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The NEC PocketGear is a robust unit thanks to its aluminium case. It's an attractively designed product with some useful extra applications and could particularly appeal to those with a requirement for good audio capabilities.
However, its main drawback is that its 206MHz StrongARM SA-1100 processor is backed by just 32MB of RAM.
The casing houses some useful features, including a headphone jack and a speaker that's situated at the centre of the four-way paddle control.
You can expand the device via the Type II CompactFlash slot at the top, which has a small window that allows you to see whether or not a card is inserted. There's also an SD Card slot at the side.
The protective screen attaches by means of two plastic lugs, although one of these broke during our review. You can also attach the PocketGear to a carry strap.
To make it more suitable for use as a digital dictaphone, there's an automatic gain control provided as one of the utilities supplied by NEC. This sets the recording level for the microphone located in the top of the device.
The other programs include an illumination level control that gives five brightness levels, an Asset Viewer that gives such details as ROM date and version, FlashROM size and model, as well as a device ID. You can toggle between the Fast IR (4Mbit/s) and Slow IR (115.2Kbit/s) modes, as well as set wake-up events and choose to auto-run the CompactFlash, SD Card and PC Card services on startup.
NEC has also written software to allow you to set the colour of the indicator LED for device events such as USB synchronisation and Wake on Ring. In terms of standard Microsoft applications, you'll find MSN Messenger in addition to the standard Pocket PC 2002 package.
Similar to Casio and Toshiba devices, the PocketGear offers both CompactFlash II and SD compatibility. Otherwise it's very similar to other Pocket PC devices. Additional hardware controls include a jog wheel you can press in to select a function, and a quick launch button to launch the Notes application, into which you can input either text or audio notes.
The PocketGear's upgrade capabilities mean you don't have to worry about compatibility, although its memory size doesn't make it suitable for power users.
Contact
NEC: 1 Simpson Parkway, Livingston, Scotland EH54 7BH
Tel 0870 010 6329, Fax 01506 402521
www.nec-online.co.uk
See also:
Great software bundle and excellent expandability make this a PDA to check out. 17 May 2002
All Palm PDAs
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