How to Surf the Web with Your Audiovox Maestro and the Audiovox CDM-9100 cellphone: That's right -- no wires, no plug-in CF modem; all you need is your Vox and the CDM-9100 phone. The Phone: It's a bit bigger than some of the other phones (not much), but holy cow -- it is LIGHT. It feels almost like one of my kids' play-cell phones! Packed with all the standard features (call-waiting, voicemail, etc). The phone was $99 with 2-year activation; with 1-year, it would have been (I think) $129. Overall, just fine. The Plan: I signed up for the small plan for now, as I will be using my Voicestream service until we actually move to Montana in mid-July. So I got the $35/month plan, with no-long-distance/no-roaming charge option. It gives me 300 minutes per month anytime, and (hold on to your hat) 4,000 minutes during nights & weekends. Once we move, we'll add another phone for the wife, bump the anytime minutes up to about 750 for us to share, and it will be about $75-$95/month. The phone features the "wireless web" service, which is a text-only feature...but it does work, based on my limited experience over the last several days. I checked some news (MSNBC, ABCNews), surfed an Amazon site, checked weather forecast for here & Montana, and checked & sent e-mail from Hotmail. That wireless-web feature costs only $6.95 per month; minutes spent surfing are simply deducted from my total minutes. Nice feature, good for quick-checks without having to plug in the Vox. Now the good part: using the cable that came with my Vox, I just plug it in to the bottom of the Audiovox, plug the other end into the bottom of the phone, open Pocket Explorer, and then type in an address. Boom! I checked my web-based e-mail, surfed my site, checked out pocketpcmag.com, did a Google search, browsed Metafilter, and checked some friends' blogs. All in the beautiful color-screen I've come to love on my Vox. It really was as simple as plugging in the cable to connect the Vox to the phone. UPDATE: I'm testing out MultiIE 2.0 right now - so far, so good -- allows you to open multiple windows, which is great when one site is loading so you can check other sites. FIfteen-day trial, then only $15 to register. The semi-bad news: it only connects at 14.4. I know, it sounds horrible, especially compared to my RoadRunner cable-modem, but it really wasn't as bad as I had imagined 14.4 would be. Simple sites (like my domain e-mail, and Google, MSN Mobile etc) popped up within 5-10 seconds. Pocketpcmag.com took about 20 seconds; Amazon.com mobile took about 15-20 seconds. Metafilter loaded in under 25 seconds. Even graphics-heavy sites, like CNN.com, load in under 45 seconds (usually).
Overall: I love it! I've been spoiled by T-1 lines at work for over 5 years, and cable-modem at home for 2 years. But when away from my computer, I still always had the urge to check mail, browse headlines, check out friend's sites, etc. With this solution, it takes a bit longer than I'm used to, but IT WORKS and it's too cool.
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Some practical (and timely, for me!) advice & tips about using your PPC while searching for a new house!
Yahoo! Mobile offers a large directory of downloads.
I really like the PocketPC Addict site. Great layout, plenty of functionality, and a small but well-organized forum/board site. Go there, register (free), and check in often.
Google Directory - Computers > Systems > Handhelds > Windows CE > Pocket PC
Google Directory - Computers > Systems > Handhelds > Windows CE > Pocket PC
This might be interesting...Pocket Relaxer.
Web McDeb, of skin-creation fame and who went into early retirement in November, is BACK -- and with a combination blog/skins site! So far, so good -- take a minute to check out her MT-powered site, browse a few skins, and welcome her back.
UPDATE: Courtesy of the aforementioned Web McDeb...how to use 2002 Themes in Dashboard! I've always wondered if this could be done -- and now I know. Thanks Deb!
How about some popup screenshot pix? OK, here you go: Some songs I have loaded; more songs. And here is a screenshot of my PQV image-viewing program. One more shot of a main menu screen.
UPDATE: I've ditched the Today Screen stuff and reverted back to using Dashboard...while I really enjoyed some of the Today Screens, and am still trying to find (or create) similar Dashboard screens, the Dashboard utility is simply better & easier to use. Also -- I went ahead and paid the $25 to purchase Fitaly. Like the old tagline about a boardgame, Fitaly is "simple to learn, a lifetime to master." I'm trying.
One of the *best* programs I've found so far is the Pocket TV Browser. It's basically a TV Guide for your PPC. After installing, it will automatically download and then update your PPC with TV listings for your area/cable system. You can customize it to only download the channels that you actually watch, and (whee!) when you click on a listing, it gives a description of the program, a synopsis of the movie, etc. Powerful program! Free two week trial, only $13.95 to register. Definitely a keeper!
RECENTLY:
Looks like my friend Paul has been studying hard to get good grades on his new IPAQ: he forwarded a link to PPC4You! Nifty site, plenty of downloads. Check it out. And courtesy of Pocket PC Mag (which has the Maestro on the May 2002 cover!), here's a list of the best sites for PDA links
Miscellaneous:
Here's some screenshots from my Maestro for your viewing pleasure: One of my Dashboard skins, a map from Pocket Streets, and a project I'm working on in MS Word.
Check out the Dashboard Skins Library from WinCustomize...excellent selection
General Info Sites:
PocketPCHow2 Log, PocketPCpower, PocketMatrix, PocketNow
Discussion Boards: The best way to stay current on problems, fixes, downloads, and support.
Brighthand has the most active & comprehensive forums.
PocketPCPassion is pretty lively, too.
MS & ZD Net have an unwieldy board; not very helpful.
I made the switch! I traded up from my trusty Compaq iPaq 3135 to an Audiovox Maestro! The difference: COLOR, baby! And 32MB ROM and 32MB RAM (vice 16/16 on ipaq), built-in CF and SD slots (no sled!), PPC 2002 OS! Links forthcoming. Here's a Today Screen, this one featuring autumn leaves.
Brighthand Discussion: What does your Today Screen look like?
SnoopSoft Dashboard Information. Finally, after over a month, I got it to work properly -- and it is nice. Trying out some skins; obviously they don't look as good on my mono-paq as they would on a color, but what they heck...and BTW: tried out a 3800 model at Best Buy today -- hooooo, baby! It was truly amazing. The speed was better than I imagined, and the colors were so crisp and clear. Only $474 (gulp). They also had a color Jornada (52X?) for only $149 -- $149! - but they only had the display model left -- sold out the stock pretty quickly.
An excellent roundup of FAQs and links from JuryDuty (via Brighthand) for the MonPaq (iPAQ 3135). Pocket PC Shopping. 4 Pocket PC.com. And wouldja believe a 128MB Compact Flash card for only $42?
E-BOOK NEWS: Have you read any good e-books lately? Many IPAQ'ers claim that Peanut Press is the best source for e-books. And for the latest news in e-books, check out Pocket PC eBooks Watch. Another great site, including free downloads & news, is esspc-ebooks. And, of course, the obligatory link to Microsoft Reader: Information, downloads (free dictionary!), and instructions for publishing your own e-books
Very well-designed site from Peter at Ojster's World; he also has some good links & reviews of e-books. Another good site for & about e-books is
Handheld Computing Resources on the Internet contains links to many sources of information regarding the use of HPC/PPC/Palm in clinical practice. Handheldmed - Columns/Features documents some of the many ways in which providers utilize handhelds in their daily practice.
I didn't know that you could upload files to IPAQ thru a Compact Flash reader, thereby by-passing ActiveSync. Amazon.com sells CF readers for cheap, by the way.
An excellent site for viewing (and purchasing) a huge variety of PDA cases is DirectCase. Covers all models of PDAs (PPC, Palm, H/PC).
What's the difference between different types of memory cards & systems?
Good overview of many different Pocket PCs, including many links to reviews of both hardware & software, user groups, and more. What I have enjoyed the most so far is the exhaustive review of available cases/jackets for the IPAQ and other such devices. These reviews are extremely thorough and even contain great close-up pictures of the cases both with & without the devices in them.
From Microsoft: Getting Started 101 - Step 12
From Applian: Pocket PC Software and More
Microsoft Pocket PC Page - FAQ, files, etc.
Guess what I bought? Yay - a new toy! (does happy dance) This is phenomenal...a few days ago, this puppy retailed for $349.99, and is still listed at the Compaq website for $399.00. My price, at CompUSA: $199. But that's not all - also included was a $50 mail-in rebate. Whee! I nearly cried when I opened it, turned it on, started the Windows Media Player, and heard sound emanating from the speaker. Oops...I have to be quiet right now, while my new baby is taking her first bottle (initial charging - est. 3 hours). In the meantime, here is some stuff that will help me tame this new contraption: message boards and fan-club/info sites.
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