Customer Reviews

Casio Cassiopeia E-125 Color Pocket PC

5 star:		(39)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

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.

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.

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 benjern@benjern.com if you need more advice or details.

As soon I first saw a pocket PC, I wanted one. While I saved up for it, I made sure I did my research to make sure I bought the right product. Being in Canada, I had access to the IPAQ, the HP, and the CASIO models. The Casio E-125 has been a blessing. Here's Why:

1) SCREEN: It's screen is rich and crisp. The screen is visible in sunlight. While the IPAQ may be slightly better outdoors, it is not worth how much better Casio's screen is indoors. Casio has 65,000 colours, the IPAQ a mere 4,000, and it shows! The HP screen is horrible!!!! Don't touch HP Pocket PC's (I say this only about their Pocket PC's, I have an HP Pavillion Desktop Computer and it is marvellous)

2) PROCESSOR: OK, I'll give this one to IPAQ, but you can't compare their processors simply by the numbers. Each processor works differently, and the IPAQ's 206Mhz processor ends up being only slightly better that the Casio's 150Mhz. I would tell you about HP's benchmarks, but they are really bad. Again, stay away from HP.

3) SIZE: The IPAQ is definetely smaller than the Casio, but once you start adding expansion packs to the IPAQ, it is just as bulky, so no real difference here.

4) GAMING CAPABILITY: Problem with the IPAQ here. While it is faster, the IPAQ does not support pressing two buttons at once, which is bad if you want to play a game where you have to jump and shoot (or any two actions) at the same time. So if you want to play a lot of games, go with the Casio. The HP supports multi-button, but because its processor and and screen are so bad, stay away!

5) EXPANDABILITY: The Casio E-125 accepts MMC and CF type 1 and 2 cards. So does the IPAQ, but you must buy separate expansion packs to do so. The HP is similar to the Casio in this regard. As well, you can plug in a digital camera (sold separately) to the Casio E-125, something to think about if you want to get a digital camera in the future.

So that's why I told my friend who workd at a computer store to give me the CASIO E-125, even though he just got in a shipment of IPAQs. The Casio is not only better, but it has much less bugs than the IPAQ. As well, the IPAQ's battery CANNOT be replaced by the user, it must be returned to the factory. So for those reasons, go for the Casio!

After several months of reading reviews and visiting local stores, I purchased the E-125 in December. Last week I picked up an Ipaq. Now I can make an informed comparison from the comfort of my home:

1) The battery in the E-125 is replaceable - not so on the Ipaq. This is an important feature, especially if you're on-the-go ... you can carry an extra battery and just swap it out of the E-125. With the Ipaq, you have to find an outlet and wait for the battery to re-charge ... not a good option when you're in an airport or in the middle of conducting business! Compaq still hasn't figured out what they'll do when an Ipaq's battery has lived-out it's life - will they replace the unit just for a battery replacement? They're not saying ...

2) The E-125 has 16 bit color vs. the Ipaq's 12 bit ... a negligible difference you might say, but, to me, I feel that the colors on the E-125 are much more vibrant.

3) The E-125 has a 150mzh processor, Ipaq's is a 206mhz. In the early '90's, did you plunk down $3000 for a brand new 150mhz desktop computer, only to long for a 200mhz when they came out a few months later?

3) The E-125 has a built-in compact flash slot vs. the optional [for more money] Ipaq CF Expansion Pack. Now, there's a ... price increase on new Ipaq's because the Pack is included.

4) Compaq is known for adding their own software applications, such as "Q" this and "Q" that ... just another thing to eat-up precious memory.

5) If you're a game player, the E-125 immediately reacts to your "gamepad" commands ... the Ipaq goes into "pause" mode if you press the "gamepad" too quickly (playing a simple game like PacMan is disastrous).

6) The Ipaq's is way ahead of the E-125 ... the "brick" look of the E-125 continues Casio's "ho-hum" design.

7) The weight difference is significant. Remember though that the E-125 has a built-in cf slot - once you add the CF Jacket to the Ipaq there's practically no difference in weight and bulk.

8) The E-125 does have a built-in voice recorder (not mentioned in many reviews). The voice recorder button on the Ipaq is on the upper left corner ... when you hold the Ipaq in your left hand chances are you're going to press the button with your thumb abruptly accessing the voice recorder!

9) I've called both the Casio and Compaq customer service departments. With Casio you get bounced several times before ending up with someone who's anwer to all of your problems is a "hard reset" (all info is lost if you haven't backed it up!). Compaq's warranty provides an empty box with 5-7 day turn-around on repairs. Their reasonably priced "Carepaq" gets you next-business-day replacement of your Ipaq (you receive a "refurbished" unit, NOT a new unit).

10) The Targus Stowaway Keyboard is available for the Ipaq. Targus says it has NO plans to make one for the E-125. You can pick up a "LandWare GoType! Pro" for the E-125. It's also much sturdier than the Stowaway and a keyboard-protector is available.

I'm much more impressed with my E-125. The bottom line is that it's really a matter of personal preference. Most will be attracted to the attractive looks of the Ipaq no matter what the cost, some will go with the E-125 because of it's "pros" over the Ipaq, such as the built-in CF slot and swapable battery. Good Luck!

I bought the E-125 a week ago. I had intended to replace my lost Palm V with another Palm V. However, the sales guy asked me why the palm versus the cassiopeia. My response? Familiarity and I knew the Palm V worked and worked well. I've owned a Palm from the original Palm to the Palm III to the Palm V. After a quick tour of the E-125, I decided that it had more potential and decided to be brave and go for something new.

My reaction after a week?

PRO's 1. I love the screen - great colors, clarity and graphics 2. Syncronization is tons faster than the PALM with either pocket mirror or chapura intellisync 3. All of the fields are identical to outlook - it is actually Pocket Outlook you are using - so if you are an outlook 97 or 2000 user, this is a significant plus. 4. Its an MP3 player with good quality! (what a nice extra) 5. The audio recording of notes when I'm driving and have one of those rare brain flashes is great. 6. The pocket internet explorer with AvantGo for storing my certain web pages for long flights 7. The Pocket Word and Pocket Excel which allows me the ability to open attachments - so far it works great 8. The windows look and feel that I'm used to made the jump from Palm a little less painful.

CONs: 1. Software (freeware & shareware) not as plentiful as Palm OS software - seems we need to hope it becomes more popular. Tools for development are just coing out which should help. 2. Wish it were just a tad thinner - but this isn't a killer like I was afraid of 3. Wish there was Pocket Adobe Reader and Pocket PowerPoint (that's more a Microsoft and Adobe issue) 4. My kids keep taking it to play games that have incredible graphics

I bought an E-125 to have something between a Palm V and a laptop that I could do work with, mainly word processing and spread sheet stuff, on airplanes and on trips. The E-125 actually works pretty well for this. The conversion program between Word for Windows CE and Word for Windows is pretty good, not perfect, but acceptable. I found I could actually work on a manuscript fairly effectively even with the small screen. The graphics are bright and clear, really nice.

Now the bad news. The touch screen is VERY fragile, NOT covered by warranty...The case supplied will not protect the screen from the normal pocket environment (at least what I consider a normal pocket environment). My screen was cracked while in the case in my front pants pocket sometime during an evening at the theatre. My Palm V survived this environment for years and also survived being dropped several times. No adverse effects. Needless to say Casio was not very sympathetic and explained to me repeatedly that the case would protect the touch plate in spite of data to the contrary. I have a friend with an HP Journada. He has carried the Journada, which has a much more effective built-in case, in the front pocket of his shorts for about 6 months. No ill effects, but then he spends most of his time on a bicycle and avoids the dangerous theatre environment. I opted for the E125 instead of the Journada because the screen is slightly larger and the graphics seemed to me to be marginally clearer and brighter. If you make the same choice, be very careful with that touch plate! And don't trust the supplied case to do much more than keep off the dust.

I recently lost my Palm V, and was forced to get a new PDA. I researched and researched the new Pocket PC's. I don't know that I would even consider the Palm a device that a Pocket PC user would consider. They are two drastically different devices with the Pocket PC having tremendously more flexibility. Although the Palm has more applications, most of the practical applications are written to duplicate inherent capabilities of the Pocket PC. I won't try to compare the different platforms, but rather the different Pocket PC's because they are in a catagory by themselves.

I ordered the Compaq, waited 3 weeks and went and bought the Jornada 548. I used it for 2 days and returned it. It felt fantastic! It is well designed, ergonomic and includes everything I wanted. My major disappointment was the screen display. I am not one of those people who care too much about how many different colors can be displayed, but I do care about clarity. My Jornada was dim and had a streaky display. I don't know if they are all like that, but I have seen similiar display problems on newsgroups. It is unfortunate, because I really liked the way it looked and felt. If I could get one that had a screen like my E-125, I would buy it.

That takes me to the E-125. I love it. The screen is bright, clear and easy to read. I don't know if you can read it in "direct sunlight" as has been its criticism, but I hardly have the occasion to use my PDA in direct sunlight. It's outstanding in my office, on a plane, in my car, and sitting outside in a cafe. My criticism is that I wish they had included headphones like HP does and I would say it is a little more square than I would like. Furthermore, it doesn't include a flip cover to protect the screen, which I prefer. One review I read referred to it as brick, I would call it a "thin brick".

The reason, I would never trade it for the IPAQ now is a feature I didn't realize I would care about until I have used it. The ablility to swap out batteries is priceless. You can always have a charged spare with you and not worry about having to find a plug, connect a charger, etc. I like the design of the IPAQ better, but I would not give up this feature. I also like the ablility to use full size PC cards on the IPAQ, but so far, I have not been in a situation where this was required (but I like the flexibility if I ever needed it). However, if you think you will always have power available, the Compaq is really well designed. I can't comment on the synching problems I have read about on the IPAQ as I never received mine.

Overall, I am extremely pleased with my Casio and would highly recommend it to anyone considering a Pocket PC.

After going through weeks of deliberation (for a pocket PC)and a couple of hands on testing sessions of both the Ipaq (disPLAY model in CompUsa, I love NYC) and the E 125, I finally chose the the Cassiopeia.

Here's why:

1). Price. With the Ipaq 3650 you don't get the built in CF slot which adds at the least 50$ to the [$] base price. I found the Cassiopeia for [$] (with rebate) online with free 2nd day shipping. True the Ipaq wins in support and probable future add on gadgets through its sleeves, but those suckers cost $$.

2). Replaceable Casio battery. Ipaq's battery lasts longer but the casio's batteries are replaceable. If you buy enough of these [$] batteries you could get a great deal of battery power. To be honest though, there exists a 4AA battery extender for the Ipaq/Casio for 20$ so this issue is not a big one for me.

3). Games. Hardware button problem on the Ipaq might hamper future games (can't press two buttons at once). Casio is layed out like a gameboy.

4). Ipaq has a great outdoor screen admittedly, but I rarely use PDAs in direct sunlight for extended periods (I do have to shade it).

5). I don't understand why no one knows about shutting programs by bringing up the keyboard and hitting ctrl Q. Really easy.

6). I was really scared off by the large amount of overall lapses in manufacturing quality of the Ipaq (dust under the screen even on the newer models, screen bugs, the popup stylus etc.) especially those on the discussion boards. The Ipaq is great but not quite there. The Ipaq 2 or 3 someday? Maybe. it's just scary to get something that costs so much only to have it in the shop most of the time. The cassiopeia has been around the block.

7). Though the Ipaq cpu is faster, it's not always valid to compare speed with cpu Mhz. For example a 1.33 ghz Athlon desktop can out-benchmark a 1.5 ghz pentium depending on the system. 207 mHz is faster, don't get me wrong but 150mhz is far from slow.

8). Looks. I plan on using CF memory on my pocket PC so the CF slot is a must. I'm not overly concerned with looks and don't think it should be THE deciding factor. Indeed, the Ipaq is very pretty but it loses something with it's expansion sleeves on. Though there are some nice looking custom cf sleeves they are very expensive.

That's my two cents hope this helps.

My screen cracked about 5 months after I purchased my E-125. I did not drop it or misuse it. I called customer service. They told me to send it back to the manufacturer with a check and it would be repaired in 5 - 10 working days. Today is the 16th working day. I called to check on the status and they told me it would be another 2 weeks before they would even begin to work on it. I'm very upset about this (obviously) and would recommend that future buyers purchase insurance against screen breakage, and check out the customer service ratings on other Pocket PC's. As for it's performance, I loved the E-125! I'm only dissatisfied with the CS. By the way, my check cleared my bank 2 weeks ago. They took my money, but they are unwilling to repair it under warranty, and they are still making me wait another 2 weeks or more.