lost in space

zso · 12-14-03, 02:11 PM

The missus has last years Axim 5 which I assume has the PPC 2002 OS. She wants wireless access. I am planing on buying her a WiFI card for Xmas.

Questions

Does she need the new PPC 2003 OS?

Is it worth the upgrade?

What is the MS mobile 2003, is it required for a wireless connection?

Which card would you recommend?

Any help would be appreciated.

ZSO

Nancy Stanphill · 12-14-03, 02:20 PM

PPC 2003 and MS mobile (Windows Mobile) 2003 refer to the same operating system. It is not necessary for WiFi connection, however, wireless connection is easier and more straight-forward with 2003. Check out Microsoft's website for the new features and see if it is important to you. Most people like it, but you will hear the other side too.

ikehiker · 12-14-03, 02:42 PM

Nancy's right, you will hear 'the other side,' so I may as well be part of that voice. I have both PPC02 and WM03 on separate PPCs and it took me longer to get the WiFi running on WM03 than it did with PPC02. Of course, I suppose you could say I wrote the book on WiFi with the Axim (well, the web page, anyway. See the links in my signature) so maybe I'm not a fair judge.

Besides the zero configuration WiFi claimed for WM03, the version of Pocket Internet Explorer is supposed to be faster on it. It is true but the latest PPC02 ROM upgrade that Dell has released for the X5 Advanced (R63937.EXE= ROM A04) has a much faster version of PocketIE than the earlier ROMs. Still not quite as fast as WM03 but pretty good.

Other things to consider are the third party applications your wife has on her Axim. A few programs do not work well or at all in WM03. There's a thread here that talks about these. You may want to check through it before making the decision, too.

Finally, I want to make clear that I think WM03 is a fine OS. I'm just not sure it's worth doing the upgrade.

zso · 12-14-03, 03:13 PM

Thank you all for the quick response.
The missus does not have any apps other then some sharware.

I will get the upgrade.

I quess I have to get her the apps too.

Any hints as to the WiFi card I should get?

Thanks again.
ZSO

MrKlaatu · 12-14-03, 03:34 PM

Everyone here pretty much agrees that the Socket Low Power CF Card is the best..........it's also the most expensive.

However, you can get the "same card" when you buy a Symbol, it is the same card as the Socket, but is just rebranded. It comes with it's own drivers, but they should be interchangable with Socket's should you have any problems.

I've got a Symbol on an X5 Advanced running PC2002 (A04), and it was a very simple set-up using Symbol's Drivers and I have not had a single problem with the card. Good range and power saving.

I also remember reading that the Ambicom CF Card is also a "Socket", but I cannot verify that.