Tuesday, May 2, 2006
A Truly Pocketable All-In-One Package - The Pharos Traveler GPS 525 (Part 1)
Posted by Don Tolson in "HARDWARE" @ 08:00 AM
Benchmarks
As noted in the specifications, all the usual Pocket Office applications are provided (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Windows Media Player 10, and Pocket Internet Explorer) and the standard assortment of tools which normally come with Windows Mobile 5 operating system. Generally, the applications worked pretty well, and the unit felt quick and responsive. Taking a look at the Spb Benchmark results, however, tells a somewhat different story.
Figure 20: Overall benchmark results for the Traveler 525. No surprise here, given what WM5 has done to overall system response.
Figure 21: Platform results. What I find pretty amazing here is how close the Pharos is to the Axim which is running its CPU at over double the speed!
Figure 22: File results. The similarity here between the Pharos and the Axim probably explains proximity of the Platform results.
Figure 23: CPU results. Yes, it's the bottom of the heap -- but remember, it's only a 300 Mhz CPU...
Figure 24: Graphics results – here, the Traveler shines! Good news for a unit which needs to display/update maps quickly.
The only trouble spot with the Pocket PC portion of the software was our old friend Activesync. I found that if I left the Traveler 525 connected to my laptop for an extended period running Activesync (say about five or six hours), it would get confused and lose the connection. No amount of unplugging/plugging in the unit would restart the connection. The only way to bring it back was to soft-reset the Pharos Traveler. I’m not sure whose fault this is, but I’ve seen it very occasionally on the Axim X50v as well under WM5.
Conclusions
So is this my dream convergence device? Well, not quite. I love the size and pocketability of the unit, and the included accessories (especially the card wallet!) make the unit ‘ready to use’ right out of the box. But I find the screen is a bit too small for comfortable use – both on input and viewing of finer map details. I can't reliably use the Letter Recognizer or the Keyboard for input.
I’ve been fighting with WM5 for almost six months now, (on an Axim X50v) and I still have a number of issues with the way that power management and Activesync have been implemented. (Note this is not specific to the Traveler 525, but of WM5 in general). Unfortunately, this means that the battery on the Traveler can’t take me through an entire work day without being plugged in, which limits its usefulness.
Next time...
In part 2, we’ll take a look at Ostia, the navigation software provided on the Pharos Traveler 525, as I run it through its paces around the two of the largest cities in Western Canada and out into the hinterlands on a ski vacation!
Stay tuned!!!
Don is an Associate Director of Systems Development and Project Management with Fujitsu Consulting. When not acting as the 'other' bus-driver/partner of the family, he enjoys a quiet wander through the woods -- on and off trail.
