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Compaq Aero 2100: A Handy Windows CE Handheld August 23, 1999 By Richard Hoffman Palm-format units. Handheld data-collection devices. Palm PCs. Personal digital assistants. Will someone please come up with a decent name for these things? You'd think with all the clever marketing people out there, they could do better than a series of names that sound like they describe pieces of obsolete military equipment. By any name, however, Compaq Computer Corp.'s new Aero 2100 would still smell as sweet, with its sharp color screen, lithium-ion battery, voice recording/audio playback and generally well-conceived ergonomics. It's not really palm-sized, unless you've got hands like Andre the Giant, but it's a generally usable and capable device. The Compaq Aero 2100 is a Windows CE unit (or, as Microsoft prefers, a "palm-size PC"), which means it overlaps in functionality and interface with Windows 98/NT. Windows CE programs can be written in several languages, including Visual Basic. The Aero 2100 comes with 12 MB of ROM and either 8 MB or 16 MB of RAM (split between program and data space), compared with 2 MB or 4 MB of RAM for 3Com Corp.'s Palm Pilots. Then again, Windows CE's memory use is less efficient than that of the Palm OS, and programs written for it are larger, so it needs the extra RAM. So far, there are fewer programs available for Windows CE than for the Palm OS, primarily because the developer community is smaller. For test purposes, I concentrated on the programs preloaded on the Aero 2100, and used it as my primary organizer for a month, under a variety of environments, inside and out. OS issues aside, it's a genuinely well-constructed unit. The 256-color 240x320 TFT color display is sharp, and it works well in a wide range of lighting situations. In bright outdoor light, the reflective screen was easy to read, though the colors were somewhat washed out. Indoors, two levels of backlit illumination proved usable in any lighting level I came across, but, of course, the higher, brighter level uses battery power quickly. The overall design of the Aero 2100 is sleek and clean, and the controls are extremely well-placed. The pen is housed inside the unit, in a spring-loaded well at the top, just behind the IrDA port. A "jog wheel" and "instant exit" button are on the left side, well-placed for single-hand operations, though for some odd reason the included applications don't fully support them for all functions. The voice recorder can be activated via a recessed button for single-handed quick memos, and the speaker can play back recorded messages, as well as downloaded sounds and files (the proprietary-format player from www.audible.com is included), with reasonable fidelity. A headphone jack is included for privacy. There is a shielded CF (Compact Flash) slot intended to allow the use of expansion cards, including wireless pager and modem cards, though none were yet available at press time.
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