Product Review: Casio Cassiopeia E-115 with Pocket PC

At first glance, the Casio Cassiopeia E-115 (retail price $599) looks remarkably similar to the tried-and-true Cassiopeia E-100. But in this case looks can be pleasantly deceiving. Shipping with 32MB standard, Microsoft's new Windows CE 3.0 (touted as "Pocket PC"), and a brilliant 65,536 TFT display, the E-115 has enough power and storage to handle all your PDA needs, do a little MS Office work, surf the web, double as a portable mp3 player, and even play short videos with remarkable clarity.

 
Casio Cassiopeia E-115

Hardware

Casio decided to keep the design relatively unchanged for the E-115. The case is now a flat gray as opposed to the bright silver of the E-100 and E-105, and the quick access buttons on the front and the side now have some new identifier icons. The case may not be a fancy as some other handheld CE devices, but it's functional, compact, and feels comfortable in your hand. The bump in standard memory eliminates the need for a Compact Flash memory boost right out of the box. My favorite feature of the Cassiopeia’s is their multimedia capabilities (something Palm is definitely lacking), and the E-115 profoundly delivers. The display is noticeably brighter, the colors richer, the stereo output jack cranks out rich highs and lows, and the video playback makes me wish they sold a portable DVD accessory. (Hey, I can dream... :) All in all, Casio has succeeded in the E-115's design and is sure to win many a reviewer's nod. The only drawback is the (still) serial syncing cradle. Transferring a 7MB mp3 via serial feels like a turtle to USB's hare, without a surprise ending.

Software

My first reaction to the all-new Windows CE 3.0 was a bit mixed. The bright, visually pleasing colors were a nice beginning. Lots of bright blues and smooth gradients accentuated the E-115's display capabilities. But the interface is not what you'd expect. The most obvious difference is the lack of the standard Windows interface features. The Start Menu has now been repositioned to the top of the screen, bringing a bit of a Mac feeling to the PalmPC world. And there is no "Start" button per se, just a label that also acts as the currently viewed program's title bar (well, not really a title bar, more like a title label, with no 3D effects or usual upper-right buttons), until you tap on it and the familiar "Start" appears. And with the Start Menu (and the OK button for dialogs) now at the top, the Menus (also sans 3D) have been bumped to the bottom of the screen. I have to admit, it was a little disorienting at first. I was so used to expecting the typical Windows interface, even on CE, that this flip-flop left me wondering about Microsoft's motives and why they chose this drastic interface change.

The built-in editions of Pocket Word, Excel, and Internet Explorer are welcome additions to the CE arsenal. Word and Excel test documents transferred to and from the E-115 with little or no formatting loss. Perfect for polishing up that document or spreadsheet while in transit from one computer to another. And with a little add-on connectivity via a Compact Flash modem or Ethernet card, Pocket IE will have you surfing the web in style, even if most web sites weren't designed for a 240 x 320 resolution. The new Media Player plays MP3 files as well as Microsoft's WMA files. And the Video Player needs to be seen to believed. But alas, some things stay the same. Some annoyances that were in Windows CE 2.0 unfortunately remain in 3.0. There is still no easy mechanism for quitting programs, the only way is to click through hoops (Start->Settings->System->Memory->Running Programs). At least there is a "Stop All" button now to shut down all running programs. And with the increased user-friendliness, comes less customization (like changing the background image of the desktop, which 2.0 had, but there really isn't a desktop at all in 3.0, unless you count the "Today" screen).

Conclusion

Overall, the Casio Cassiopeia E-115 is a choice pick among Windows CE devices. With its brilliant display, impressive multimedia capabilities, increased memory and plenty of bundled software, it's easy to get over the minor idiosyncrasies of Windows CE. If you're looking for a PDA that does more than just collect information, you can't go wrong with the Cassiopeia E-115.

About The Author: Marc Robards is a Microsoft Certified Solutions Developer who is searching for the perfect balance between Windows and Linux. Marc can be reached at marc@wirelessdevnet.com