Casio was one of the first companies to release
a Palm-size PC and they are also one of the first companies to release an upgraded model.
Without any fanfare, the E-10 silently disappeared leaving the E-11 in its place.
The main difference between the E-10 and new E-11 is the addition of 4mb of RAM for a
total of 8mb. The E-10 only had 4mb of RAM which was a big drawback. The other
difference with the new E-11 is the large software bundle that is included which I’ll
discuss later in the review.
You may first want to read my original Casio E-10 review
so that you can more easily understand the differences with the new E-11. Since both
the E-10 and E-11 are basically the same, this review will only be on the differences
between the two.
I’ll now go over the differences that I see between the E-10 and E-11 as far as
hardware.
Hardware:
The E-11 looks physically identical to the E-10. The only way that you can tell that they
are different is to look on the back of the unit where it says E-11 on the serial number
sticker.
Comparing the sturdiness of the E-10 and E-11 cases, there isn’t much if any differences.
In my E-10 review, I mentioned that when you shake the case, the stylus rattles a bit in
it’s holder. This is still true with the E-11 but as with the E-10 it’s not a big problem.
I had also mentioned that the only real thing that I didn’t like about the case was the
battery compartment. The cover for the battery compartment kind of wraps around the side
of the case. This in itself is fine, but the problem was that the seam on the side of the
case wobbled a bit back and forth. I may have had a loose E-10 case, because the E-11
battery compartment does not wobble at all.
Regarding the display on the E-11… It just a bit darker than the E-10’s display. Using
the contrast app, I turned them both to the darkest setting and found that the E-11 was
darker (see left picture below). The difference is between 1 and 2 marks on the contrast
scale. I also found that the backlight on the E-10 is just a tiny bit brighter. This
difference is barely noticeable… the only way I would have been able to see it was to
directly compare the two units.
(E-10 on left, E-11
on right)
The sound/speaker on the E-11 is as great as the E-10. I sure wish/hope the next
PalmPilot has as good a speaker.
As with the E-10, the E-11 also has a short battery life. With the E-10, I
got about 10-12hrs on the set of batteries and with the E-11 I got maybe 15hrs. As with
the E-10 the power application isn’t a good representation of the state of the main
batteries.. The only info it displayed for the main and backup batteries was GOOD, LOW and
VERY LOW. All I ever saw it display was GOOD… this was even when it was shutting
off automatically due to low batteries. Using rechargeable NiMH batteries is really
a much better way to go.
The E-11 now comes with an AC adapter which is a very nice addition. The only bad thing
is that you can’t plug the adapter directly into the E-11. It plugs into the cradle.
As mentioned, the main difference between the E-10 and E-11 is the addition of 4mb of
RAM for a total of 8mb. This makes a real difference because with 8mb you have adequate
room for applications. Of course you still have a compact flash slot so you can add even
more storage space. The 8mb of built in RAM gives you storage and program space so
that that you can run more programs at once. As for overall system speed, The E-11 seems
identical to the E-10.
Software:
The Casio E-11 comes with a very nice software bundle.
Microsoft Outlook 98
Microsoft’s email, contact, datebook application
ART Pocket Commander
Voice recognition for your PSPC. This application will learn your voice and respond to
your commands to do tasks like dialing a phone number, looking up a contact, or running a
program.
Bsquare/Bfax Express
Send a fax from your E-11. Allows you to attach a file or graphic to the fax.
Landware/Financial Calculator
Financial calculator with over 90 functions.
MobileSoft/TetrisCE
PSPC version of the classic tile game.
OnTheGo/Quicken Expensable
Expense reporting software that you can interface with Quicken Expensable 98 on your PC.
Even allows you to export to Excel.
Randsoft/Harmony98
Software to keep your E-11 and PC in sync. Supported packages include, MS Outlook, ACT!
3.05, Lotus Organizer GS, Lotus Notes 4.5+, and ECCO Pro 4.0
ZIO Interactive Entertainment/PalmGolf
Terrific graphical golf game for your PSPC.
Casio/Meeting Minder
Meeting Minder provides a fast and easy way to outline your notes and meeting agenda items
using your Windows CE device.
Casio/Find File Utility
Like having Explorer for your PSPC.
Casio/Image Viewer
This powerful electronic image viewing tool which supports the .bmp, .jpg and Windows CE
.2bp file formats. Image Viewer also works with CASIO’s exclusive .cam image file
format and includes a special Comments Editor for use only with the CASIO QV Digital
Camera .cam image files. Image Viewer also supports images stored on CompactFlash cards
and features auto image dithering capabilities (for crisper images), a built-in screen
capturing utility, and even an option to save images to Microsoft Note Taker format.
Casio/Casio Menu
CASIO Menu is an application launcher that runs on the E-11. It
lets you assign applications and files to 12 buttons on its main menu, from which you can
launch an application or open a file with a tap of the stylus. CASIO Menu also lets you
assign submenus to main menu buttons. Tapping such a button opens a submenu that has six
buttons to which you can assign applications and files. This lets you group applications
and files to make your E-11 operations more organized and efficient.
In summary, I will say that the E-11 is a nice upgrade from the E-10. I have tested the
Everex, and Nino units as well and if I was in the market for a Palm-size PC, I would buy
the Casio E-11 the others. It has the best display of all the units I’ve tried. That is a
very important factor for me… and now that it has 8mb of RAM and a great bonus software
bundle, it is the PSPC unit to buy. The only drawback to the E-11 as well as the other
PSPCs on the market right now is the short battery life…
Price: $399.99
Pros:
8meg of RAM
Great display and bright backlighting
Nice bonus software bundle
AC Adapter included
Cons:
Short battery life
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Product Information
| Price: | 399.99 |
| Manufacturer: | Casio |
| Pros: |
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| Cons: |
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{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Mornin’ Y’all!
I was wondering if you have received your H5455’s yet? I have some $$ to spend and was curious to see if they had arrived yet. I’m not as brave as you two and won’t order unless I know I’m going to receive something next day.
Let us know if you have them, and if its a better PDA than the 3900’s.
Thanks!
Christopher Spera
Not to mess up the trend of my ordering bad luck streak, my order is delayed until tomorrow. Of course Judie got hers today.
What am I doing wrong?!?
That is SO not right…
I dunno. You and I have similar luck. I wish I knew…
Well, in all fairness, she did order hers about 12hrs before I ordered mine
yeah, but that’s still not fair! :rolleyes:
I got to Eval a Pre Production unit from HP for work. Unfortunately I am still waiting for the Production Unit hopefully next week. On the Pre Production unit I had the feel of the device was the same as the 3900 except the themes were more like WinXP. Backup and Restore tool stayed the same which was good for us that’s how we build our images. On the Pre unit the Bluetooth, WiFi and Biometric finger print reader didn’t work. HP didn’t tell us this at the time until we locked the device up with the finger print scanning.
and had to do a hard reset. I think before I spend the money on one I will give it just a little more time and re eval the unit when I get m Production unit.
Diz
I’ve been playing with the biometrics quite a bit, and I think it may be the one thing that will actually get me to keep my PDA in a secure mode. It seemed like too much of a hassle, before. It’s worked 9 out of 10 tries, so I guess they fixed any glitches.
Judie :0)