The ellipsis in this case signifies that there will be an option to input a word. Shouldn't there be a cancel or at least an OK option?
Here's another example: Apparently, the OK button is used to close documents in Windows CE 3.0, as we see in the word processor, note pad, etc. This, while not exactly conventional design, makes a reasonable amount of sense. But then why is there an OK button in the main Options... dialog, but not one in the main Settings dialog? And, if OK is used to signify the status of a document, why don't open Media player documents (etc.) have an OK button?
The Palm OS
It is hard to deny that the latest generation of Pocket PCs, with processors running at speeds greater than 130 MHz (Compaq's new iPAQ runs at 206MHz), vastly outpace anything currently on the market that runs the Palm OS. Palm's machines typically run at 20 MHz. The difference in speed is clearly noticeable when scrolling through pages of text, and when performing certain other functions.
Not surprisingly, Palm partners downplay the speed issue, maintaining that their customers crave simplicity over all else. Still, the company is planning to release a new OS in 2001 to address some of the perceived inadequacies in its current offerings. Dubbed Palm OS 4.0, its will bring MP3 and multimedia features to the Palm platform -- but not, says the company, in ways that compromise the device's elegance and simplicity.
Indeed, certain aspect of the Palm user experience "feel" better than their counterparts on the Pocket PC platform. While the Pocket PC's "ActiveSync" feature is nice -- and totally automatic, if you want it to be -- the ability to push the button on the base of the Palm's desktop cradle (battery charger) and have it synchronize all the data between the desktop and the handheld organizer is, in our view, less confusing than the "behind the scenes" activities of Microsoft's ActiveSync, or the act of pushing an on-screen button instead. Palm also provides direct -- albeit optional -- support for serial- or USB-based Macintosh clients; something that is achievable with a Pocket PC only by running "Windows emulation" software-- a clumsy workaround at best.
Similarly, the Palm's cradle is, we think, a better design than that of our Casio test unit, which isn't always easy to make a proper contact. The Casio is easier to eject from the base, however, thanks to an "eject" button. However, the HP Jornada has the most deluxe cradle of the bunch -- it's built with a hefty metal base, making it sturdy and slip-resistant. It's also capable of USB (or standard serial) connection to your computer, making it potentially more convenient than Casio's serial-only unit. Add-on keyboards are available for both Palm and HP Jornada devices. These "Stowaway" keyboards fold up to pocket size for easy portability.
There's no question about which platform has a better-quality display. The Pocket PCs win by a mile, with 320x240 resolution and thousands of colours. In contrast, the Palm IIIc supports only 256 colours at a paltry 160x160 resolution, on a screen that looks noticeably "grainier." (Monochrome Palm units also support a 160x160-pixel display and are technically able to use four grayscales, although such functionality is not officially supported.)
However, the Pocket PCs from Casio, HP and Compaq each have different display characteristics. The Jornada 540's display is less bright and somewhat more bluish than that of the Casio unit and its display quality overall seems to us slightly inferior (but still far better than the display of the Palm IIIc). The Compaq iPAQ is considered by most people to have the best display of the lot -- it's the brightest and is reasonably readable even outside in direct sunlight. Compaq says its display automatically compensates for ambient light conditions.
Neither platform is without bugs. Palm on June 28th admitted a memory flaw in its Palm IIIc, IIIxe and Vx models with 8MB of memory, and delivered a patch to address the problems that, it says, has the potential to destroy data including telephone numbers, to-do lists, calendar and data entries. The problem also affects handhelds from Handspring and TRG, which also use the Palm OS.
Microsoft, meanwhile, has had a litany of problems in recent months with viruses and so-called Trojan Horse bugs that target its Outlook mail client, which Pocket PCs use as their interface on the desktop. As well, HP admitted in May that a glitch in a memory chip caused its Jornada 540, 430 and 420 series of handheld units to display fewer colours than promised. The company says it will provide a full refund to any customer unhappy with only 4096 colours instead of the 65,536 colours claimed on the product's package. Handheld units from Casio and Compaq are not affected by this glitch; however, only the Casio delivers 65,536 colours -- Compaq's iPAQ supports a maximum of 4096 colours by design.
The Compaq iPAQ (at launch, available as the 3650 or 3630 -- two identical, but differently named models designed for online sales and retail stores, respectively) is 6 oz. in weight and 0.62 inches thick, giving it a weight and size advantage over the colour-capable Palm IIIc, which is 6.8 oz. and 0.67 inches thick. So, if you're comparing colour units, Compaq wins this one. However, if you don't mind a monochrome display, the Palm V, at 4 oz. and a mere 0.4 inches thick, is the sleekest of the Palm handhelds.
We expect Sony's Palm-compatible colour PDA, now selling as the "Clie" in North America, to quickly take market share away from the Palm IIIc. (Known as the PEG-S500C, the Sony handheld has been available in Japan since Sept. 8th.) The Sony unit goes far beyond Palm's offering, offering USB connectivity, "Memory Stick" expansion (plus expansion options including GPS receivers, FM radio tuners, camera, MP3 players, modems etc.) and even a video player for MPEG, AVI and QuickTime files. It's about the same size and weight as the Palm V.
The forthcoming Palm OS 4.0 promises support for 16-bit color, Bluetooth wireless connectivity and support for wireless telephony. And it may seem like old hat for Pocket PC advocates (and Mac owners, who've been increasingly inconvenienced by Palm's stubborn persistence in supporting only old-fashioned serial connections not available on Apple's new models, but the new Palm OS will support universal serial bus connections for easier Palm-to-PC synchronization.
See our Palm news feature for more on the latest Palm developments and announcements, including the company's M102 and M505 and the new Tungsten and Zire models.
One of the biggest differences between the Palm OS 3.5 and Pocket PC (Windows CE 3.0) platforms is what you see on your computer's screen. Microsoft has elected, for better or worse, to tie the Pocket PC closely to its Outlook mail and scheduling client. Outlook provides calendaring, address-book, email, task scheduling, note-keeping and a to-do list. Palm provides its own application for these functions that is remarkably speedy and efficient. Several third-party products further enhance the ability for Palm users to exchange data with desktop computers. Looking ahead, products based on the emerging SyncML standard should make such data exchanges virtually seamless.
Numerous games are available for both platforms. However, the greater speed and better display of the Pocket PCs has already resulted in the development of some advanced entertainment titles we doubt you'll be seeing on the Palm Platform anytime soon. We've seen a remarkably sophisticated flight simulator, 3-D golf games and of course, strategy games galore. The Pocket PCs are also ahead in multimedia playback, with video players, MP3 players, 3-D model viewers and other graphical goodies. Palm users have some options, too. Pixaround.com makes a panoramic VR player for both Palm and Pocket PC platforms.
However, there are many strong points in favor of the Palm.
Competitive Testing
Palm commissioned VeriTest (www.veritest.com), formerly known as ZD Labs and eTesting Labs, the testing division of Lionbridge Technologies, Inc., to compare battery life, time to data loss after handheld power failure, wireless download speed, storage efficiency, and document handling for the Palm Tungsten T handheld, the Palm Tungsten C handheld, the HP iPAQ h1910 and the HP iPAQ h5450.
Battery Life
The Palm handhelds equaled or outperformed the HP iPAQ devices in all battery-life tests. The Tungsten C handheld posted the highest battery-life scores, including slightly more than eight hours of run-time at full screen brightness. The Tungsten C handheld lasted one hour and 35 minutes longer than the HP iPAQ h5450 in 802.11b wireless battery-life tests.
Time to Data Loss After Handheld Power Failure
The Palm handhelds maintained user data for significantly longer than the iPAQ devices after a power failure in stand-by mode, which causes the units to shut themselves off and remain in their powered-off states. The Tungsten T handheld lasted for 21 days, five times longer than the HP iPAQ h5450, which lasted only four days, in a time to data loss test.
Wireless Download Speed
The Tungsten C handheld was more than twice as fast as the HP iPAQ h5450 in a web page download test, loading the test page in 11.69 seconds as compared to 28.02 seconds for the iPAQ.
Storage Efficiency
Storing a set of contacts, appointments and documents revealed little difference in overall storage efficiency of the handhelds. However, the document sizes on the Palm handhelds were significantly smaller than the equivalent documents on the HP iPAQ devices, with no difference in document formatting or content loss.
Document Handling
In previous document-handling tests, Palm handhelds with DataViz(R) Documents To Go(R) performed far better than the built-in software in Pocket PC devices for handling Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents. For example, Documents To Go, which is included with the Palm Tungsten handhelds, allows Palm handheld users to synchronize and edit Word, Excel and PowerPoint files with confidence, knowing that synchronization back to the desktop will retain the integrity of the original document. Fonts and formats generally are preserved. (Use of Microsoft's PocketWord and PocketExcel for the Pocket PC platform can result in lost fonts, degradation of image resolution and lost headers, tables, and charts.)
Palm OS Efficiency, Speed and Value
Beyond the hardware benefits, Palm Tungsten handhelds operate on the Palm OS(R) platform, created for handheld computing and thus designed for efficiency, speed, compact size and overall value. This is a key differentiator from the Microsoft Pocket PC operating system, which was condensed from a desktop OS and thus saddled with bulk and compromises. For example, to beam a business card, Palm handheld users need to perform only one or two steps vs. four steps on a Pocket PC device. Also, a Palm handheld owner can enter a Date Book appointment with only two steps vs. seven steps required of a Pocket PC device owner.
Conclusion
We'd recommend trying both platforms, but in summary, if you favour simplicity over versatility, you'll probably prefer the Palm or one of the PalmOS-compatible models from HandSpring. (The company, on July 31, 2000, began selling its Visor personal digital assistant through Future Shop and Business Depot stores in Canada.) If, however, you want the widest range of built-in functions and expansion options, go with a Pocket PC.
For further reading:
Palm Resources:
Windows CE Resources:
PALM is death
Palm sucks, and is death. I buy a lifedrive, the worse device EVER!
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