[Surfaday]

Ok, I confess, I've been unfaithful.

I had the money for my Ety's and what did I do? I got a new compaq iPAQ 3835 to replace my Handspring Visor. Talk about an amazing machine! It is like night and day between the palm os and the windows os. What ever you feared about the Windows CE platform, thats all a thing of the past. My brother, a dyed in the wool Palm addict from way back, took one look at my iPAQ and we were off to pick one up for him.

And there are so many websites for pocket pcs. I have been lost in surfing a whole new universe.

The only thing - instead of "computer superstore" over the CompUsa sign - they should just put: "Toy Store".

Anyway, so what if I could have bought two pair of Ety's for the price of the iPAQ, (not to mention 3 Visors), this thing is so cool I am happy to save up money again for my Etys.

So many things to play with, so little time...

Walt

 

[aeberbach]

Back it up regularly!

My 3835 just came back from Compaq after having the battery replaced. It got a really small knock on its base when I put it on my car seat and it clunked against the cell phone, and next thing I new it self-started in the cradle as if it had just been bought, memory cleared. They are slightly fragile...

If you need a PCMCIA modem don't buy a new one - the 3Com 3CXM556 with XJACK is usually cheap on eBay and works fine in the iPaq. Also in the PC if some idiot disconnects your DSL and it's going to take three weeks to reconnect (a long story).

 

[CaptBubba]

I wish I had one instead of my palm IIIc. Well, its not like I'm out any money as I got my palm for free. I may sell it and go for a Windows powered handheld.


The biggest temptation for me is the fact that email atatchments download onto your handheld and that they make simcity 2000 for the windows handhelds.

The only problem is that they cost so dang much and I doubt i'll be able to get over $180 for my palm IIIc (it's in perfect condidtion, its just that nobody wants these things anymore).

Oh, and Best Buy is more of my toy store....

 

[Peddler]

I've had the Hewlett Packard Jornada since they first came out. Although in many ways this is the slowest Pocket PC and with the poorest screen I think it's an amazing little unit.

I recently purchased (cheaply) a 128Mb RAM card for it and I'm loving the unit now. I don't actually play games on it often but I use it a lot for reading e-books and of course, keeping control of my day-to-day life.

I tried playing a high bit-rate MP3 via the Airhead amp and Etymotics headphones and I have to say that this little unit makes an excellent MP3 player. The only problem is that the unit is slow to synchronise and so isn't really viable in this role unless you get a Compact Flash Reader. (Got one the other day BTW - still don't use it much for MP3 though - prefer my MD player!).

Anyone who hasn't yet experienced what a PDA can do to help keep you organised should try out the Pocket PC. There's nothing wrong with the Palm platform - I used a PalmPilot for a couple of years - but the Pocket PC is certainly more entertaining.

That's it.

 

[Surfaday]

Hey! Costco has a compact flash reader for about $18! I just got one even though I only have a 32meg cf that came with the deal I got at CompUsa. I'm looking forward to getting another cf from Costco, 128 meg for $59. Woo hoo! I want the Etys for use with this rig too!

These things are pretty fun machines. Good luck on selling that IIIc, CaptBubba - that is exactly what my brother traded up from, and I think he sold his for $150, and included the voice recorder flip cover. I never looked back at the Handspring Visor Deluxe that I gave to my daughter - it didn't hurt that I did a hard reset for her either.

It was like putting your dog to sleep or something.

aeberbach: bummer about your hard reset - I use a book-type cover so hopefully it will be a little more bump proof. What did the bump and the hard reset have to do with Compaq replacing the battery?

 

[aeberbach]

I took it to work one day - it got the bump when I put it in the car. When I got home and put it in the cradle it turned itself on. I can't think of anything else that could have caused the battery to suddenly break.

 

[CaptBubba]

That's funny, I have dropped my palm off three foot high desks onto tile floors and it just bounces. I've never had a hard reset.