Casio Cassiopeia E-125 Color Pocket PC

by Casio

Product Details

Product Manual [706kb PDF]

• Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 3.2 x 1 inches ; 1 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00004YKHT
• Item model number: E125
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (71 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #128,820 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes
• Date first available at Amazon.com: September 4, 1999

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

The Casio E-125 Color Pocket PC features a fast 150 MHz processor, convenient Microsoft software, and 32 MB of storage in a modern and durable body. Expand its memory and add connectivity options such as Ethernet or a wireless modem using the CompactFlash expansion slot. The E-125 comes with Microsoft Pocket Word, Pocket Excel, Pocket Money, and Pocket Internet Explorer, and offers synchronization with Microsoft Outlook. Download MP3 audio files from your PC using the fast USB connection and play them through the E-125's built-in speaker using Windows Media Player. The 240 x 320 screen features 65,536 colors for multimedia viewing. The battery has a life of up to six hours.

What's in the box

• Cassiopeia E-125
• Stylus
• USB Cradle
• AC Adapter
• Lithium-ion rechargeable battery pack
• CR2032 lithium battery
• Connector cable
• Pocket PC User's Guide
• Hardware Guide

From Winmag®

I used Casio's Cassiopeia E-125 as our Pocket PC-based e-book reader. Not surprisingly, the $549.95 Cassiopeia's size works for and against it. The 8.8-ounce device is certainly painless to carry around. Although it measures 3.3 by 5.2 by .78 inches, its 4-inch diagonal screen is small for reading a book. Microsoft's ClearType technology provides clear, easy-to-read characters, but only 15 lines are visible at a time. That's a lot of page turning, which is done by pressing the large button on the bottom left of the device. You can choose between small characters or large characters, but you get significantly less text on a page with the large size: 11 lines, with four or five words per line.

The brightness and contrast controls (Start/Settings/System/Brightness) make it easy to adjust the screen in a variety of lighting conditions, but it's difficult, if not impossible, to read in direct sunlight. Of course, with a brighter the screen, the battery drains faster.

You'll also want to reset the Auto Dim function (Start/Settings/System/Brightness/Auto Dim) if you're planning to read for any extended period of time. Otherwise, the screen will automatically dim before you reach the end of a page. The default is 15 seconds, but I found that 30 seconds is ideal.

Features that resemble some word-processing functions are a good argument for e-books, particularly for the scholarly reader. With Microsoft Reader, you can highlight sections, add bookmarks, insert drawings, search for words and copy text. You can choose to start your next reading session on the first page, the farthest read or the spot where you most recently stopped.

Another advantage of the Pocket PC is its audio capability. With Audible.com and an audio e-book, you can listen to a book through your Pocket PC; add a set of headphones for a private listening experience.

Are Pocket PCs a good way to read e-books? You probably wouldn't want to purchase one simply for that purpose, but if you already have one or need one for other functions, it's not a bad way to go. Still, even those with an environmentalist's viewpoint will likely conclude that e-books won't take the place of paper books yet.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

91 of 93 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Throw your Stone Age Pilot Away and step in the 21st century, December 18, 2000

By 

"johnrocker74" (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Casio Cassiopeia E-125 Color Pocket PC (Office Product)

Do you still use one of those old monochromatic dumb terminals at work or at home? Of course not, I didn't think so. Then why would someone want to use a plain Palm Pilot or a Visor, when you can get this little wonder for a (little more)?

I got my Cassiopeia 125 about a month ago and I cannot imagine life without it. I went through 3 Palm Pilots (including the color pilot) but this little gadget is the BEST. It is not a handheld device, this is COMPUTER. No kidding!

You get much more than just a gadget for appointments and phone numbers. You have a windows operating system (there is nothing new to learn, everyone knows windows by now) and you can run such programs as Excel and Word in an incredible color display. You can also add a wireless internet connection in the place of the memory card and access the interent at high speed. With the 125's bright colorful screen, you will feel like surfing on your desktop (Ok, some extra scrolling IS required). You can receive and review all your emails when you synchronize with your computer, or you can go with the wireless connection and work directly from your Cassioppeia, sending and receiving emails.

The 125 comes preloaded with 32 mgbytes of memory but your can upgrade to 1 Gig (yes you read that right) since the Compact flash slot is compatible with the new IBM microdrive. Jornada CANNOT do this, and the Compaq Ipaq needs expensive and bulky add ons to achieve this effect. Think about it, 1 gig of memory can hold almost 20 hours of MP3s. I have been using mine as an MP3 player on the subway, on the way to work, and I love it. Be warned though, you need a Compact flash reader for your computer to tranfer the music on the card. Doing that through the 125's craddle is time consuming. You can also use the flash memory to transfer pictures to your 125 and show them to everyone at work. No more carrying around baby pictures or vacation pictures in your wallet. You can now bore your friends with this hi-tech gadget.

The 125 is only slightly bulkier than the Palm III color, but the additional features more than make for it. Hand recognition is 100 better than the Pilot Operating system. The 125 "learns" your handwriting and recognizes the words you write more than once. So after you type "marketing" once, the next time you start typing the word, by the 3rd or 4th letter you have the suggested word appear on your screen, and all you have to do is tap at it to enter it without writing any further. Very handy for names, long common business terms, and other commonly used words.

The battery life is about 6 hours, but (unlike the Compaq Ipaq) you have the option of buying additional battery and taking it with you on long trips. If the battery on you Ipaq runs out, tough luck.

Documentation on this product is not the best. You will have to figure out some features by yourself, like for example how to close all open applications when there are too many of them and the 125 starts slowing down (Setting>sytems>memory>running Programs>stop all).

Other than that, this is a brilliant gadget and I recommend it to anyone interested in a Pocket PC. The Ipaq has a slight advantage in Mhzs, but that's really not that important. Plus the Ipaq is still going through the process of figuring out all the bugs. This is the 3rd or 4th cassiopeia model and all the early problems have been cleared.

60 of 60 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Legitimate Pro and Con for The Casio E-125, January 17, 2001

By 

Mark W. Treu (Kaysville, Utah) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Casio Cassiopeia E-125 Color Pocket PC (Office Product)

The Casio e-125 represents the best of whats out there for Pocket PC platforms. The size and architecture are very sleek and easy to handle. Battery life is about the same as the rest in its class. (6 hours continuous use, or a few days with limmeted use) It is best to let it sit in the cradle at night to charge each day then generally you don't have any problems with battery life. You will want to seriously consider the extra battery pack for those long flights from L.A. to New York. The e-125 is the best solution for someone interested in the entertainment available for PocketPC. For someone who wants to use it for an MP3 player the Compact Flash memory upgrade is a must. I recommend the IBM Micro Drives, they are a little more expensive but well worth the 128mb to 1Gig of memory they provide. You can easily install all your programs on the micro drive and leave the system memory for running the programs. Media Player 7 for PocketPC is a must, so is some kind of task manager program. I recommend PocketNav which is a freeware program you can find at Tucows Pocket PC Download site. ActiveSync 3.1 is good but requires a little Patience as it is not yet perfect. You cannot sync with anything but Microsoft Outlook and the sync cradle itself leaves much to be desired. Expansion for the e-125 is one of its best features. The Pocket word and Pocket Excell programs are good but they still don't support many of the features that the standard versions support. The callendar program works great and the alerts for the internal speaker are very usefull. To add any Compact flash devices it does not require any extra sleeves or jackets like the Ipaq 3650. It's processor is a 150 MHz MIPS Vr4122 which isn't the fastest on the market,(Ipaq3650 is 206Mhz) But it is more than capable of running all the programs I could load on it. Overall after owning the HP Jornada, Visor Prism, and the Casio e-125, I would put the Casio at the top just barely above the Ipaq,(Which is near to impossible to get) and worlds above the Visor Prism. But when makeing your decision on what to buy just remember: If you get something that is not your first choice, then you will always wish you had the best. The best advice is to go and try it out first. Spend some time finding out which device you like the best. If you are going to spend hours every day using it then you want to make sure you like it.

69 of 71 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Compare the iPAQ and the Casio E-125 and see the diff!, February 28, 2001

By 

BJ Loh (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Casio Cassiopeia E-125 Color Pocket PC (Office Product)

The E-125 by casio is far most a must choice if you are planning to get a PDA. Being an owner of a PDA Cassiopeia E-15 (Windows CE 2.1 - Gray scale) I actually thought of striking of the Casio Pocket PC off the line of choice such as the iPAQ and the Jornada by HP.

The reason being, I had many, too many miserable times with the screen. The display is fine but the touch screen gives me one too many problems. Every ones in a while I will be required to recalibrate it to ensure the accuracy, at times it would not even work. Enough about the bad things on the E-15. On the overall it is a great product if the problem of the touch screen alignment is resolved.

Now that I am purchasing a Pocket PC, and with 3 choices I was actually settling down on the iPAQ until I did more research on it.

I picked iPAQ initially because of it's fast processor and the great looks. However, when I did my comparisons and further research, I found that the Cassiopeia would be a better buy.

This is why :

Firstly, when you are thinking of a Pocket PC which has multimedia capabilities coupled with coloured screens and stuff, one would require a whole lot of power. Sure, the Compaq boasts a 10 hour continuous use where the Casio has 6. This is gauged from a heavy user where the owner would use the Pocket PC continuously. However, at the initial thought, the Compaq would be better in battery usage, TRUE but not on the long run. What Compaq has which is overlooked by most Compaq buyers is that the battery is built in. The battery is not consumer removable, thus, just like all batteries, the battery has a life cycle of charging and discharging, when the battery goes too old, the performance will be significantly reduced. The Casio on the other hand uses a Consumer removable lithium battery, so if the case of ageing begins, all you've gotta do is to replace it with a newer casio lithium battery which you could purchase from the stores. This stance however, is impossible to be done by iPAQ users.

Secondly, data safety. This would be one of the most thought issues for users of Pocket PCs. As data is actually being kept safe through the charge of electric currents from the battery, ones the battery is flat, the data is GONE. As the iPAQ only has one battery without a backup, you data is seriously at high risk when the battery dies. On the other hand, the Cassiopeia resolved this problem with an additional backup battery. Thus, if the main battery ever goes flat, there is still a 2 week data storage time utilizing the backup battery.

Thirdly, vibrant colours. Compare 14000 odd colours with over 46000 colours. The difference is significant. Just image placing your desktop from 16 colours to 256 colours. The iPAQ displays only 14000 odd colours and this is not exceptionally good as when video playback is concerned, one will certainly identify certain reduction in picture quality. The same thing applies to still high quality images. On the other hand, you would see a great difference in both picture and video quality with more colours capability on the Casio.

Fourth, comes processor speed. Sure you'll see an extra 45 - 55 Mhz boost in performance for the iPAQ but that is about it. In terms of running applications, the Casio would do just fine. You would not see a significant difference. However, I must admit that you would be able to launch applications faster with a faster processor but do we REALLY need that extra 1-2 seconds?

Fifth, size. Sure the iPAQ looks great but when you wish to have extra storage space such as an additional CF Flash Card for memory, you'll have to slot in a sleeve as an accessory to the iPAQ giving it a much bulkier look. In fact, it looks bigger than the Casio ones the accessory is on.

Sixth, cost. In reference to the fifth point, the extra accessory sleeve that you will need to add in more memory would be an added cost. The sleeve is not provided. As such, the Casio wins at this point as it comes originally built in with a CF card slot.

Seventh, screen glare. This is one point where Casio loses out. If you are talking about using the Casio under direct sunlight, the display would be more on the lighter side thus, you would not be able to see much things on the screen. However, the iPAQ has a lighting system which comes from the sides of the screen giving it an outdoor advantage. However, think again, would anyone want to use the Pocket PC under direct sunlight? Why not go to a shade or get in the car?

Eight, one hand usage. If you are driving or might be reading a map and would like to be one handed on it, the Casio would allow you to do so as it comes with scroll keys on the sides. Unlike compaq where the keys are actually right infront of the device thus making it not very Human Friendly.

Finally, you might think that since I have had such bad experiences with the later Casio model, why would I want another Casio or at least recommend it to others? Casio has been in the PDA world for a VERY VERY long time and being a Japanese company where quality is of great concern, also based on my usage of the Cassiopeia E-125 for some time now, I have never calibrated the screen more than twice. The second time was that I wanted to reformat the whole System, giving it a fresh restart.

The system is stable and in terms of speed, it suits me well.

I certainly hope that this article has left some ideas in you and hope that someday, you will make a wise decision on your purchase of the Pocket PC.

Think Casio, think Cassiopeia Pocket PCs.

You are free to contact me at [e-mail] if you need more advice or details.