PDAs

[Tyler Howell]

Another OT question for my esteemed SMC colleagues. Haven't steered me wrong yet. Though I'm surfing the slippery Neander slope, I'd like to come into the new millennium with a PDA Personal Digital Assistant.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/store-name=electronics&index=electronics&search-type=ss&field-manufacturer=PalmOne/102-3775269-7865751

After 8 years, 1 class, and 2 "How-To" videos I still cant get the Franklin planner to work for me.

Palm seems to be the front runner. Don't need a phone or camera. Internet access isn't a requirement but I am open to suggestions.

Ph#s, dates, conversations, driving instructions, appointments, Easy-In, Easy-Out is what I'm after. Do any have a MP3 feature. What are your experiences.

Thanks Again.

[Rich Konopka]

Tyler,

What do you use for email, contacts, and calendar? If you use Outlook you may be better served with a PocketPC(Ipaq, Del Axim). I use outlook and have an Ipaq which is okay. I would love to get away from Outlook and user Thunderbird ( Freeware email) But I need a good calendar software and the Open Source is not there just yet. My Ipaq will not sync with Thunderbird and I spent a lot for that muffler.

I have used the Palm based PDA'a in the past and I find them better than the PocketPC's. The syncronization with Outlook was a nightmare in the past but I hear it has improved.

HTH

[Jim Becker]

I've always used Palm products. Honestly, mine pretty much acts as a "backup", primarily for my Outlook calendar. My V600 phone pretty much is the core of my phone number listing and I have it with me 100% of the time. Not so for the PDA. Now, Dr. SWMBO got me a new application for the PDA for the holidays...a program to help with wine buying... That should get me to carry the PDA a little more often outside of my briefcase/computer bag!

[Dan Mages]

Palm based PDAs are the best on the market right now. Most of them will do everything that you have mentioned. Too bad this phone/pda is not available in the US http://direct.motorola.com/eng/Produ...roductid=29249.

Dan

[Bruce Page]

Tyler,

I'll give up my Palm when you pry it from my cold dead fingers!

[Matthew Poeller]

I know that you are opposed to the phone idea but I just wanted to tell you what I have and I love it.

I have sprintpcs service with a Samsung i500 phone. They have this thing called vision service and that allows me to have unlimited access to the web when I am in sprintpcs service area which is almost all the time. The means that I can check my e-mail (using a program called snappermail) check stocks, get into my scottrade account and do everything that I need to do right from my phone.

Oh I almost forgot the phone is a PDA to. It operates on the Palm OS system. This phone is completely expandable and you can download just about any program, to do anything that you need.

All in all there is only one thing on my belt that is small and does everything (e-mail, phone book, reminders, to do, fax, microsoft word, with sprint I can even sync up to my work e-mail and network drive, everything I tell you). Just thought it might be something that you wanted to look into.

[Ernie Hobbs]

I have had a Smart Phone in the past (older model) and I found it to be a little too small to be an effective Palm and a little too big for a cell phone. I still like my separate cell phone and Palm Tungsten E.

I like the Palm Tungsten E because it has all the functionality of business applications and not all the games and multimedia stuff that I don't need. Plus, you can find it cheaper than a lot of other similar devices.

[Matt Meiser]

I have an iPAQ because we occasionally develop applications for handheld barcode scanners that run PocketPC and this lets me use my PDA as a test platform. I've never had anything else. My boss went from a PalmOS PDA to a Dell running PocketPC and likes it better.

There is a version of Windows Media Player for PocketPC.

[Glenn Clabo]

DrLOML has a PalmOne...Treo and loves it. It's a phone/PDA/GPS that she even uses for PowerPoint presentations. I'm fighting the want bug. Just for you...a picture.

[Steve Inniss]

Tyler,
Like everything else, a lot depends on you. Palm garnered market share due to the elegant simplicity of it's operating system, it was and is still primarily a PDA, but wonderfully simple and therefore effective.
Pocket PC's can do quite a bit more than Palm o/s devices; a subset of outlook tasks, to do's notes calendar etc. as well as mobile versions of Word and Excel. Also plays MP3 files - even converted DVD's and I use an old one for a remote control in a sort of home theater context.
On PPC's, outlook is not flexible enough to customize, if you manage your day following the practices of Franklin, Covey, Time Text or your own thing. In that case you want to check Pocket PC's running Pocket Informant -brilliant www.pocketinformant.com

There are also Blackberrys of course which give you secure "push" email, pda functions (not as robust as palm and ppc), and are the only device really trusted behind corporate and government firewalls.

My disclaimers:
1. I own a company involved with business continuity/disaster recovery on Blackberrys - so I use a Blackberry
2. I started using a Franklin-like system years ago - so I use a Pocket PC with Pocket Informant
3. I still have my original US Robotics Palm Pilot from 1996

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Tyler,

I use the Samsung i500 and it's been pretty reliable. It's a cell phone but I can access the internet too. It syncs with my Outlook calendar; I can take notes; it has an address book; it's Palm based. You can do expense reporting, email, it has a calculator, speed dial, voice dial, voice memo and uses MobileDB Lt, a limited data base. In short, it's provided by my employer to make me more mobile and it does that. We use the MobileDB Lt (mini-data base) to store a telephone and address data for about 80 persons working in the Pacific Northwest. It's relatively easy to use and understand.

[Brian Austin]

Like Steve, I'm very impressed with Pocket Informant. I've been using it for about six months. I actually reach for it faster than Outlook on my laptop.

I've got a Dell Axim X30 running MS Mobile 2003 Second Edition (ie PocketPC stuff). I've owned three Palms and tested a new Palm Tungsten. I'll take the PocketPC at this point. I've got 802.11b WiFi + Bluetooth built-in, giving me just about any type of connectivity I need. Lots of apps, including Pocket Informant, Pocket Weather, Mini-Stumbler (for wireless ah..searching), and a bunch of other stuff I keep playing with. I also store MP3's on it and listen when my laptop isn't available.

The only irritating thing is battery life. It's rather short, especially when an alarm goes off and I don't catch it for a few hours (I haven't set it to go back to 'sleep'). It doesn't lose data, though, so it just requires a quick battery change. Turning on the wireless sucks it down fairly fast, too. I use it only when I need it, then turn it off.

[Erin Stringer]

I'll stand in the Pocket PC camp. I have an iPAQ 2215 and use Pocket Informant. I am also able to use my SD card from my digital camera to store MP3's and other stuff, the 1GB card I just got holds LOTS of music and or pictures.

[Scott Coffelt]

I had a Palm III and then went to an IPAQ. The battery on the IPAQ is now shot. I have to send in to get fixed and that ain't cheap, so I have been without for quite some time. What I found was the IPAQ running Windows CE is a battery hog. It's that way with the phones and PDA both.

I too have been drooling over the Treo 650, right now it would cost me about $500. So I have been doing without and choosing to use the old phone and spend my money on tools.

If you just want the calendar, contact, etc features then you can get a Palm fairly cheap and it will work with Outlook just fine. Personally, I will go back to Palm some day. Sounds as if you do not wnat a Smart Phone right now anyways.

[Jim Tobias]

Had 3 different palms over 5 years. Liked them at the time. I now I have a Dell Axim (wireless, Bluetooth, etc.) and would never go back. It has ,in my opinion, better features and more capability.