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Recommendations for a PDA
Posted: Mon Jun 06, 2005 10:42 pm
by Burrito
My wife needs to get a new PDA and since you all are the most techie people I know, I thought I'd throw it out here to get some feedback as to good ones for her to get.
We live in the US so obviously she'll need one that will work over here (wireless-wise etc). I'm thinking she should get a bluetooth one that she can tie into her outlook calendar etc but I have no clue as to any good brands or even where to begin looking...after all I still tote around a Nokia 3590 for my cell.
any advice you can provide will be greatly appreciated.
thanks,
Burrito
Posted: Mon Jun 06, 2005 10:48 pm
by Roja
I can highly recommend any of the "Smartphone"'s I've used. I've used the Samsung i300, the Treo 600, and the Treo 650.
I'm carrying the 600, and it does almost anything I want. They are supported at least on Verizon and Sprint, so there is some choice to it.
Its a palm-based phone, with a backlit color display. Its extremely useful, allowing easy sync to a variety of OS and applications.
I didn't like the 650's habit of trial-dating software on it (Solitaire lasts 15 days?!?!). Just seemed overly greedy. Even with that, I highly recommend it.. very functional, nice battery life, and a vivid display.
Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2005 1:51 pm
by Burrito
Roja, thanks for the reply. If I get one that has a phone, it'd need to be at&t/cingular (stupid 2 year contract...grr)
do you know of any that work on that network that are good? She needs something that has a good calendar, contact list, can play mp3s (well I want that

), can browse the web, maybe some spreadsheet functionality, a notepad/wordpad, and other cool stuff (again for me...bascially anything cool is for me).
Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2005 2:17 pm
by hawleyjr
I have the BlackBerry 7750 via Verizon. I love it, I call it my crackberry :)
It can do all the mentioned above except play mp3s
Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2005 3:09 pm
by Roja
Burrito wrote:Roja, thanks for the reply. If I get one that has a phone, it'd need to be at&t/cingular (stupid 2 year contract...grr)
do you know of any that work on that network that are good?
Not really.. I used to work for Verizon Wireless, and now my service is with Sprint. I don't have a clue what cingular offers these days.
I'd just suggest a palm-based phone if they have one. Although the requirement for mp3 playing locks it down to a VERY few phones, and web browsing is soooo horribly bad on anything other than a treo 600/650 or a sidekick (T-mobile) that i wouldnt even count that as a 'feature'.
Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2005 3:15 pm
by John Cartwright
and web browsing is soooo horribly bad on anything other than
Agreed. Pain in the arse if you ask me.
Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2005 5:32 am
by webjoe
I use a Treo 600 and upgraded to a Treo 650 - great so far. Nice to know the Palm library is rather extensive. If a phone isn't necessary Palm has a new "lifedrive" that looks interesting. Seems to have everything + a 4GB hd! I haven't played with it to know how functional it is though. Here's a link for more info:
LifeDrive Details
Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2005 7:58 pm
by evilmonkey
I'm a Palm owner (not cell phone, just a PDA), but I have to reccommend the PocketPC, if you want cell phone functionality, I suggest the iPAQ h6320. It's a GSP/GPRS phone, so it should be supported by T-mobile and cingular at least (I'm in Canada, but those are the ones I know in the US). It's a bit pricey though.
Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2005 5:24 am
by Roja
evilmonkey wrote:I'm a Palm owner (not cell phone, just a PDA), but I have to reccommend the PocketPC, if you want cell phone functionality, I suggest the iPAQ h6320. It's a GSP/GPRS phone, so it should be supported by T-mobile and cingular at least (I'm in Canada, but those are the ones I know in the US). It's a bit pricey though.
I used a PocketPC for a short time, and I'd have to give the polar opposite opinion. It was everything a smartphone shouldnt be. Really poor battery life, the unit had to be "rebooted" regularly, the applications were buggy, and the signal support was horrid. The screen, while bright, would get delayed rewriting often (pixels would remain from the last thing shown after they should have been rewritten).
All in all, one of the worst devices I've ever used. The fact that it was insanely costly in comparison to the palm phones I used, was made by Microsoft (a convicted predatory monopolist that no one needs to help destroy the computer market), and poorly supported on the VZW market (at the time) made the choice to leave it behind very easy.
I can't imagine what good people could see in the phone after my experience with it.