I may or may not have just bought a pocket PC so I could add another user agent to my collection.
And fun surprise: it supports IPv6 out of the box! Windows Mobile 2003 SE had its act together.
#iPaq #WindowsMobile #IPv6
@mroach your interests include IRIX, WAP, Windows CE, WebTV and obscure user agents? I have never met someone with so much overlap in niche interests :D
My life mission is to make websites that work in every weird old browser.
@karpour I love the tech of the 90s and early 2000s. So much throwing spaghetti at the wall, wacky innovation, and just fun. And definitely some maddening weirdness. I love it! And devices. I always loved old feature phones, PDAs, and even back then making web pages work on them.
With ip.mroach.com I had a simple mission of "works on old browsers" and now that's been scope creeping to "works with the best possible presentation in every browser". Like one of those museums where you walk through the evolution of a society :D
My self-imposed constraint has been to avoid user-agent sniffing and figure stuff out in other ways which is surprisingly sort of clean.
What are your favourite devices that you'll always go back to?
@mroach 100% agree, tech back then was so quirky and interesting, and many companies really tried some wild things.
I love portable devices. Windows CE has a special place in my heart. I recently found out that Pocket Internet Explorer from 1999 has everything needed for a modern web app. CSS, DOM manipulation and most importantly, AJAX! On a handheld browser from before 2000, blows my mind.
@mroach I also love obscure old devices. I have a Sharp MI-10 color zaurus from 1996. First PDA ever with a color display. Very undocumented, but supported applications, had an attachable camera and even a modem card and a html web browser. I did not get that to work yet but if I do, i will likely be the only person in this decade to have used this browser.
Overall I feel like there is so much to be done documenting the history of user agents!
@karpour @mroach Just had to go find the only Windows CE device I've ever had - Windows CE Mid style. Trouble is the plastic has turned into that sticky rubber. Plus I vaguely remember it has a Mini USB socket but would only charge from a proprietary charger. Gonna need some ethanol before I can even touch it!
Aug 18, 2026, 10:18 AM
Aug 18, 2026, 11:19 AM@mroach hx4700 was the absolute best iPAQ. Such a capable machine.
@ret I did my research on these and this model kept coming up as the GOAT for Windows Mobile of this era. Having built-in Wi-Fi is a huge win, and a VGA screen is beautiful. I love it so far! I've already started doing a little development. Using C# all these years later still feels pretty easy on this!
Aug 18, 2026, 11:28 AM@mroach I had one at the time they were "new" and it felt so modern. The display is quite high resolution for the size, and the CF + SD capability was great. I had the folding keyboard and I think there was a camera that fit in the SD slot too?
The Synaptics touch pad was an awesome addition, but I don't remember getting much use out of it.
Some of my earliest "proper" Internet experiences were wardriving Wi-Fi (we didn't have it at home) or using cellular data via my Motorola V500 using Bluetooth (which was impressive in itself!).
