Casio Cassiopeia E-105 Palm-Size PC

I got the E-105 and have used it for a few months now. The MP3 player is OK, but after playing 5 or 6 songs, it hogs memory and starts cracking. The only way to remedy is to soft reset the machine. Using the MP3 player slowly drains the memory until it performs painfully slow. The sync cradle does not work properly and disconnects from the computer at random intervals. The screen is all scratched from using the stylus (weak). The more programs loaded onto the 32 megs of internal memory, the slower it gets. Loading even 1 MP3 file on the 32 megs of internal memory makes it painfully slow. What is the point of having so much memory if you can't use it? CE could use a new version too. There is no option to close programs. You have to either reset the machine or go to START, SETTINGS, SYSTEM, TASK MANAGER, END TASK to close programs. What's up with that? The intent for a good product is there, but don't beleive the hype, this product is not ready for the masses.

I've owned everything from Apple's Newton to the Palm Pilot. Nothing compares to the E100 or E105. I purchased an E100 when they first came out and recently upgraded to the E105. My only complaint with the unit is that it's more difficult to find software and accessories for as compared to a Palm Pilot. The hardware is great. Those little nuances such as the built in joystick and digital stereo sound are hard to live without. I've added the camera attachment for it. It's nice, but not a substitute for a real digital camera. I've also added the IBM 340 micro drive, which I've easily filled with software (mapping, games, application, reference, digital audio books and MP3 audio files). I recommend Utopiasoft's Hum for MP3 playback. If you're a businessperson, I definitely recombined Casio Soft's pTab software. It's an Excel compatible spreadsheet app that's incredible. I also recommend eWallet. It allows you to carry around everything (except money) you carry in your regular wallet (travel membership info, credit cards, passwords, pictures, etc.). You can also use the E105 to browse the Internet. One quick cable and a $20 web browser on you're on the Net (Not pseudo web browsing (two way paging) like the Palm VI), but real browsing of color web pages with graphics. In this short of space, I can't communicate everything this PDA is to me. Just buy one and you'll see!

I've had my E-105 for about a week now and wouldn't part without it. It's perfect for toting around all my personal info as well as some minor computing tasks. Love using the note feature for jotting down notes in a meeting... also a crowd pleaser (perfect stall when you need one). The handwriting recognition 'JOT' is much easier to learn than Palm's Grafitti.

My only gripe is not with the product but more with WinCE. When you want to turn a program off, you have to go UTILITIES->SYSTEM->SELECT PROGRAM->CLICK END TASK. A pain when you've got a few apps open and need some more memory, but that's a CE thing that I'm sure MS will fix. The best PDA out there!

I recently bought a Cassiopeia and I am happy to say that I have ABSOLUTLY NO PROBLEM WITH IT! Well, except y that you can't play Age of Empires II on it!

The Cassiopeia has helped me get much more organised. It's "Tasks" menu let's you enter all the things you have to do, and it reminds you to do them!

You can take down notes in it; It's got a character recodniser as well as a keyboard, and this alows for fast typing speeds.

I've also Heard that you can buy an emulator of the Net for it, and this alows you to play any game you want on the Cassiopeia! If Anyone knows where this site is, E-mail me at: Rohama@hotmail.com

I picked the E-105 vs. other PDA's (previously owning a Palm 5000 & a Psion 5) because of it's color display, spacious memory/expandibility, and the ability to play stereo MP3s. I can view images from my digital camera on it (because it can use compact flash cards - I have 100 megs worth!), and I keep full color pictures on it. It syncs very well with Outlook (faster than a Palm) and it retains all the Outlook functionality (notes in an event). It hooks up to a PC via a serial port although USB would be much better (this would be an incredible addition for transfering large MP3 files). I bought Microsoft Maps & Streets ($20 after the rebate), and I can create custom US maps (it doesn't highlight your route for you... and you have to cut and paste the directions as text files). The Microsoft Audio Player does not play MP3s natively from a flash card and you have to use the proprietary .WMA format, so I bought the Conduits' Pocket MP3 Player (I have gigs of MP3s). Unfortunetely, there is a slight buzzing when I play back MP3 (during quiet passages... it's not terrible, but it is noticable). Battery life is about 2 hours (of audio playback), but strictly as a PDA (calendar, contacts, reading email, & notes), it can last a couple of days. The movie player is neat to demo, but it's not all that useful (it would be cool if I could USB transfer a video of the daily Top News Stories to it - 2.5 minute of video is 6.6 megs). Doom runs on it (the screen is too small). I can play Audible audio books on it. All in all, it's a true multimedia PDA. I just ordered a keyboard for it, and I hope to use it on the coach seat of an airplane to write/reply to emails (rather than powering up my clunky laptop).