WHAT'S HOT
    Pocket Mechanic gives you all the utilities and a few more above what you would expect to see on a desktop system.  It also includes some "benchmarking" utilities, a TCP/IP configurator, and tools for clearing out unused Registry entries, duplicate notifications, and other clutter on your Pocket PC, all at a very reasonable price.

PROGRAM FEATURES
    Pocket Mechanic starts up with a File Manager type display of the available utilities:

Pocket Mechanic's Main View shows icons and names for each of the component utilities.

You can display the utilities as Large or Small icons, in a wrapped List, or in a single row.
You can also show only the utilities in a particular use group.

    Tapping on the utility icon will display an explanation of what it does in the Help Window.  Double-tapping will run the utility.

    We will take each utility in turn to see what each does:

Card Benchmark lets you test read and write speed of a storage card.

Benchmark will show the results in either MB/s or "X".

You can also view a more detailed report...

...and even Export the data in various formats.

Card Information displays the hardware and formatting specifics of a storage card.

Geometry displays the low-level and hardware information.

BIOS displays the media and partition information.

  FAT displays File Allocation information.

  Space displays storage use information.

File System displays directory and file information.

Card Read/Write Surface Test will check for (and optionally) mark bad sectors.
You can run the test as Read-only, Non-destructive read/write, and destructive read/write.
If you chose to test writing as well as reading, you can select the bit patterns used in the test.

    The non-destructive option is nice to have when checking a storage device that already has data on it.  In non-destructive mode, any data in a sector is copied before the test and restored afterward.  However, because of the extra processing, a non-destructive test will take longer.

Defragment allows you to place file sements in contiguous blocks on the storage media.
You can choose to only deframent highly fragemented files and defragment folders as well as files.

The central indicators show progress as the analysis or defragmentation occurs.

At the end of the analysis, you will see a report showing how badly files are fragmented.

Logical Format performs a high-level format on a storage medium.
You can also choose to reformate the entire surface and scan for errors after the format.

You can choose a custom format or have parameters optimized for various uses entered automatically.

Low Level Format allows you to format the card on a physical level.
This may help in recovering from very serious errors.

Notification Queue lists items in the notification queue and allows you to Clear, Duplicate, or Delete the items you place a check next to.

Registry Cleanup lists each of the keys in the registry that are incorrectly configured in some way.  You can then delete some or all of them.
Selecting a specific key will describe the problem in the message panel below the keys.

Scan Disk scans a storage medium for errors and allows you to (automatically or manually) fix them.

Storage Folders lists the current system names for each storage slot and allows you to change them.

System Cleanup finds files on your system that you can safely delete to regain the storage space they occupy.

TCP/IP Configuration shows you information about your network adapter(s).


It will also display information about the various server settings for each network adapter.
It also allows you to Refresh and/or Release an adapter to aquire new settings.

HELP SUPPORT
    Pocket Mechanic has no help accessable through the Help application but is does have a form of built-in help.

Instead of the typical Help option and format, Pocket Mechanic uses a Help Window, at the bottom of the interface.  When you select a utility, the Help Window displays text explaining what it does.

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
    Pocket Mechanic needs 350KB of Program memory to run and 528KB of Storage Memory to install.  The program will install into main memory regardless of the selection you make in ActiveSync Add/Remove Programs.  Pocket Mechanic runs on Pocket PC 2002 and Windows Mobile 2003 (including Second Edition) devices.  It does not, however, display properly with a rotated screen in WM2003SE.

BUGS AND WISHES
    The software performed exactly as it should have so I have no bugs to report.  As always, I do have a few wishes:
    First, I wish there were a little more documentation.  I could find nothing that tells me what "Fast Mode" does in the Defragment utility and would have liked to see an explanation.
    Second, since you are always going to follow a low-level format with a logical format, it would have been helpful to allow the user to go immediately to the logical format after a low-level format is completed.

PURCHASING
    You can purchase Pocket Mechanic from the pocketnow Store for $14.95.  There is also a 14 day trial version.  As of this writing, the pocketnow Store hasn't been updated to the latest version.  You could either wait for the store to update or download the available version and upgrade to the new version when it's available for free.

PROS

• Provides all the necessary utilites for working with storage media
• Provides utilities for cleaning out system "clutter"
• Provides benchmarking utilities to accurately assess storage speeds
  

CONS

• Documentation is minimal

OVERALL IMPRESSION
    I was very impressed with the power and functionality of Pocket Mechanic.  I have learned to expect great things from Anton Tomov and he did not dissapoint me here.  The program has all the features of CNetX FlashFormat or SoftWinter StorageTools combined with SK Tools for the same price as the Storage Tools by itself.  If you are looking for the storage media tools missing from Pocket PC OS, and especially if you need them to recover a corrupted medium, get Pocket Mechanic today.

All screenshots in this review are taken using SOTI's Pocket Controller Pro