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Standard Features of Pocket PCs

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The Pocket PC comes with loads of standard features. Every Pocket PC comes with a stereo headphone jack and Windowns Media Player so you can play MP3 files and Windown Meida format movies. There are also several commericla video players available from other manufacturer so you can play MPEG1, AVI, and DivX files. Pocket Word, Pocket Excel, and Pocket Internet Explorer are just some of the programs that are available for the Pocket PC. There is also a calculator, MSN Messenger, and Pictures for viewing photos. Many Pocket PCs also come with Terminal Services and MS Reader. Handwriting recognition is part of the operating system. There are three handwriting options pre-installed on the units: one for printing letters, one for writing in script, and one that's a grafitti clone. If you don't want to use the handwriting feature, you can type your information into the onscreen keyboard.

All PPCs come with ActiveSync, which is the desktop syncing application for Windows desktops. ActiveSync supports parterships with two computers (home and work), and you can choose the information you sync (for example, you might choose to sync contacts, but not e-mails). The PPC also has file/application install capabilities (in "guest" mode) for as many PCs as you want. ActiveSync can also be used to install applications and transfer files to the PDA and to backup the PDA.

Battery life for a Pocket PC is about three days on average. If the battery drains completely, data will be lost, so remember to charge your Pocket PC and back it up. Most PPCs have 32, 64 or 128 Megs of RAM (memory), and 32 megs or more of ROM (where the OS and built-in applications are permanently stored). They run on XScale ARM family processors at speeds of 200 to 624 MHz, depending on the model. The specifics vary, depending on the price of the unit, but all of the models have a lot of power. Most PPCs have one SD card slot and some have a CompactFlash Card slot. This is generally used for adding more memory. The CF expansion slot can also accommodate CF modems, wired Ethernet cards, Bluetooth cards and WiFi (802.11b wireless Ethernet networking) cards. All Pocket PCs are equipped with IrDA infrared ports, a 3.5 mm stereo headphone jack, a stylus, built-in speaker and microphone, syncing cradle or cable, rechargeable Lithium Ion battery, color display and hardware-based navigation buttons. Several models also feature integrated WiFi and/or Bluetooth wireless networking.

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