Do it for the children
So the last thing I asked myself after loading and trying out the software was this: do I really need the ability to play video? Is it just a gimmick or a toy? Well, whether you want to have video capabilities in the palm of your hand is up to you, but for me, the answer is very clear.

Before I left on my first week long business trip after loading up PocketTV, I captured some home videos of my children in MPEG files and put them on my Casio. Normally, I look at pictures of my kids when I get a little homesick when I'm on the road, but instead I watched them on PocketTV. After that, I never doubted the usefulness of being able to carry around video on a PDA.

Conclusion
PocketTV allows nearly everyone who has a Windows CE-based PDA to experience mobile video. Whether or not everyone will find a need for it remains to be seen, but the people at MpegTV make it pretty easy to try and find out. The program itself works great, and considering the price (once again…it's free) you can't go wrong. I hope mobile video catches on and new breakthroughs in streaming and wireless connectivity will make it even more desirable. But for now, your PDA can be a little more fun and a little more practical, and best of all, it doesn't have to cost you anything.

Gregory Lea is a Product Manager for Werner Ladder Company in Greenville, PA. He has been a Windows CE user for two years. Greg has an MS in Material Science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a BS in Metallurgical Engineering from University of Missouri, Rolla. He can be contacted via email at leagg@wernerco.com.