Customer Reviews

Special Edition Using Pocket PC 2002

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This is a well-written, really useful book. There is plenty of information about all sorts of aspects of Pocket PC and using your handheld, and it is all done in a very well-organized manner with a good index (always helpful for trying to find answers to "that question"). Personally, I find this book much more useful than some of the "competators" such as Dummies, PC Handbook (HP Edition), etc. because it spans from basic to more detailed issues, but does all well. Unlike the description above, I do not think that the book focused on networks. Happy reading!

This book will help you if you received no manual with your Pocket PC or if you're a beginner with computers, and if you share the author's fawning adoration of Microsoft. If you have any understanding of how to make Windows work, though, the manual that came with your Pocket PC and some experimentation will get you farther than spending money on this book would. If I could figure out how, I'd get my money back for this feature-length Microsoft advertising brochure.

The book offers no insights for the advanced user, and since the author is a shameless shill for Microsoft, it offers no information on the countless resources available everywhere *but* Redmond, Washington. The book doesn't answer basic questions, such as "Does shutting down programs decrease the drain on the battery charge?", for example, and it offers nowhere to get answers, except, of course, the Microsoft web site (where I've been unable to unearth the answer to that question).

The book extols the virtues of the Microsoft eBook Reader, for example, but neglects to tell the reader about how MS configures it to strip away historical fair use rights for published works, mentions that one must "activate" the Reader by getting a .Net Passport, but "forgets" to mention that Microsoft reserves the right (in its privacy policy) to share any information it obtains (such as book purchases) with any commercial "partner" it chooses.

If you have the ability to explore, spend the time exploring your Pocket PC and its manual and spend some time exploring the web to find all the sites devoted to Pocket PCs. You'll learn much more and save the price of this book.

This book is only for beginners. Advanced user will not find this book intresting.

This book will help you if you received no manual with your Pocket PC or if you're a beginner with computers, and if you share the author's fawning adoration of Microsoft. If you have any understanding of how to make Windows work, though, the manual that came with your Pocket PC and some experimentation will get you farther than spending money on this book would. If I could figure out how, I'd get my money back for this feature-length Microsoft advertising brochure.

The book offers no insights for the advanced user...it offers no information on the countless resources available everywhere *but* Redmond, Washington. The book doesn't answer basic questions, such as "Does shutting down programs decrease the drain on the battery charge?", for example, and it offers nowhere to get answers, except, of course, the Microsoft web site (where I've been unable to unearth the answer to that question).

The book extols the virtues of the Microsoft eBook Reader, for example, but neglects to tell the reader about how MS configures it to strip away historical fair use rights for published works, mentions that one must "activate" the Reader by getting a .Net Passport, but "forgets" to mention that Microsoft reserves the right (in its privacy policy) to share any information it obtains (such as book purchases) with any commercial "partner" it chooses.

If you have the ability to explore, spend the time exploring your Pocket PC and its manual and spend some time exploring the web to find all the sites devoted to Pocket PCs. You'll learn much more and save the price of this book.