The PDA of choice...
 

I'm looking at buying a PDA for myself. It's got to have WiFi or to be able to access email from or transfer files easily to and from my laptop.


Which one should I get and why?

I would recommend the Dell Axim... I have one and I really like it. I have the older-style model, its a bit big but does its job well.

Well it depends on what you are looking for. The one problem I see with the Dell Axim is the bulky size. Between the Palm OS and Pocket PC...my preference is the Pocket PC.
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If you are looking for size, my recomendations:


299.99 each

HP iPaq 1945 (weighs 4.4 ounces) SD expansion only
Toshiba E405 (weighs 5.1 ounces) and SD expansion only


Im not sure about Toshiba, but HP does make a little case that the PDA will fit in so you can add CF I & II support. It makes it about the size of the 2215, but the case is like 40 bucks
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If you want Compact Flash & Secure Digital Expansion capabilities built in already

399.99 each

HP iPaq 2215 is a decent one (weighs 5.1 ounces, but a little bulkier then the 1945)

The Toshiba e755 has 802.11b built in and weighs 6.9 ounces...

Despite my initial reluctance, if you want WiFi and file transfer, you'll have to go Pocket PC. But if you don't mind some 3rd party apps that emulate the real thing, I'd go Palm since it's cheaper and offers color screen for cheaper, along with better expansion.

personally I like the Sony Clies. I have had two of them and loved them both. As far as WiFi and filr transfer, I'm not quite sure.

If you are looking for Palm OS, the Tungsten C has WiFi built in. There are two other options: there is a SD WiFi card in the market, except it only has driver for PocketPC and not Palm, but drivers for palm will be released late december or later; and you can get compact flash WiFi cards.

There are a bunch of palm and sony handhelds that can accept both cards.

Re: The PDA of choice...
 

Just a little update...Sony's Memory stick is kinda hurting their sales. So now most of Sony's Digital Cameras and PDAs will include a compact flash slot along with a memory stick slot

Re: The PDA of choice...
 

I'd like to get one of those nice Sharp Zaurus'. Wee. Embedded linux = fun! I think they're a tad pricey though.

Re: The PDA of choice...
 

If your looking for a small size that works w/ PocketPC check out the new HP 1940/45 series. Overall the Toshibas and the Dells are really good to (with more features).

Re: The PDA of choice...
 

I ended up purchasing the Toshiba E750 series from http://www.mpsuperstore.com for $320. Its really pretty sweet especially the built-in WiFi feature. I have yet to really get deep into it to see all the features, but so far I really like it.

Attached is a pic of the PDA taken from my LGVX6000 camera phone. Quality looks kinda crappy cause of the lighting in my room, but you get the idea :]

Re: The PDA of choice...
 

I just got a Palm Tungsten E

$180 on sale
320 by 320 active matrix color display
32M memory

lets you read adobe files
lets you read and edit Word and Exel files

USB download/ upload to you PC

built in recharagable battery

and best of all - It used Palm OS - NOT WINDOWS! :^)

Re: The PDA of choice...
 

I have a HP iPAQ 1910 and love it. It is slim and light weight. Plus you can purchase spare replacement batteries. The newest versions of it are the 1935/40/45 I believe. They are very nice as well. All between $2-300 or so.

Re: The PDA of choice...
 

I'm pulling this thread up again because sometime before the year is out I'm planning on purchasing my third PDA.

Previous to this I've owned a Palm Vx and then a Palm V: the Vx I bought refurbished from FranklinCovey, and lasted me a good 2 years before it died on me; and the V which I bought used off ebay (cheap becuase I already had the correct cradle), whose screen cracked when I fell down a flight of stairs in my sorority tower.

So, what are your suggestions for a new one? I was drooling over the Tungsten E for a while, basically because it had most of what I was looking for in a PDA: sleek...compatibility with Outlook, Word, Excel, & PPT...mp3 capabilities...speedy processor...color screen....and a great price point, especially used. But I'm willing to expand my horizons beyond the Palm universe.

No jokes about my falling (again). We all know I'm a klutz. And no wisecracks related to the other meaning for PDA, either :p

Re: The PDA of choice...
 

If you are looking for compatiblity with word and other windows products look into a Pocket PC. I know numerous companies such as Dell and HP use them. Like I said I have a HP iPAQ 1910(no longer made, but new versions available) and I love it. You can buy Secure Digital cards pretty cheap so you can practically triple the memory you had for like another $30. You can also get replacement/spare batteries, which is nice if you are using it for listening to music via the PPC version of Windows Media Player. So if that helped at all go check out the HP website.

Re: The PDA of choice...
 

The HP Ipaq 4155 is the way to go. I just got one, and it is awesome. It's small size hides it's powerful processor, and with integrated bluetooth and wifi, how can you go wrong?

-Bill

Re: The PDA of choice...
 

I have an IPaq 4350, the one with the integrated thumb keyboard. It has 802.11 and bluetooth wireless and an SD card expansion slot. I picked up a 512 MB card on sale so I carry around a lot of stuff on it. I have big thumbs but can type pretty fast, much faster than I ever was with graffitti. Once I'm connected to my home 803.11 network I can copy files between shares and open a remote desktop session on another PC. The VPN client works seamlessly. It synchs very easily with the IR port on my office laptop. I'll admit that I mostly use it for surfing the internet and checking my email from the couch. I want to use it as a wireless packet relay to interface a PC with the mini IFI controller, but thats a ways off. Any of the new PPCs are pretty nice, just depends on the form factor and brand you like.

Re: The PDA of choice...
 

I recently bought a pocketpc to replace my 3 year old aging PDA. I decided to go back to the drawing board and make an unbiased (as much as possible) evaluation and buying decision on what type and model I should invest in. Palm OS vs PPC 2003. Both have their pros and cons. Since I am not a HUGE Microsoft fan I was leaning more towards the Palm OS and probably either the Tungsten T3 or one of the Sony Clie' models. However to get all the functionality I was interested in with a Palm OS model I found myself pricing one out over the $400 mark.

Then Dell came out with the Axim X30 model line which seemed to have almost everything that I was looking for. 64 megs memory, built in bluetooth and WiFI, decent screen, fast processor 624Mhz, and a price to beat at $314 with their online discount.

Needless to say I am now a proud PocketPC user and haven't had any problems in my first 2 weeks of ownership. For me, the price and comparable functionality/features was the deciding factor. PocketPC OS is not quite there with ease of use as the Palm OS, but they are closing the gap.