Product Reviews

PDAs/Phones

Casio Cassiopeia A-20 [PC Pro]
COMPANY:	PRICE: Ł425 (Ł500 inc VAT)
RATING:	ISSUE: 42 DATE: Feb 98

Verdict: Not as flashy or cutting edge as HP's 620LX HPC, but the Cassiopeia still has all the advantages of Windows CE 2 in a workable package.

Last year saw some changes in the PDA market. First, US Robotics stomped in with the Pilot, which turned the PDA paradigm on its head; Psion then fought back with the Series 5, and Microsoft pushed into the brawl with Windows CE.

Now the smoke has finally cleared, it's surprising to see that some fighters are still standing. The Pilot is now under 3Com's control, the Series 5 has spawned a clone in the shape of the Geofox, and Microsoft - surprise, surprise - is attempting to control everything via an OS. Hardware vendors such as Philips, Hewlett-Packard, NEC, Compaq and others have all launched WinCE-powered HPCs, proving that Windows CE can't be written off. In fact, it's actually improved.

After the impressive debut last month of HP's 620LX (reviewed issue 41,p180), followed by Sharp's innovative HC-4500 (reviewed p167), this month it's the turn of Casio's Cassiopeia A-20. Although it certainly won't turn as many heads as either HP's or Sharp's models, it's more than Ł200 cheaper, is smaller and is a lot more likely to fit in the average pocket.

Opening up the Cassiopeia's stylish gunmetal grey case, you might think there's been a mistake when you switch on the power. But Casio has made a deliberate choice to go with a four-greyscale 640 x 240 screen, instead of the eye-opening 256 colours supported by the 620LX. It's a surprising choice, as WinCE 2 supports up to 16 shades of grey. Nonetheless, the Casio's display remains clear and usable, if a little too dim for anything below normal lighting conditions. To compensate, there's a backlight included which can be set to switch off after a user-definable idle period.

Casio claims the Cassiopeia will run for 25 hours on two AA batteries. Of course, heavy use of the backlight, the Type II PC Card slot and the PC connector cable will diminish this. Curiously, as the batteries ran low on our test model, the backlight developed an attitude, switching off after only a few seconds of use and refusing to come back into operation.

The Cassiopeia's keyboard won't win many fans. The keys are reminiscent of a scientific calculator keyboard. It's

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not that the action is bad, more that the keys are so small and fiddly that typing at any sort of speed is a feat of digital dexterity. I'd also challenge anyone to hit the or keys without pressing the key at the same time, without looking at the keyboard. I did get used to it after a while, but the keyboard on the Psion Series 5, or even the Series 3, is still better.

In terms of software, Casio provides the standard CE 2 package - the only addition being a utility to link the Cassiopeia to one of Casio's QV range of digital cameras and organise stored images. Judging from the sample images included, you'd have trouble recognising colour photographs on the mono screen. Pocket Word, Excel and Internet Explorer have really captured the feel of the Windows 95 desktop, while Outlook is more of a mixed bag. The email client is perfectly serviceable, and the task list and calendar applets are decent, but the contacts app is a bit of a problem. It still looks and feels like Schedule+ and, crucially, it still needs Schedule+ installed to function. As Outlook has now been on the scene for over a year, this is something of a disgrace.

This is the real gripe I have with Windows CE 2 as a whole. There's no doubt that the connection capabilities have seriously improved. You can connect the Cassiopeia via the 115Kbits/sec IR port, or the included RSC232c interface lead. All the connection and synchronisation apps are included in the box, and Microsoft's new ActiveSync technology makes maintaining contacts and calendar data between the PC and the handheld remarkably easy. Unfortunately, in order to get the contacts data out of Outlook and into the Cassiopeia, I had to first export the data to Schedule+. Hopefully, by the time WinCE 3 emerges, Microsoft will realise that users want a simple, one-touch, plug and play approach to synchronising Outlook - including the Contacts folder - between the PC and the HPC. The current arrangement needs to be dramatically improved. I'd also like some decent documentation: neither the traditionally thin Microsoft OS guide nor the on-line help gave me enough information on how to import my Contacts database.

All the same, even in mono it's difficult to ignore the new-found potency of WinCE 2. When using my Series 3c, I'm always aware of moving from a PC to an alien device. With the Cassiopeia, it's much more like moving from one PC to a different smaller one. It hasn't got the real PC feel that the HP 620LX boasts, but it's not far off. It's also lighter, smaller and significantly cheaper. Given the choice I'd still plump for a Psion Series 5 and save a little money, but if you want Windows in the palm of your hand this is a usable alternative.

By Stuart Andrews

SPECIFICATIONS:
Hitachi SH3/75MHz RISC processor, 8Mb of RAM, 8Mb of ROM, four-greyscale 640 x 240 pixel screen, one Type II PC Card slot, 115Kbits/sec infrared serial port, RSC232c serial port, CompactFlash card slot, integrated speaker and microphone, takes two AA batteries. Dimensions: 185 x 94 x 24.5mm (W x D x H). Weight: 430g.