Best PDA for $500?

[Ender]

I'm getting $500 US for christmas, and was wondering what is the best/most efficient PDA I can get? I don't need Mp3 play ability, since I have an Mp3 player, but a color screen would be nice.

Also, can anyone tell me where I an buy one of those foldable keyboards for a PDA?

 

[gopunk]

do you want palm or pocketpc?

you can get the keyboards anywhere that sells pdas basically.

 

[ShadowHunter]

POCKET PC 2002 POCKET PC 2002 POCKET PC 2002

Palm is wuss compared to the latest and greatest from MS. I particularly like the Casio E-200 and the Toshiba e570.

 

[Ender]

I have no idea what either of those PDA types advantages or disadvantages are, so I have no idea

 

[Ender]

Thanks Shadow, i'll look into it.

 

[teriba]

Visor Prism, easily the best.

 

[Ender]

Thanks for everyone's contributions so far, keep them coming. Also, if possible I would like a "sleek" look to it.

 

[gopunk]

shadowhunter is a fine specimen of a pocketpc zealot. see also *nix, windows, pc, mac zealot.

if you just need it to keep track of meetings, contacts, etc, then a pocket pc is overkill imho. the pocketpc has better games (though fewer) and multimedia capability.

 

[HansXP]

You're going to get different responses from everyone. I'd suggest going to your local Best Buy/Staples/Circuit City and looking over their selection of PDAs. Although you won't see everything, you'll probably see atleast one good device from both the Palm and PPC camp. As for my personal choice, an iPAQ 3800 series or an HP Jornada 568 (both running Pocket PC 2002) would both be very good.

 

[gopunk]

my personal palm choice would be the handera 330, though it's black and white. if it was color, it would easily beat all other palms. but it still beats them, imho

 

[NFS4]

A 64MB Compaq iPAQ 3670 can be had for $299 after rebate from CompUSA. If you are gonna spend the big bucks, it makes no sense to go with Palm. And you can upgrade that iPAQ to PocketPC 2002 for $30 from Compaq.

And for an MP3 player, you can't go much better than the PocketPC platform. And the color screens are also larger. And you can also get a fold-out keyboard for the iPAQ. And PocketPC also has the best games (and a wide variety at that) including all kinds of card games, side scrollers like Rayman, casino, helicopter simulators, race car sims, shoot-em ups, SimCity 2000, upcoming Need for Speed 4, etc. etc.

So for everything you have stated, the PocketPC is your best bet.

And I also like the capability to display and edit PowerPoint presentation in real time on my iPAQ as well with the Presenter software. Just about anything you can do with the Desktop version of PP, you can do with the iPAQ. I also love Streets 2002, and the new Terminal Server with 2002. And Money 2002 for the PocketPC syncs up perfectly with my Money 2002 for the desktop.

 

[N8Magic]

[RIM zealot]

Buy a Blackberry. (957 Model with the bigger screen.)

You won't regret it.

[/RIM zealot]

 

[gopunk]

n8magic has a point, i forget about blackberry. if i had the dough (there's monthly or yearly fee) i'd go for the rim blackberry. email!

 

[Ender]

Wow, thanks for everyones contributions. I indeed want to use the PDA to play games and whatever else, the reason I want to spend lots of money on it. The Ipaq's look really cool, I'll check those out.

 

[N8Magic]

There is a monthly fee, but for what you get, it's quite reasonable. I couldn't live without mine now that I've had it for a year and a half. They don't nickname it "Crackberry" for nothing.

BTW, I can even surf ATOT on my Blackberry. w00t!

 

[gopunk]

merkon - if you want to play games and stuff then i think the pocketpc would probably be a better choice. there are a lot of games for palm, but only a few that are woth playing. my understanding is that pocketpc has less games but they're better.

 

[RossMAN]

Palm/Handspring/Sony Clie - If you want simple, sleek, efficient, small, thousands of free/sharware apps.

Compaq iPaq - Larger, awesome brilliant color display, MP3s, multimedia, powerful

I bought the Sony Clie PEG-S320 for $135 with free shipping (sorry deal is DEAD) and so far I like it, A LOT.

There's also the new Sony Clie PEG-760C for $364 (but I think this deal might be dead also).

Do you need color? If you say no, that will open a lot of choices which are all A LOT cheaper than $500.
How do you plan on using your PDA?
What kind of applications are you going to be running?
Will you want to HotSync with Microsoft Outlook to read your e-mail, share contacts and your datebook?

If you want the smallest PDA go with Palm, if you want the best most loaded to the gills go with Compaq iPaq.

Can you drive to CompUSA today? If so you might still be able to pick up the Compaq iPaq H3670 for $299 after rebate, that's an AWESOME DEAL!

 

[Ender]

Well, I will be using the PDA for note taking, organizing stuff, playing games, simple math problems (I heard you can do this?) and the usual. I don't live in the U.S, but I can go browsing through Vancouver, B.C

Btw, I was looking at the Ipaq's and the Top 2 models seem to be exact except for the blue tooth intergration. Is this like a portable USB cradle type thingy? But within a certain range?

Also, if I had a cell phone with internet capabilities, can I hook it up to the PDA and surf the net?
Internet would be an added bonus, but is not required. So far I like the Ipaq H3760. What is the difference between it and the $599 model by any chance?

Also, I would like to make sure my PDA dosen't go obsolete within a year. Is this likely to happen anyways?

 

[RossMAN]

With the iPaq H3670 I doubt it'd be obsolete anytime soon.

 

[gopunk]

pdas evolve much slower than normal computers do... at least i think so. i view the iiixe as superior to it's sucessor, the m105.

 

[Ender]

Ok.. also, the H3670 says it has Microphone and speakers on it.. does this mean I can record stuff onto it and play it out loud?

Also, why do people call it the H3760? It says on the sheet it's H3670.

 

[gopunk]

yea it does, it's kinda cool, i played around with my mom's.

 

[RossMAN]

Blech there's an iPaq Blackberry?

 

[Ender]

Ok guys, thanks. I'm going out now, so I'll cya guys later. Thanks for all the suggestions.

 

[Noriaki]

The Palm OS ones are much simpler. If you just want to keep track of meetings and phone numbers I'd take a Palm OS one (a Handspring Visor Prism), but if you want to be able to view little movies, mp3s, and stuff like that, I would suggest a PocketPC.

Since cost isn't really an issue for you, I would probably look into a colour PocketPC.

They can do all the meeting and organizing things, and a bunch more that a Palm can't. I've found the palm to be a little more intuitive, but I'm sure you'll get used to PocketPC in no time. And the Palm is cheaper.

But really, there isn't much of a reason to choose a Palm over a PocketPC with your kind of budget.