Casio Cassiopeia BE-300 Pocket Manager (Color)

by Casio

Product Details

Product Manual [2.47mb PDF]

• Item Weight: 5.9 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00005O0IU
• Item model number: BE-300
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (89 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #127,300 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes
• Date first available at Amazon.com: November 17, 2005

Product Description

Style: BE-300

Amazon.com Product Description

Organize your busy life with the Casio Cassiopeia BE-300 Pocket Manager. Running Windows CE 3.0 as its operating system, the BE-300 features a unique interface that emphasizes ease of use, while offering superior connectivity with Windows PCs.

The Casio BE-300 comes with 16 MB of RAM and 16 MB of ROM, a 166 MHz processor, and a bright, 320 x 240 pixel passive-matrix screen that displays 32,000 colors. It's equipped with a Type II CompactFlash (CF) card slot, enabling you to add memory cards, wireless network cards, camera modules, and more.

You'll be productive right out of the gates with the collection of software included with the BE-300. It comes with such PIM tools as Calendar, Contacts, To Do, and Memo, as well as e-mail and Web browser programs. Synchronize your contacts and e-mail with your PC using Microsoft Outlook. You'll also get multimedia programs for playing MP3 digital audio files, viewing still photos, and capturing images with an optional CompactFlash camera.

Take time out to play with your BE-300 with content from MyCasio.com. You'll find a complete spectrum of mobile content (music and e-books), travel services, restaurant information, the latest news, and more.

The Casio BE-300 is powered by an internal rechargeable Li-ion battery that provides up to a week's worth of power (based on normal usage). It comes with a USB connection cradle for synchronizing data with your PC.

What's in the box

• Cassiopeia BE-300
• AC adapter
• Lithium ion battery
• USB cradle
• USB cable
• Stylus
• Flip cover
• User manual

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Too Good to be true, December 23, 2001

By 

ivan Contreras (miami, Florida United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Casio Cassiopeia BE-300 Pocket Manager (Color) (Office Product)

I was looking for compatibility with certain Win CE Programs.
It tells you nowhere that it has its own Casio Proprietary customized operating system, that does not allow running Active Sync (which is the interface between your PC and this dumb PDA)
Instead it has a program called "PC Connect" and very few programs have been written for it. Very dissapointing and deceiving

27 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Does the basic job extremely well, December 26, 2001

By 

"pecdoc" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Casio Cassiopeia BE-300 Pocket Manager (Color) (Office Product)

I bought this PDA after extensive obsessing over web reviews, product information specs, and visiting the "red shirted" and "blue shirted" sales associates at my local tech retail stores. I chose the Casio BE-300 for its functional ability, and to supplement, not replace, my laptop.

I highly recommend this unit for those of you who, like me, need a small, inexpensive, yet fully functional color display PDA to record your calendar events, take quick notes, maintain Outlook-like contact lists, and check basic email. This unit does all this beautifully, and synchronizes well with Outlook 2000. The only strange synchronization I've found is that items sent from the PDA to Outlook 2000 are sometimes misspelled, but never in the other direction. I wonder if this is more due to my "typing" using the stylus and the smaller display, rather than an actual synch problem. The entire synch process is very easy to set up, and operates seamlessly for calendar appointments, to-do tasks, contact lists, etc.

As for the lack of software, I don't use a PDA to play games, use Word, and manage spreadsheets; for those, I rely on "real" computers, with at least a 15" display; great graphics card; lots of RAM and cache; a real joystick, mouse, and keyboard; and a true sound system. I just can't do this cramped by a screen smaller than a floppy disk. I know how frustrating this can be, because in 1982 my "real computer" was an Osborne-I with a 3" screen! So trust me on this; work in an ergonomic environment, and if you seek diversion on those long flights, buy an inexpensive hand held game, and use this PDA for your true business needs.

If you've used Pocket PCs in the past, you will likely be thrown a bit by the menu system; it reminds me of the old DOS shells (such as 1dirplus) that don't give you a functional desktop but require you to work through set menu choices listing its functions and programs. That's actually MORE user friendly when you think about the ease with which you can access your programs.

Lastly, you can easily add basic accessories, such as compact flash memory and modem cards. The BE-300 is the roughly the same size as a Handspring Visor, so if you want to put it in a carrying case, you can use one that is compatible with Visor. The only negative I can say at this time (after one month ownership) is that the battery seems to depelete pretty quickly; I use it daily, on and off, and at the end of each day, I seem to have 50% to 60% left only. That may be normal for a PDA, but seems fast to me.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great hybrid PDA/PocketPC, February 7, 2002

By 

P. Caballes "pjc01" (Beaverton, OR United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Casio Cassiopeia BE-300 Pocket Manager (Color) (Office Product)

The BE300 is a cross between a high-end PDA and an entry level PocketPC - with the exception of the price! I was able to get mine for $149 at CompUSA, and I can safely say that was one great deal I got there.

Though you will see lots of reviews saying that the BE300 has too little software out there and has a 'weird' main menu (not like the windows-type menu for PocketPCs). But if you really 'dig in' and see how much resources there are for development for the BE300, you'll grab one fast!

In my case, my unit's startup screen doesn't even look any close to the default screen and why? Research, and with the help of a lot of BE300 owners and developers for this platform who knows a good deal when they see one (special thanks to all the dudes at the Brighthand Forums for the BE300). My BE300 now has a 'desktop' with the works, including selective wallpapers and startup menus like Windows has! The available software is also growing at a high good rate! Even software that run only for the PocketPC are now being ported to the BE300 (Pocketstreets, various MP3 and video players, spreadsheets).

So imagine...a $149-$199 unit (166mhz MIPS CPU w/ 16MB built-in, beautiful and very clear color screen, and CF expansion) capable running applications that a $400-600 unit can? Hmmm....go figure :-)

And with a full Windows CE Net OS upgrade in the works, the BE300 will definitely make it big time!

Some considerations: get a nice PDA case for protection(it'll fit in the Palm Glove series w/o it's face cover) and get at least a 128MB compactflash card (BE300 supports type I and II) - you'll be filling it up with applications, games, ebooks, mp3s, pics, movies in no time. :-) Do get it before they start jacking up the prices!!

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