Benchmarks, Battery Life and Software Stability. Benchmark Results.
Before proceeding, we'd like to make clear the following: SPB Benchmark, probably the most important and familiar Pocket PC softwares used for doing benchmark test, showed evident incompatibility problems with Windows Mobile 5.0. This meant that many of the usual tests were not carried out and it consequently means that the obtained results, at times quite negative, will have been most certainly affected by the fact that many test were indeed unable to be completed.
Above is the first benchmark result: the Jasjar's score for typical system speed is much, much lower that the values obtained by the Pocket LOOX 720 (1400) and the Qtek S100 (1143). The low result obtained in SPB Benchmark by the JasJar only serves to ratify what we suggested above - there is obviously some kind of incompatibility problem between the software and Windows Mobile 5.0. At the same time, however, it is true that the I-mate's ordinary, everyday, overall running speed doesn't reach remarkably impressive levels. In fact, even when used in its 'out of the factory' set up (with no extra third-party software installed), the device is not always immediately responsive to user input - although it's never anything that truly hinders the handheld's operation. These traces of lag are most noticeable when switching from the Telephone software to other programs, and vice versa, as well as when changing the screen orientation (which happens automatically when the display is rotated on its hinges).
The tests run to directly calculate the power of the CPU (identical to the 520 Mhz X-Scale installed on the Loox 720) seem to be much closer to the real nature of the handheld. The JasJar's score of 1807, while 300 points less than the Loox's 2108 points, is not surprising in a device that has been successfully optimized for long battery life.
Once again, the next tests confirm our suspect of severe incompatibility issues between the benchmarking software and Windows Mobile 5.0. While not blindingly fast when reading database and .exe files from the Rom memory or Secure Digital card, the benchmark results are far too low to properly represent the JasJar's true speed. The Pocket LOOX 720, certainly not one of the fastest PDAs in this aspect, scores 1164 points - the difference between the scores is abyssal and cannot honestly represent the JasJar's snappy speed when reading and opening files that are located on the internal and external memories.
Even the Graphics speed benchmarks are woefully wrong (the JasJar's 215 points compared to the 1042 points reached by the LOOX 720). The above result would indicate that the JasJar should be around five times slower when, for example, opening a high resolution photograph - that, obviously, isn't the case.
Finally, the incompatibility problems are most evident when running the 'Platform Index' test. This benchmark gives a value for the overall system speed and makes use of the standard inbuilt applications like Mobile Word and Mobile Excel. These latter programs are opened successfully by SPB's benchmark software but then a series of errors and slow-downs prevents the completion of the benchmarks.
We can conclude this series of tests by stating that the JasJar doesn't excel in general system speed in the same way it does in other aspects (such as hardware configuration and design). Not being able to properly conduct all out normal tests we can only conclude with a personal opinion - the JasJar isn't the fastest PDA out there. Anyone moving from a previous generation Pocket PC probably won't notice any major difference in speed (which thus remains more than acceptable). However, anyone moving from a more recent PDA without Phone-calling capabilities (like the Loox 720) will most likely notice the speed difference - although we're sure that they'll gladly accept this compromise when they understand the overall quality of the JasJar and they come to appreciate the many features, some unprecedented, that make the I-mate such a remarkable PDA.
Battery Life. The JasJar comes with a 1620mAh battery which ensures very good battery life. Luckily, the SPB Battery Benchmark appears to work with no issues.
The battery test was run in 'Standard' mode with brightness set at maximum and a simulation of typical handheld use (opening and closing programs, tapping on the screen, tapping on the keyboard).
While the test was running we also kept all the communication protocols (Bluetooth, WiFi, Telephone and Irda) active – in fact, a 802.11b server connection was active. The result is very positive: more than seven hours of continuous use!
It's interesting to note that the PDA starts shutting down system services like WiFi and access to the external memory card when the battery power drops below 10%. This is to make sure that phone calls can be made right until the battery is completely exhausted. Finally, we can confirm the new feature of Windows Mobile 5.0 that manages to save the data stored in memory even when the battery is flat – all our data was preserved even after our test completely uncharged the battery.
OS Stability and Software Compatibility The JasJar is a very stable device when run with its factory setup and included software. Windows Mobile 5.0, together with the updated Office apps and the browser never really required a soft-reset.
Unfortunately, some problems do arise when non certified Windows Mobile 5.0 programs are installed. Slowdowns and erratic behaviour has happened after installing some well-known softwares that hadn't yet been updated to Windows Mobile 5.0 – it can be difficult to pin-point which application is causing the issue and we have been forced to do some hard-resets to get the handheld running well again. However, we're certain that these issues will soon be smoothed out as software houses update their programs for this latest Windows Mobile version.
On a closing note we'd like to mention that Active Sync 4.0 is much faster than before thanks to the USB 2.0 support. The speed improvement is most noticeable when browsing through the files via desktop and when installing applications.
We would like to kindly thank www.expansys.it for providing us with the Pda reviewed in this article.
