Off The Shelf and In Your Palm
The Cassiopeia E-10 Palm-size PC 

By Rich Hall 

Out of the box the Casio E-10 is a fast, easy-to-use Palm-size PC. A big megahertz number looks impressive on paper, but doesn't always translate into speed. Fortunately, the E-10 has both a big megahertz number (a 100 MHz NEC Vr4111 CPU) and snappy performance.

The unit comes with backup and main batteries pre-installed, so I played around with it for a while before noticing the stern instruction (on a piece of paper labeled "Important") about replacing them immediately with spares, also included. I did so, went through the rest of the set-up procedure, and started again to play with the E-10.

The Casio E-10 is attractive and small, fitting easily in your palm or pocket. It comes with a slipcase for extra protection. The slipcase is good if you carry the E-10 around in a briefcase or purse, but it adds too much bulk to easily slip into your pocket.

The E-10 has four buttons below its touch screen. One turns the unit on and the other three launch commonly used applications (Calendar, Tasks, and Contacts). A button on the left side of the unit lets you activate the voice record application. One of the best things about these quick launch buttons is that you can customized them to launch your most important applications.

Two additional controls on the left side of the E-10 let you maneuver through drop-down lists and menus. The concept is great and they are useable as is. But these buttons are recessed to avoid the unintentional pressing of them. As a consequence, I have to feel around a little with my thumb to find them.

I'll have a few more things to say about the hardware towards the end of the review.

The more I use the software, the more I like it -- and want more!

Word completion is great!

I really appreciate this built-in feature. As you enter text, the utility follows what you are entering and pops up what word it thinks you are entering. If it's the right word, all you have to do is tap on it and it gets entered. Once you get used to this feature, it really speeds things up.

Jot's Help feature handy when you need it.

I also still like the help feature for the built-in handwriting recognition program. The Palm-size PCs come with handwriting recognition capability built in (CIC's Jot program). But Jot expects you to write characters it's way. Almost all of the characters are as expected, but a few gave me trouble. Jot's Help screen showed me how to write them. Once you get the letters and numbers down, there's a whole raft of symbols you almost never use. Since Microsoft chose Jot for the Palm-size PC, they were wise to put in a good help feature.

Use Note Taker for quick handwritten memos:

I'm getting the hang of Note Taker and liking it a lot more. I find myself skipping character recognition more and just writing short handwritten "ink" notes like "pick up cat food" or "change dental appointment." It's quick and handy to scribble in short notes.

I use Contacts and Calendar most.

I end up using my Palm-size PC mostly to access phone numbers and as an appointment reminder. I don't mind entering appointments on my Palm-size PC. Usually, the information is brief -- the Palm-size PC encourages you to be brief. Contacts are another matter.