Wednesday, December 4, 2002
How Much Memory is in that ViewSonic V35?
Posted by Ed Hansberry in "HARDWARE" @ 02:00 PM
The new ViewSonic V35 Pocket PC one of the new sub $300 Pocket PCs, and one of the more powerful according to its specifications. The ViewSonic V35 web page says, and I quote, "Includes a whopping 32MB ROM and 64MB SDRAM so you can store more e-mail, photos and music." Well, 64MB to ViewSonic and 64MB to me seems to mean two different things. :?
This device is shipping and some of our readers have one. Brandon Hill sent me this photo of the device.
There is apparently only 36.45MB of RAM available to the user. Could this device have the NAND ROM like the HP iPAQ h1910 where a section of RAM is blocked off to load the core OS into RAM? (See this article for the difference between NAND ROM and NOR ROM.) That would be fine if ViewSonic disclosed that it had 64MB of RAM, 36MB available to the user like HP does with the h1910. For many people, this isn't a big deal, 36MB is plenty. It does make a HUGE difference though for power users, as many of you are. Regardless of whether you need 64MB or not, you should know what you are buying. We are trying to get clarification from ViewSonic on this issue. In the mean time, assume your V35 on order will come with 36.45MB of RAM for you to use. If you can live with that for $299, buy the device, otherwise cancel your order.
Perhaps a review of this rant is in order for the ViewSonic PR team. :evil: A $299 36MB 16bit color 300MHz Pocket PC is a good deal, especially given the ViewSonic's size. Deceiving the public is not cool though. I don't care if it has 1GB of RAM in it. If I can only use 36, it is a 36MB device. It is that simple. Just be honest about your specs.
This device is shipping and some of our readers have one. Brandon Hill sent me this photo of the device.
There is apparently only 36.45MB of RAM available to the user. Could this device have the NAND ROM like the HP iPAQ h1910 where a section of RAM is blocked off to load the core OS into RAM? (See this article for the difference between NAND ROM and NOR ROM.) That would be fine if ViewSonic disclosed that it had 64MB of RAM, 36MB available to the user like HP does with the h1910. For many people, this isn't a big deal, 36MB is plenty. It does make a HUGE difference though for power users, as many of you are. Regardless of whether you need 64MB or not, you should know what you are buying. We are trying to get clarification from ViewSonic on this issue. In the mean time, assume your V35 on order will come with 36.45MB of RAM for you to use. If you can live with that for $299, buy the device, otherwise cancel your order.
Perhaps a review of this rant is in order for the ViewSonic PR team. :evil: A $299 36MB 16bit color 300MHz Pocket PC is a good deal, especially given the ViewSonic's size. Deceiving the public is not cool though. I don't care if it has 1GB of RAM in it. If I can only use 36, it is a 36MB device. It is that simple. Just be honest about your specs.
