I Think I Like It - My new Sprint PPC6700 SmartPhone and SBS 2003

RTA Information Technology, Tempe, Arizona http://rtait.com/index.htm

I resisted the temptation for a long time, but I finally acquired a pair of Sprint PPC6700 SmartPhones. If you are in the IT business, you probably already know all about them. Just about every IT consultant I run into seems to have one. But they haven't hit the average businessperson. Yet.

The Sprint PPC6700, and its Verizon, T-Mobile, and other twins, is a Windows Mobile 5 SmartPhone/PDA. Besides being a decent phone, it features full WM5 functionality -

* Instant synchronization of email, contacts, and calendar with your SBS 2003 Server
* Mobile versions of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint
* Always-on medium-speed Internet connection
* Built-in Windows Media Player
* A Windows-centric operating system that Windows users find familiar

If you spend time away from your office, and if you have an SBS Server or an Exchange Server, you owe yourself a hard look at these phones.

I put a $60 2GB MiniSD storage card into mine, for holding music, videos, and whatever. I also downloaded a WONDERFUL program, SiriuCE, that lets me listen to my Sirius Satellite Radio channels.
http://www.emulamer.com/SiriuCE.html

And I just ordered a SlingBox, to let me watch my Dish Network Satellite TV channels from anywhere in the world, via an Internet connection. http://slingbox.com

I bought a pair of PPC6700s. I figured that was cheap insurance. Plus, I got two of everything, including cases, chargers, and sync cables. I found some vendors on eBay that claim to be selling original (OEM) Audiovox car chargers and other accessories. One nice thing about the PPC6700 is that the hardware between phone vendors (Sprint, Verizon, Audiovox, etc.) seems to be identical, so you can get accessories from multiple sources.

I'm also taking a look at extended batteries. The factory 1350 mAH battery is good for a day's use and no more. Lion Battery http://www.lionbattery.com/description.php?noproduit=321
offers a new 2800 mAH battery that is getting great reviews and can, apparently, be squeezed into the (Sprint) factory leather case and charging base.

Does this all sound like a commercial? Maybe. But it's more a commercial for SBS 2003 and how it works with this great new hardware. Without that, the PPC6700 would just be another phone with some fun multimedia stuff.

But add an SBS/Exchange Server, and it becomes a fun toy that also gets real work done. I think I like it.

Virtual Goodness - Virtual PC 2004 Now Free from Microsoft

RTA Information Technology, Tempe, Arizona http://rtait.com/index.htm

Following the lead of Microsoft's Virtual Server 2005, Virtual PC 2004 is now available for free download:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtualpc/default.mspx

Virtual PC, purchased from Connectix a few years ago, is an amazing and easy-to-use program that has dozens of uses. Some prime uses:

1) Running older programs that won't work under XP or Server 2000 or Server 2003
2) Running Trial Versions of Microsoft Server software or applications like Exchange or ISA
3) Experimenting with "risky" changes to your Server or Desktop operating system
4) Learning about networking

When I was working on my MCSE certification, I spent countless hours running networks of multiple Windows Servers inside of multiple Virtual PC workspaces. If you make a mistake and trash a Server, you can close the window and restart the Server. No harm done.

Another common use is if you have an old program that only works under Windows 95, 98, or NT. You can load that OS into a Virtual PC window and then load your program into the new, virtual, OS. Now you can use your old program, safely, on a modern XP workstation.

About the only things you can't do in Virtual PC are emulate SCSI drive arrays or Fibre arrays for Clustering. As long as you have enough memory in your desktop PC, you can pretty much run as many Virtual PCs (or Servers) as you care to. Each Virtual PC requires REAL memory to run, though. It can't take advantage of virtual memory. So if want to run four Servers and each needs 384MB of memory, you'll need around 1.5GB of RAM in your desktop PC.

So, download Virtual PC 2004 and download a trial copy that OS you want to play with (most Microsoft Server 2003 trials are good for six months). And play to your heart's content for six months for free!