Preserving the handheld heritage of the computer revolution.
Plotting the function f(x)=1/sin(1/x) is a very difficult task. Few graph plotters are able to draw the function correctly.
Unfortunately, the built-in graph drawing program in the HP 100lx also does not quite cope with this task. Obviously, the specified function never takes values in the range (-1; 1).
Here are few summer pictures taken on multimedia handheld Hewlett-Packard iPAQ rx3710. The device is equipped with a 1.2-megapixel camera and runs Windows Mobile 2003.
It’s quite amazing, that you still can buy and legally register PocketDOS for your Windows CE 2.0 handheld.
The Pinephone is a smartphone developed by Pine64, intended to allow users to have full control over the device. It runs plenty of GNU/Linux distributions and provides six physical kill switches, which allow disabling hardware components.
The smartphone itself looks like an ordinary slate phone. However, there is the keyboard case accessory, which converts the device into a clamshell Linux handheld.
Despite the fact that Pine64 developers were inspired by the Psion Series 5 keyboard, the Pinephone keyboard is not as comfortable to type on as the Gemini PDA keyboard. Besides that, the device is quite bulky when the keyboard is attached.
Nevertheless, it seems to be the most affordable Linux handheld with a physical keyboard, a 5.5-inch display, and a wide range of connectivity options. Do not expect high performance, though.
Overall, the Pinephone with the keyboard case is a nice toy for a nerd.
The New Year’s edition of the ‘Handheld in use’ series shows the following devices:
The previous posts from this series:
Despite the fact that Z Fold 3 is the third foldable in my collection, it’s the first one that I decided to use as my daily driver.
More photos of the foldable handhelds are available here.
This post expands the gallery dedicated to the use of handheld computers in various places. The first post from this series is here: Handhelds in use (April of 2021).
I would like to offer you a brief comparison of the cameras of four handheld computers of different years of production: from quite modern to very rare.
The following devices were used in comparison:
The tests show that even 10 years ago, handheld computers received quite contrast, sharp and saturated cameras. But the main problem with these cameras was the weak dynamic range. Over the past 10 years, device engineers have been able to solve this problem as well. The current result is impressive, not to mention the ability to use multiple focal lengths.
Landscape photos (left to right: Sony NX70V, iPhone, Galaxy Note, Galaxy S21 Ultra):
Portrait photos (left to right: Sony NX70V, iPhone, Galaxy Note, Galaxy S21 Ultra):
Original photos taken on tested devices are available in the following galleries:
Sony VAIO UX is one of the most outstanding, elegant, and powerful UMPC of the first epoch. Despite the quite wide range of models in the UX series and quite high prices, there were no dual-core versions of the device. However, the device itself is 100% ready to work with a dual-core processor. Therefore it’s relatively easy to make a custom upgrade.
The gallery below represents the process of CPU replacement: the original Intel® Core™ Solo U1500 is replaced by Intel® Core™2 Duo U7700 (dual-core, 64-bit). The modding was made by a professional master Sergey (aka Freeqwer). Here is a video from Sergey of a similar modding made for another item: https://youtu.be/OcuwCzd7C0I.
According to my benchmarks, Core™2 Duo U7700 is actually two times faster than Core™ Solo U1500 when the application utilizes both cores. The new CPU has increased the power consumption of the device by 25% and the cooling system is able to handle the extra power without the device overheating.
When you think of removable storage media for handheld computers, something like the items presented in the previous blog post usually comes to mind: Removable storage and RAM for handheld computers.
But there is one UMPC that is notably different in this regard – this is the Kohjinsha SR (SR8KP06A). This 7-inch handheld is equipped with a CD/DVD writer.
Specifications of the device are available here.
