On Sat, 06 Sep 2003 17:02:23 GMT, "Marc Ramsey"
wrote:


"Martin Gregorie" wrote...
Has anybody used SoaringPilot on a Palm m100?

If so:

- what are its pros and cons?

- how does the m100 display readability compare with an IPAQ 3630 or
3850 in the cockpit?

I've run SoaringPilot on an m100, and have also run homebrew software on an m100
and an iPAQ 3950. The m100 doesn't quite have enough processing power to drive
a moving map, so I primarily used it for textual displays (final glide, etc.).
The m100 display has far more contrast than the iPAQ or other color PDAs. It is
quite readable in the cockpit under almost any lighting condition, except near
sunset.

The iPAQ screen is great indoors, but marginal in the cockpit. Under direct
sun, there isn't enough contrast for my nearing 50 year-old eyes, plus glare
becomes a problem at certain sun angles (a good screen protector helps). It's
difficult to distinguish colors, and I'm constantly fiddling with the colors I
use to improve the readability. The 3630 and 3850 do have the older reflective
displays, which are a bit more readable in direct sunlight.


Thanks for the analysis. FWIW if I go the IPAQ way I'll run XCSoar,
which has an uncluttered, essentially black & white display which
would presumably sort out some of the contrast problems.

It seems that all the PDAs I know about have problems:

- no external power connection for the Palm m100 and slow
- Compaq Aero 1500 displays fade out in a sunlit cockpit
as they get hot
- IPAQ 3630 and 3850 get hot and crash in a sunlit cockpit.

Are there any other WinCE PDAs I should be looking at?

I'm primarily interested in using a PDA system to display a moving map
for general navigation and restricted airspace avoidance.

--
martin@ : Martin Gregorie
gregorie : Harlow, UK
demon :
co : Zappa fan & glider pilot
uk :