Casio Cassiopeia EM-500 Color Pocket PC (Green)

by Casio

Product Details

Product Manual [873kb PDF]

• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B00004VWTA
• Item model number: EM-500Green
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #437,362 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes
• Date first available at Amazon.com: September 4, 1999

Product Description

Amazon.com Review

The Cassiopeia EM-500, Casio's follow-up to its E-100 series of personal digital assistants, closely mirrors the E-115 but offers a few changes. The biggest change is the move to using MultiMediaCard (MMC) memory over the more standard CompactFlash memory slot. The postage stamp-size MMC cards offer needed memory expandability (as the EM-500 comes with only 16 MB of internal memory, compared to the 32 MB of the E-115), especially if you plan to use the EM-500 as a portable MP3 player--one of its many multimedia capabilities.

While MMC over CompactFlash limits the ability of the EM-500 to use many Pocket PC peripherals, we were willing to overlook that once we got a peek at the EM-500's gorgeous TFT screen. This very bright, very colorful (65,536 colors, to be exact) display shines beautifully when you're playing games or watching mobile video player clips, which run along at a respectable 15 to 20 frames per second with the EM-500's 150 MHz MIPS processor.

The thick EM-500 (about twice the thickness of the Palm Vx) offers standard Casio programmable buttons to bring up the menu, calendar, and contacts, as well as a navigational D-pad, which is great for gaming. In addition to functioning as a stereo MP3 player (when using the included headphones), the EM-500 also works as a voice recorder, allowing you to dictate reminders for yourself or voice messages to send with e-mail. Casio promises six hours of battery life, but we often were able to get seven or more as long as we left the backlight on medium brightness.

With its IrDA port, the EM-500 can communicate with wireless devices, and its USB connection provides speedy data transfer--even installing programs larger than a megabyte took only a few seconds.

Despite the limited memory and the lack of CompactFlash support, the powerful processor, excellent display, and long battery life make the EM-500 a competitive entry into the Pocket PC market. --J. Curtis

Pros:

• TFT color screen
• USB connection
• Good battery life
• Expandable using MultiMediaCard memory

Cons:

• Only 16 MB of internal memory
• No CompactFlash support

Amazon.com Product Description

The Casio EM-500 Color Pocket PC features a fast 150 MHz processor, convenient Microsoft software, and 16 MB of storage in a modern and durable body. It's also the first Pocket PC to feature the new MultiMediaCard with postage stamp-size memory cards with up to 64 MB of storage. The EM-500 comes with Microsoft Pocket Word, Pocket Excel, Pocket Money, and Pocket Internet Explorer. You can synchronize the EM-500's Mobile Address Book with Microsoft Outlook on your desktop using the included Active Sync software (Outlook is also included on the CD-ROM). Download MP3 audio files from your PC using the fast USB connection and play them through the EM-500'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 EM-500
• Stylus
• USB Cradle
• AC Adapter
• Lithium-ion rechargeable battery pack
• CR2032 lithium battery
• Connector cable
• Pocket PC User's Guide
• Hardware Guide

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent PDA, June 4, 2001

By 

Zero101 (Baltimore, MD USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Casio Cassiopeia EM-500 Color Pocket PC (Green) (Office Product)

I love PDA's (and computers in general, for that matter) and this is an excellent device. There was a time when I swore by Palm's pda's, but while Windows CE (now known as Pocket PC) has evolved to near-desktop power, the Palm has remained virtually unchanged. Of the Pocket PC's available, this unit is the best compromise of size and power. It packs a 150mhz cpu (more powerful than the HP Jornada, less than the Ipaq), 16mb of ram, and an amazing screen capable of displaying 16bit color. The Ipaq and HP Jornada can both only do 12-bit color at best. All of that is packed in a comfortable, small device that feels extremely solid in the hand.

While I do believe the EM-500 is probably the best unit available, it does have a few draw-backs. The miserly 16mb of ram is hardly enough... if you buy this make sure to get a 32mb or 64mb memory card to go with it. My other complaints are minimal: lack of hardware volume control, location of IRDA port... but none of these minor issues really impact the usefulness of the unit.

Definitely a great PDA, and well worth the money

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Don't Bother, January 28, 2002

By 

Eli J. Selig "Sci-fi/Fantasy Fan" (San Diego, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Casio Cassiopeia EM-500 Color Pocket PC (Green) (Office Product)

It's not bad when it works. I have had the 500 series now for just over 1 year. It broke the first time half way through the warrentee and the second right after it ran out. With only an MMC slot the expandibility stinks as well. On the plus side, the screen is very bright and nice, battery life was good, and the price is now almost half what I originally paid.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great system, crappy accessory selection, June 27, 2001

By 

"seligson2" (Washington, DC United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Casio Cassiopeia EM-500 Color Pocket PC (Green) (Office Product)

Just got a EM-500 and I love it. But I was shocked to learn that no one makes a keyboard for the system - folding or otherwise. I've even called the manfacturers, and they say they have no plans to make one. So if you want to add something along those lines, look for a different pocket PC.