November 2002

The gap between handheld terminals and PDAs has been narrowed yet further with the launch by Symbol of its PPT8800. It embodies many of the features seen in the company's recently-introduced PDT8000 range (see Evaluation, last issue), but is even more compact and PDA-like, and weighs just over half as much in basic form (300g). Nevertheless, it is sealed to IP54 standard, and built to withstand a 4ft drop on a concrete floor.

Like the 8000, the PPT8800 uses an Intel Xscale processor, but in this case rated at 250 rather than 400MHz. It is also slightly lower on memory capacity, having 32MB of RAM compared with the 8000's 64 or 128MB.

It does, however, take a step forward in using the latest .NET 4.1 version of the Windows CE operating system, and offers support for Symbol's new AirBEAM family of mobility management tools. Integrated single-dimension barcode scanning capability is built in, and support for Bluetooth or 802.11b local-area wireless networking is optional.

A back-lit transreflective colour TFT display is used, and input is via keypad or pointing device. The keypad can have up to 15 keys, compared with the 8000's 23. There is a CompactFlash card slot, and Type II memory cards are supported.