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Casio Cassiopeia PV-S400Plus Pocket Viewer

Casio Cassiopeia PV-S400Plus Pocket Viewer

List Price: $49.95
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Very good pocket computer
Review: It's not just an organizer, it's a full functional pocket computer. It's not true it cannot support handwrite recognition - you can upload a graffiti software ....It can be your real pocket friend :)

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Basic - But Good
Review: My old Sharp Zaurus was too bulky and I needed a PDA with a scheduler, a system that allows me to jot down notes, something to keep me busy when I'm stuck waiting and a phone book. I was shocked at how well this inexpensive unit does all of that. The scheduler allows you to link appointments with contacts in your phone book - double bonus. Another plus is the `quick memo' that allows you to write notes on the screen. Negative: the cradle has a serial port while many PCs have USB connections. You can buy a converter for about $...though.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Great Gift
Review: My wife is not the most technical when it comes to electronics, however she LOVES her new toy I bought her. It is a very basic model for doing basic tasks and keeping records of phone and finances. Perfect for the technical beginer.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A bargain
Review: OK, I admit it...at first, I was scared. I had been exposed to the HP Jornada and the Palm at work (I work in the IS department, so although I didn't have one, I got to play with them). However, their prices were much higher (some 10 times higher). I didn't want to spend that much money on something I didn't know I'd use. Then, I saw the Casio Cassiopeia PV-S400Plus at a local discount store, and they had one out that I could tinker with. Since this was to be my Christmas present, my wife told me, "Go ahead, spend more money and get what you want." But, I kept eyeing this in the stores, so she finally told me to go ahead and get it. It did everything I wanted it to do. The manuals are virtually useless, but it can be figured out nevertheless. The syncs with Microsoft Outlook and Excel are awesome! And, for a few dollars, I have a PDA that does everything I wanted. If you're not stuck on a name, or don't have any use for whistles and bells, then this is the PDA for you.

Now, almost a year later, my wife has a new job, and she has decided that SHE needs one too! Since she works with spreadsheets, she likes the ability to transfer Microsoft Excel files to the Pocket Viewer. Also, there is a great Shopping List add-in that we've used dozens of times on our many shopping trips. It took me a matter of minutes to transfer my list of contacts to hers, using the PC Sync program. That's another great thing, if you want to do most of your typing on your computer, then transfer the files to your Pocket Viewer, you can do that.

I've seen a couple of reviews from people with battery problems, but mine still has the batteries that were shipped with the product, and I've had it now for 10 months. The backlight can severely curtail battery life, but I don't use it in the dark. I've carried it in my briefcase, my backpack, and in my pants pocket. I know plenty of people who have more expensive PDAs, and never use them, but I definitely use this.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: I love my new toy
Review: Okay, you were right. The manual is USELESS and it is difficult to figure out how to synchronize. However, my whole life is in there now and I love it. I will contact Casio to iron out the bugs in syncing. Overall, it works great, is easy to configure and compact. Now I can simply grab my purse and go.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good PDA, only missing two things
Review: Overall, I find the PV-S400Plus to be a very solid product. I tend to be fairly rough on electronics and other delicate products, and haven't managed to break this after 2 months of hard use. I only find one or two real problems with it.

One is the lack of built in handwriting recognition. Even the 2MB models from Palm have this feature. However, there are software programs (PVMerlin) that are available for download and install that will do this for you.

Which brings up the other problem. Adding software to this Pocket Viewer is, so far, a task I wouldn't put on anyone but a very computer literate person. Any software I have had to add to my PV I have had to practically re-write so that it could be installed without any problems. Using SDKs (Software Development Kits) is generally confusing, so I don't recommend using them to anyone who doesn't know computers well.

However, I am sure that as this model becomes more popular, more programs will be written for it by original programmers, which will make things easier on us all.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Can something this inexpensive be any good?
Review: The answer is yes. The CASIO PV-S400 Plus is a serious business tool with some games thrown in to help maintain your sanity. Over all it has been easy to use and increasingly more and more useful. It just seems like there is always one more use or piece of data it can maintain. In regular use both the PDA and the desktop application are used. The PDA provides the instant access to either retrieve or save data, and the desktop application makes it easy to make updates.

The screen is very easy to see and has adjustable contrast. In normal and even poor lighting the backlight is not needed. It is a little taller than some of the other PDAs so either get a case specifically made for it, or try it out before you buy one for it to make sure it fits. The slightest touch can turn on the PDA so it is good to keep the cover on. When using the PDA the cover can be snapped onto the back for temporary storage. The connection to the computer, being serial instead of USB, is dated but works very well, and synchronizations take less than a minute.

On the desktop side there are three applications, Harmony, Pocket Sheet Sync, and PC Sync. Harmony is used to Synchronize Outlook Contacts, Schedule, and To Do. Pocket Sheet Sync synchronizes spreadsheets with Excel. PC Sync lets you manipulate all the applications except Pocket Sheet. With PC Sync you can do all the data entry easily on the desktop system, transfer it over to the PV-S400, and then save a backup copy to disk.

The built in applications are Pocket Sheet, Scheduler, Contacts, Memo, Expense, Quick-Memo, PC Sync, Secret, Conversion, and Game.

Pocket Sheet - Is a basic spreadsheet program. I am just a basic Excel user and so can not comment on it's limitations, but it does do everything I need plus a lot of functions I never have used.

Scheduler ' It can be viewed as a one, two, or three month view, or weekly and daily views are also available. Things can be added as schedule for a one time event with alarm, and note or as a reminder. Reminders have the option of being repeated every day, week, monthly on either a specific date or day, and yearly on a specific date or day. The alarm is soft and unobtrusive, shutting off after about 15 seconds, which is perfect for me.

Contacts ' Contacts can be listed by Latest Calls, All, Business, and Personal. The available fields are Name, Phone (H), Fax (H), Mobile, Address (H), E-mail, Company, Phone (B), Fax (B), Position, Department, Address (B), and Note. The Note field can contain 1,890 characters counting spaces. There is a drop down menu for selecting the particular list you want and the alphabet at the bottom for quick selections. It does lack a search function.

Memo- Memos are good for To Do lists, notes, urls, details on your cars or whatever else. A memo is able to accept 1,953 characters.

Expense ' Track expenses by day, amount, type of payment (cash, check, credit '), type of expense (mileage, fuel, parking, taxi, meals, phone, entertainment, hotel, misc.), and then a field for a note. Data can be viewed by Payment type, Expense type, or description.

Quick-Memo ' This is a free style note pad then lets you write and draw. Just like everything else it can be synchronized and saved to the desktop system.

PC Sync ' It is there but don't know why, since it is easier to do it from the Desktop PC Sync application. To synchronize plug the PDA into the cradle, then click the synchronize button. The PDA will automatically power up and synchronize. Then touch the Off button on the PDA and tilt it forward in the cradle to easily lift it out.

Secrete ' This sets up a password protected secrete area in the PDA. Data can be added to this area and then only accessed by entering the password.

Conversion ' A money conversion application, displaying any three currencies at a time from the list. The list is US, DEM, FRF, ITL, ESP, NLG, BEF, PTE, ATS, FIM, IEP, LUF, GRD.

Game ' Mine only came with two different solitaire games.

They now come with more bundled software such as calculators, and more games.

For more information on them check out:
[web sites]

To verify the character counts a document was copied into the desktop application PC Sync that would fill the particular field. It was then synchronized to verify it would all show up in the PDA. Then from PC Sync it was copied into Microsoft Word to get the character count.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Excellent If you don't want to spend big bucks!
Review: The Casio Pocket Viewer is excellent for being cheaper than a Palm Pilot. If you are looking to just organize your life this is the way! You really don't need to spend hundreds of dollars to organize your life. This is the way to go.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Simple, ..., efficient.
Review: This is a basic organizer. You can't call Aunt Sally, take pictures of your "oh-so-cute" baby, surf the internet, open your garage door or a can of dog food with this unit. If that's what you expect, look elsewhere. I wanted a simple, small organizer that would let me keep a list of contacts, schedule, memos, and some other basics. I wanted the Xircom Rex, but it's not made anymore, and I wasn't about to pay exorbiant prices for a discontinued unit. So, I arrived here. Not bad. It's a bit larger than I would have liked, the screen cover is a little flimsy, but once again, for the price, it's exactly what I wanted and not anything more.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: This thing is great!
Review: This is the best handheld I have ever had. It by far surpasses my old one in any catagory. My cousin got one, and I tried his, and liked it. You can download games onto it from a CD. it has a downloading base to do that.


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