PDA, think I might need one, any suggestions?

[starwars7]

Hi All, I'm at a point in my life where I think a PDA may actually become necessary. Was wondering is someone could recommend one to me. Or if there is a nifty way to turn another pice of tech into one (cell phone, ipod etc...)

 

[Lord Evermore]

I'd be willing to bet you do what most people do when they buy a PDA just because they think it might be useful: play with it, use it for a few weeks at best, then either start leaving it behind sometimes until you just never carry it, or use it only for pocket games.

Figure out your exact needs that you think a PDA could fill, and then see if there are cheaper and easier alternatives. Phone numbers and addresses can go on some paper in your wallet, or in your cell phone. Even cheap cell phones these days have many of the every-day functions people think PDAs are needed for. I don't experiment with a lot of phones to be able to make suggestions on them.

If you buy it without a specific need, then you're buying a solution and having to come up with a problem for it to solve.

 

[jnmfox]

I have a Treo 600 and I have found it very helpful. The Treo 650 or 700 is even a better phone/PDA.

 

[Talcite]

I have a Palm T/X. Pretty good, although the graffiti 2 drives me mad sometimes. I have some pretty bad writing though =p.

I agree with evermore. You shouldn't get the PDA unless you KNOW you need it. I myself am going to university and i'm using this for typing assignments away from the desktop. Other than that, I don't have a real need for it. You should really consider it, because at $300+ it's not exactly one of those things you can just throw green at.

 

[Twsmit]

Stand alone PDA's are obsolete. I have two, one I bought and one I was given for free because the owner never used it. One is a last generation sony Clie, the other a Tungsten C, both have WiFi. The only uses I can find for them are pocket games, emulators, and browsing Avantgo news, and other mobile webpages... but only in areas that have free WiFi access.

I would recommend a Smart phone, or even a fancy "dumb phone" you will want something that synchs with your calender wirelessly, and I have found the Treos (blackberrys too) to do that well, they integrate with office Outlook networks. I find that the lack of a phone, and the need to manually dock and synch your contacts and calender make a classic PDA really cumbersome and increasingly old fashioned, a phone can do most of the PDA functions and so much more now adays.

 

[sovalon]

I agree, they are cool for a week or so and then they get too bulky to carry around. The reason the guy uses his Palm650 so much is because its also his phone, and you always have to have your phone with! Also the Smart phones and Pocket PCs are getting so much better. Take the Tmobile MDA and the SDA which I own. They are both awesome and very small in size.

 

[rikilii]

You could always go for the ubiquitous ball and chain Crackberry(tm).

I personally hate the interface. It's great for email, but not so hot for anything else.

A friend of mine has a Treo, and really likes it.

 

[RebateMonger]

Yeah, I found the lack of a full-time Internet connection on my brand-new Dell x51v PDA was making it impractical for me. I bought a Sprint PPC6700 PDAPhone. It's a horrible PHONE, but the ability to see all my Exchange information and to access the Internet makes up for it.

I haven't even installed the cradle to my PC, nor have I installed ActiveSync. The built-in Internet access to my Servers, to Remote Desktop, and to my VPNs pretty much gets me to the files that I need.

Note, however, that if you aren't IT-literate, you may find the PPC6700 a bit of a nuisance and overkill. You might also take a look at the Motorola Q and the Palm Treo 700, which are a bit more "phone-like".

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Note: If you are ALWAYS within range of a WiFi connection, and if you don't need a cell phone, then WiFi-enabled PDAs can make sense and save some money. But Sprint, for instance, only charges $15 a month extra (on top of a monthly phone plan) for its "unlimited" always-on EVDO Internet connection.

 

[Parasitic]

A good "beginner" (or light-user) PDA is the Palm Z22. I personally am a big fan of PalmOS because it's simple and easy to operate.
At $87 apop on Amazon, it's not too big of a loss to give it a try. The Z22 doesn't have a pretty screen, SD slots, powerful CPU or sound but for just tasks memos and calendar it works fine.

 

[starwars7]

well the situation is this, I'm going to be a part time school counselor and a part time service learning coordinator. So I'll have tons of meeting at two different locations. I figured that a PDA would be good since I can take it with me to both locations.

Palm Z22 sounds nice, but I may just be psyched about the price

 

[starwars7]

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