Telescope Reviews: Planetarium Software for Pocket PC

Charlie,

I while back ago i posted just about the same question but putted the ladder of requirments a bit higher; i even wanted a small portable device whoch could capture....well i guess that was a bit to high.

I did not own a pocket PC myself and i was wondering if it was worth the investment. I just got in my pocket PC (Dell AXIM X5 with 512Mb SD Card & WLan

) and was of course dying to try some software.

Having read your post i took it on me to install both pocket stars and thesky pocket edition and make a 'first impression side by side comparisson'.

----Mini comparisson between Pocket Stars and The Sky Pocket Edition----

Opinions and impression told in text below are entirely my own and may be incomplete as i did not test either software packages for a long time, your mileage my vary. I do already have some experience with The Sky on my PC (came with my scope) and did not have any previous experience 'Pocket Stars'

Both tried verions are demo or time limited versions, tested on
- Dell Axim X5 Pocket PC 2003
- Asus mainbord PIII PC with Windows XP and ActiveSync 3.7.1 installed

Installing
Both programs install in the same manner; using ActiveSync to install the software on your device.
Both programs give you the option of installing it in alternate memory locations; i chose to install them on the SD Card and that worked fine.
Both programs place themselves in the porgrams folder.
The Sky Pocket Edition seems to take a little more space then Pocket Stars

----Running Pocket Stars----
Starting
When starting pocket stars you are presented with a overview of the sky in a planisphere style. You will be able to see star upon 6th magnitude if you want and all main stars, planets and constallations are named and lined by default. this is adjustable.

Preferences
One of the first things you want to set is probably your location. I have been fooled by the program by trying Menu|Preferences, but when you know it all, it's so simple; there is a small globe symbol on your task bar, tapping that will bring up all the settings you want to make.

However, what you can set in Menu|prefences is the way you interface behaves colorwise; you can tap the 'red' option which will change most of the active interface to shades of red. Regretly not all; the Windows menu bar on top remains in it's color you chose; you'll have to change that in the settings of Pocket PC 2003 itself.

I left it with that, sure there will be more possiblities; i did not explore them because i wanted a quick look.

Navigating
Navigating through the chart is done with your stylus or with your navigator button. Your can also rotate your viewing direction bij rotating a small symbol on the screen; this did not always go as planned for me and when you have gloves on, you'll have a hard time pointing that stylus on the exact spot.

Extra's
Under the menu there are some extra utils tugged away, are they handy? i don't know, haven't tried them. Find out yourself if there something of your taste

Performance
The program itself is performing fine; startup is quick and navigating is smooth and fast. No problems here.

Price
This is always a hard issue; is it worth the money? To be honest, i should be looking in much better on both programs to be sure about what i'm going to say, but it's a first impression, and so will this be. The price is also one of the reasons i tried it; the price said to me 'i'm on track with prices of other pda software, i'm affordable' and with that i think i've said it all.

----Running The Sky Pocket Edition----
Those familiar with The Sky will certainly have a low learning curve using this software; you are being presented with the sky in teh same way as the pc edition does; you have a horizon and above it the sky.
Much more menu options for 'TheSky pocket edition' the in 'Pocket stars'

Navigating
This is one of the things that already bugged me in the PC version; you can not navigate using the mouse directly on the sky map (or i should RTFM). Same goes here; use the navigater knob to navigate.
they solved the rotation nicely though; View|Rotate and you get a pinpoint like 'north' which you can turn round with your stylus. Nice.

Extra's
The program seems to feature packed although i did not try all. One of it's greatest features is the ability to control a supported telescope. As i do not own a computer controlled telescope or an supported interface i have not tried this feature. But it would be a huge party for any computer nerd like me to see that workin'!

Performance
Ouch, here's a problem; it's slow! I have a very clean, high performance, high memory Pocket PC, but it takes a while to start up. Navigating is the same. It really drags behind. Seems like the program calculates the position of all objects in FOV, then filters the object it must project and then draw them. Must be something like that to explain this; Software Bisque might have to do a little work on this.

Price
Another ouch!; yes of course it's feature packed. So much that you might seriously wonder if you will be using it all. I think Software Bisque would be smart to bring out another version of TheSky Pocket Ed; one which is simpler, more planisphere like.
When they offer the possibilty to upgrade, do something about the perfomance issue and adjust prices to 'PDA standard prices' they've got a winner! I would suggest $19,95 for the small and $30 to $40 for this version.

Conclusion
What struck me most is that it was much harder to make out different stars, have an overview and navigate your way through the sky. It did not matter which program i used. I guess it will just take a little getting used to.

What program is best for you depends on what you want i think. If you want a simple, planisphere style program for a reasonable price, like 'planisphere' for the Palm OS, then Pocket Stars is the thing for you.
if you are more of a avid user and/or want more options the TheSky might be for you. To program even 'looks' more professional

(but that's subjective) Especially if you plan to control you scope with it. But be prepared for lesser interface response performance then 'Pocket Stars'.

I personally do not know yet which one i will buy; i tend to go for TheSky Pocket Ed. because i'm used to it's interface and has the possibilities to grow. I do however seriously doubt that i will be using a device this small for more then a planisphere function because i you have no plans to connect it to a scope in the near future. And for a planisphere it's just very expensive...

Nice to be back!
Peppe