Glass Lantern, LLC - Articles: Pocket PC Resources

Pocket PC digital photography resourcesCreated October 9, 2003

This article provides information for digital photographers using or considering a Pocket PC.

Why a Pocket PC?

Your digital camera is great, but how do you store and view all of your pictures when you're on vacation or doing a big shoot on location? You need a bigger screen than the tiny one on the back of the camera, but laptops are heavy and fragile. Memory cards are expensive, and who needs another one-trick-pony purchase, such as a picture storage device, that only does one thing? With the right software, a Pocket PC is a great tool for viewing and managing the transfer of pictures from your memory cards to a less expensive hard disk. The Pocket PC has a large screen visible even in direct sunlight, a fast processor, good case and accessory options, long battery life, and much more. With it, you have access to the full spectrum of built-in Pocket PC software, including a File Explorer to manipulate your files, voice recording functionality, and much more.

Since the most fundamental use of a Pocket PC is for examining images, this article will focus on selecting a Pocket PC to use with a program such as PocketLoupe. If you are also interested in connecting a hard disk and transferring images using Pixfer, please refer to Hard Disk Storage with a Pocket PC, which covers this topic in depth.

Recommendations

If you only need to view images, and will not be transferring from storage cards to hard disks with Pixfer, almost any current Pocket PC device will work. The key is to make sure that it has a slot that will take the card from your camera. Here are the strongest contenders and the devices we receive the most questions about:

HP iPaq 1900 series: Very small and light, but limited in power, and no Compact Flash slot. In addition, users report a yellow tinge to the screen. Definitely try this out before you purchase it for image viewing!
HP iPaq 2200 series: Small and light, yet quite powerful, this is a front-running Pocket PC device. Some users indicate that the screen on this device has a subtle grid pattern that is sometimes visible - we have seen this as well. Whether this is objectionable or not is up to you.
HP iPaq 5555: The top end of the iPaq line, this device has a very good screen. The issue is that it only has an SD slot built-in, so if your camera uses Compact Flash, you'll need an expansion sleeve to use it. The downside is that the sleeve grows the size of the device considerably, and also adds cost. Although they are no longer available new, the iPaq 3800 and 3900 series devices are also very solid for viewing images, and should be available for much less than the 5555.
Toshiba e755: A good all-around device with a large screen, this is also a solid contender at a price much less than the 5555.

In sum, if you want to use a Pocket PC to view images, shoot some on a card, take them to a store, and try it out on a few devices, looking at performance, screen quality, etc. Only you can decide the trade-off of price, screen size/quality, battery life, etc. If you have the money and don't mind the size with the expansion sleeve, the iPaq 5555 is probably hard to beat. If size matters and the grid pattern does not bother you, the 2200 series is a good bet, although if you need built-in WiFi, take a look at the Toshiba e755. Other users report good results with the Dell Axim and other devices.

Selecting a Pocket PC

There are a number of issues you'll need to consider. The Pocket PC marketplace changes rapidly, and there are plenty of sites (see end of this article) that provide specifications and reviews for the models that are currently available. Here are some specifications you'll want to pay close attention to:

Screen color depth: Most (if not all) Pocket PC devices running Windows Mobile 2003 have 16-bit color screens, and there is really no reason to purchase anything less. If you are looking at older devices, the extra 4 bits of color over 12-bit may not sound like it would make a big difference, it means the difference between only 4,096 colors and over 65,000.
Slots for cards and storage: Some Pocket PC devices have built-in slots that can hold add-on storage cards. Ideally, your Pocket PC should have a slot that allows you to insert a card from your camera without an add-on expansion pack (sometimes called a sleeve or jacket). Some newer devices even have two slots, such as one SD and one Compact Flash. This would allow you to transfer pictures from SD to a less expensive CF Microdrive without the additional bulk and expense of an add-on expansion pack.
Expansion accessories: Even if you do not use Pixfer to transfer images from cards to a hard disk or portable storage device, you may want to connect your storage device to your Pocket PC to view the images after they are transferred. If so, make sure the device has either a PCMCIA (PC Card) expansion pack available, or USB host support. Note that no current Pocket PC devices have a built-in USB mass storage driver, which is necessary to use a USB hard disk. Anypak sells a driver, as well as very small USB hard drives. For more information, see Hard Disk Storage with a Pocket PC. Note that some cameras can directly connect via USB, since they act just like a USB hard disk. Check your camera manual to see if this is possible, and not that you would still need the mass storage USB driver.
Processor & memory: If you are going to view multi-megapixel digital images, make sure you have a fast processor (XScale 400Mhz or faster) and at least 32MB of built-in memory. There is little reason not to get at least 64MB.
Battery capacity: You should be able to get a significant number of hours out of the built-in battery. For long trips, make sure that you can hook up an external charger or battery pack easily - some power options are listed in Hard Disk Storage with a Pocket PC.
Outdoor screen readability: Most laptop screens become impossible to see in sunlight, while many Pocket PC devices really shine both indoors and out. Make sure to try a Pocket PC in different lighting situations to make sure you'll be able to view images effectively. Most current devices do a decent job of this.

Software

There are a large number of tools out there for your Pocket PC:

Of course, Pixfer is critical for efficient image transfer, and PocketLoupe displays your JPEG images, as well as the large embedded thumbnails in raw formats such as Canon CRW, Nikon NEF, Minolta MRW, Fuji S2 RAF, and more.
StorageTools or Flash Format will format and verify storage cards if you have corruption issues.
Some devices can be overclocked to make them run faster. Although this is obviously not supported by the manufacturers and has the potential to damage your device, some users find it significantly speeds up their devices.

General Pocket PC & Digital Photography info

Pocket PC:
PocketPC.com, Pocket PC Passion, Brighthand, PocketPCThoughts
Pocket PC software:
PocketGear, Handango
Equipment prices:
PriceWatch, TechBargains
Digital Photography:
Digital Photography Review, Steve's Digicams, RobGalbraith.

Update History

10/09/2003	Overhauled for Windows Mobile 2003 and new devices. Broke out Pixfer/image transfer information to new article. An older version of this article covering the Pocket PC landscape before Windows Mobile 2003 was released can be found here, although the key information is also covered in this version.
03/03/2003	Updated with current information and links.
11/06/2002	Added recommendation for full kit & images of iPaq setup. Minor other edits & clarifications.
09/03/2002	First posted.

Disclaimer

Articles attempt to provide accurate and timely data, but use this information at your own risk; Glass Lantern, LLC is not responsible for any bad experiences due to inaccuracies, exclusions, or other issues, and does not vouch for any of the products or suppliers in this article, which is meant to provide guidance only. Make sure you are comfortable with the solution you decide to use through your own research, and investigate any company before handing over your credit card. Now go take pictures.