smallest recommended screen?

S

stoney

举人
I just broke another screen on my T/X arghh!!
I am in China now, and thinking it's time to get a phone that will run my pleco.
I'm totally new to this technology. I guess a WinMobile would be ok this time.
Wondering what the smallest screen size is that works ok. I seldom used the full screen on the T/X. And a slightly narrower screen would be ok for me especially if it was a bit clearer. I found the palm display terrible in the outside light.
So any recommendations on a smaller, middle of the road phone? Just a phone to run pleco.

Thanks very much for any recommendations.
 
L

ldolse

状元
You mean smallest recommended screen, or phone? Several variations of the HTC Touch (original version) are available only in China for pretty good prices, I think between 100-200 bucks from the gray market suppliers. You'll pay quite a bit more if you buy it through an official Channel that also includes the warranty though.

Any smaller and you'd need to go with a square screen phone, I don't think I'd recommend that, though Mike has gone out of his way to make sure Pleco runs well on those too.
 
S

sfrrr

状元
Part of the decision depends on the condition of your eyes. I am one who must wear her glasses all the time. Based on my experience, VGA is the must-have. Also, I prefer WinMo right now because, so far, it does the best with Chinese characters. I tried PD on my HTC TouchPro for about a week--it worked and was extremely useful. However, I decided to go back to my HP iPAQ 211 full-time because I couldn't stand the tiny display. Even with my glasses on. Also, if you plan to use the audio features of PD, make sure your PDA has a standard 3.5 headphone jack and a tolerable (at the least) speaker. Also, I can't imagine using PD without a stylus (i.e. non-touch screen), nor can I imagine doing much touch-navigating. I'm a small person with small fingers and long fingernails (built-in stylii), but even I prefer a stylus.

Sandra
 
S

stoney

举人
Thanks for the replies.
My eyes are not the best but I think using pleco with large font on a small screen should be no problem. No need for surfing, just pleco.
 
L

ldolse

状元
Large font and screen or not, sfrr makes a good point about VGA. The rendering is much better on a VGA phone. If cost isn't the issue and you care more about size you could also check out the Touch Diamond, it's VGA but with a smaller form factor. If you can pre-install Pleco to a MicroSD card then you can just bring the card with you to a computer center and preview how Pleco looks in demo mode in the store.
 
S

sfrrr

状元
idolse--that's a great idea, but there are some files that, we've been told, must be in main memory. What does one do about that? Or, is U3 usable on SD cards as well as on USB thumb drives?
 
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ldolse

状元
Mike doesn't officially support it, but Pleco works 100% from a SD card. That's sufficient to demo quickly in a store.
 
S

stoney

举人
Yes, very good idea. Unfortunately, with my broken screen, I don't know how I can instal pleco on the sd card. Anyone else seen pleco on the HTC diamond?
 
M

mfcb

状元
the diamond is basically the same as the touch pro (screen size) and there are a lot of people using pleco on either touch pro or diamond. i am perfectly satisfied with my touch pro but i would not want to miss my keyboard (which the diamond doesn't have)...
 
L

ldolse

状元
If you follow the Card install instructions then you can install to a microsd card before you go to the store. No PDA required, just a card reader. Using these instructions you will need to include the correct cab file, which you can then run from the actual PDA in the store, which effectively installs the Pleco executable to internal memory anyway. (If you know how, mark the cab file read-only in the SD card directory structure so Windows Mobile doesn't delete it on you.) If you have the executable all by itself (i.e. not compressed in a cab), then you can just put that in the Pleco Program directory on the SD card as well (if you plan to test multiple pda's you might want to do this immediately on the first PDA). Again, note this isn't supported for day to day use, but works perfectly fine for this type of quick test.

Note there are two sort of redundant pieces of advice there:
  • Mark the cab file read only
  • Copy the pleco exe (+dll) from internal memory to the SD card on the first PDA you test

Note you don't need to do both of those, but you need to do one or the other if you want to test Pleco from an SD card on multiple PDAs.

@mcfb, I dig my keyboards too, but it sounds like Stoney wants as small as he can get....


I've seen Pleco on all the devices we're discussing. It runs fine of course. It definitely looks better on the Diamond than on the original HTC Touch. You haven't mentioned budget, if budget isn't an issue and you just want small then I'd go withthe Diamond.
 
S

stoney

举人
Some very useful tips here. Thanks.
I kind of want to go lower budget. considering my track record with the TX (broken twice now）.
I'm gonna start shopping around. Ｉ might go for something like the Diamond though, it looks exactly like what I want. Sounds like pleco is very usable on that screen size.
 
L

ldolse

状元
The original Touch/Touch variation is definitely your uber-budget option, but I think you can get a gray market imported diamond for quite cheap too. Best to try both out and decide if the diamond display is worth the extra dough for you.
 
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