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| Home >> Handheld & PDA Reviews: Casio Cassiopeia E-125 Color Pocket PC | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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User Submitted Casio Cassiopeia E-125 Color Pocket PC Reviews (cont...)Date: 2001-06-07 Poor customer service My screen cracked about 5 months after I purchased my E-125. I did not drop it or misuse it. I called customer service. They told me to send it back to the manufacturer with a check and it would be repaired in 5 - 10 working days. Today is the 16th working day. I called to check on the status and they told me it would be another 2 weeks before they would even begin to work on it. I'm very upset about this (obviously) and would recommend that future buyers purchase insurance against screen breakage, and check out the customer service ratings on other Pocket PC's. As for it's performance, I loved the E-125! I'm only dissatisfied with the CS. By the way, my check cleared my bank 2 weeks ago. They took my money, but they are unwilling to repair it under warranty, and they are still making me wait another 2 weeks or more. Date: 2001-06-07 An Indispensable Little Machine--After a Few Tweaks I bought this primarily as an e-book reader. I receive long documents by e-mail almost every day, and it gets very tiresome to have them all printed out. My priority was therefore a high-resolution, bright screen. In general, I have been enormously pleased by the Cassiopeia. It is a little clunky (then again, so is the IPAQ, once you add the expansion sleeve). But the screen is wonderful as long as you don't need to use the device in full sunlight. I can also carry around lots and lots of family photos, and with a CF storage card (their prices are dropping fast) can keep nearly two hours music on the device as well. And it plays Scrabble. In short, it has become practically indispensable to me, far outclassing my old Visor. To get the most out of the Cassiopeia, however, as with any Pocket PC, you have to tweak it a bit, and disregard some of the instructions. For instance, the Tahoma font that is standard on the machine is awful. But you can easily download whatever fonts you want from your Windows/Fonts directory on your PC to the Windows/Fonts directory on the Pocket PC. As for e-book reading, the Microsoft Reader that comes with the device is fairly useless, because while the type quality is OK, there are so few words to a page. I've had much better results, for really long documents and e-books, using the Peanut Press and a Times New Roman 10-point font. Set up this way, e-book reading on the device actually is pretty pleasant. Plus, PeanutPress.com has a much wider selection of books than exists for Microsoft Reader. Finally, using the hideous Microsoft Media Player software to copy tunes to the device is a total waste of time. It insists on compressing (minimally) MP3 files as it transfers them, and transferring a single CD to the device took nearly half an hour! Use Media Player to transfer a single file--that has the advantage of loading all the necessary software onto the device. Then copy whatever MP3's you want to a My Documents folder on the storage card. Much, much more efficient. Here's why: 1). Price. With the Ipaq 3650 you don't get the built in CF slot which adds at the least 50$ to the [$] base price. I found the Cassiopeia for [$] (with rebate) online with free 2nd day shipping. True the Ipaq wins in support and probable future add on gadgets through its sleeves, but those suckers cost $$. 2). Replaceable Casio battery. Ipaq's battery lasts longer but the casio's batteries are replaceable. If you buy enough of these [$] batteries you could get a great deal of battery power. To be honest though, there exists a 4AA battery extender for the Ipaq/Casio for 20$ so this issue is not a big one for me. 3). Games. Hardware button problem on the Ipaq might hamper future games (can't press two buttons at once). Casio is layed out like a gameboy. 4). Ipaq has a great outdoor screen admittedly, but I rarely use PDAs in direct sunlight for extended periods (I do have to shade it). 5). I don't understand why no one knows about shutting programs by bringing up the keyboard and hitting ctrl Q. Really easy. 6). I was really scared off by the large amount of overall lapses in manufacturing quality of the Ipaq (dust under the screen even on the newer models, screen bugs, the popup stylus etc.) especially those on the discussion boards. The Ipaq is great but not quite there. The Ipaq 2 or 3 someday? Maybe. it's just scary to get something that costs so much only to have it in the shop most of the time. The cassiopeia has been around the block. 7). Though the Ipaq cpu is faster, it's not always valid to compare speed with cpu Mhz. For example a 1.33 ghz Athlon desktop can out-benchmark a 1.5 ghz pentium depending on the system. 207 mHz is faster, don't get me wrong but 150mhz is far from slow. 8). Looks. I plan on using CF memory on my pocket PC so the CF slot is a must. I'm not overly concerned with looks and don't think it should be THE deciding factor. Indeed, the Ipaq is very pretty but it loses something with it's expansion sleeves on. Though there are some nice looking custom cf sleeves they are very expensive. That's my two cents hope this helps. 1) The battery in the E-125 is replaceable - not so on the Ipaq. This is an important feature, especially if you're on-the-go ... you can carry an extra battery and just swap it out of the E-125. With the Ipaq, you have to find an outlet and wait for the battery to re-charge ... not a good option when you're in an airport or in the middle of conducting business! Compaq still hasn't figured out what they'll do when an Ipaq's battery has lived-out it's life - will they replace the unit just for a battery replacement? They're not saying ... 2) The E-125 has 16 bit color vs. the Ipaq's 12 bit ... a negligible difference you might say, but, to me, I feel that the colors on the E-125 are much more vibrant. 3) The E-125 has a 150mzh processor, Ipaq's is a 206mhz. In the early '90's, did you plunk down $3000 for a brand new 150mhz desktop computer, only to long for a 200mhz when they came out a few months later? 3) The E-125 has a built-in compact flash slot vs. the optional [for more money] Ipaq CF Expansion Pack. Now, there's a ... price increase on new Ipaq's because the Pack is included. 4) Compaq is known for adding their own software applications, such as "Q" this and "Q" that ... just another thing to eat-up precious memory. 5) If you're a game player, the E-125 immediately reacts to your "gamepad" commands ... the Ipaq goes into "pause" mode if you press the "gamepad" too quickly (playing a simple game like PacMan is disastrous). 6) The Ipaq's is way ahead of the E-125 ... the "brick" look of the E-125 continues Casio's "ho-hum" design. 7) The weight difference is significant. Remember though that the E-125 has a built-in cf slot - once you add the CF Jacket to the Ipaq there's practically no difference in weight and bulk. 8) The E-125 does have a built-in voice recorder (not mentioned in many reviews). The voice recorder button on the Ipaq is on the upper left corner ... when you hold the Ipaq in your left hand chances are you're going to press the button with your thumb abruptly accessing the voice recorder! 9) I've called both the Casio and Compaq customer service departments. With Casio you get bounced several times before ending up with someone who's anwer to all of your problems is a "hard reset" (all info is lost if you haven't backed it up!). Compaq's warranty provides an empty box with 5-7 day turn-around on repairs. Their reasonably priced "Carepaq" gets you next-business-day replacement of your Ipaq (you receive a "refurbished" unit, NOT a new unit). 10) The Targus Stowaway Keyboard is available for the Ipaq. Targus says it has NO plans to make one for the E-125. You can pick up a "LandWare GoType! Pro" for the E-125. It's also much sturdier than the Stowaway and a keyboard-protector is available. I'm much more impressed with my E-125. The bottom line is that it's really a matter of personal preference. Most will be attracted to the attractive looks of the Ipaq no matter what the cost, some will go with the E-125 because of it's "pros" over the Ipaq, such as the built-in CF slot and swapable battery. Good Luck!
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