own a PDA?

[jlo mein]

so im a 17 year old student with a job (yay spending money!) and an average amount of information it would be nice to carry with me...

do i need a PDA?

i've been looking at these Casio Pocket Viewers, which are inexpensive, but have a decent amount of features that i think would be useful (ie: spreadsheet viewing).

so how many out there have PDA's and find them useful?

 

[zzz]

I happen to have two: an older HP Jornada bought a couple of years ago, and an IBM WorkPad which essentially is a rebranded Palm m505 given to me at ACM this March. I find both to be terribly useless.

Ah yes, the distinctions: the only fun game Palm has is the minesweeper, while Jornada has solitaire! Freecell looks better on PocketPC too.

 

[Ari]

Hey jlo mein

PDA... PDAs... Hands Down, PALM devices. Don't let Windows shine you.

I started with CE HP and it than moved to Palm. My first was a Palm V, than Vx and now, Sony Clié PEG-V760C.

I have in it:

8 Mb internal
128 Mb cards (Memory Sticks)
MP3 player (we are Head-fiers)
Hi res reflective color display (works even under sun light)

You make no idea what you can carry on those Palm devices. They feet every thing you will need. They are fast, reliable, and do every thing I need.

I use it very hard and it really works for me.

Between $200 and $550, Sony has a machine that will do what you need.

http://www.sonystyle.com/home/dept.j...84&deptid=9684

Palm.com has from $100 to $400 range machines also very good.

And Palm Spring, very intelligent ones also.

Well, tell me your budget and if you need, I can help you finding one that will solve all your demands.

Best from

Ari

 

[LTUCCI1924]

HI: I have the palm 111c in color and it is a fun thing to have. I have the whole bible in it plus a dozen free games in it. There are over 10,000 down loads for the palm and many of them are free. I organize my life in it and have all my phone numbers in it plus a dairy and many other things. My palm had 8 mb and that is huge for a palm. I have not use half of my memory yet and have tons of stuff in it. The palm programs are very small in memory use but can be very big in what they do. Color is the way to go for it is very clear. I also have a zaurus 5800 that has a full word prosser with a full spell check and key board built in for when I want to type some of my thoughts or anything else in it. It is discontinued but I find it very valuble for typing in and I really need the spell check bad. I could write a whole book in it. The palm I would not do with out it is so much fun to have. If you can get a used palm 111c its color that would be cheep now and be all that you would ever need. Good luck.
PS
Yes you do need a palm but not a windows ce

 

[acs236]

I really try to use my palm pilot, but I don't, at least not enough to justify it. I'm a real gadget freak too. Maybe I just haven't found the right one, but I thought I would use it a lot, yet don't.

 

[CaptBubba]

I have a palm IIIc that I got as a perk for helping out my high school's networking department. I got an assignment planner program for it and it was usefull in hs, but it is totaly useless in college.

The reason why is because in hs all the teachers just wrote the homework on the board, now I can either look at the typed syllabus or go online and check it. My memory is good enough so that I can remember things like changes or meetings long enough for me to find someplace to write them down. Currently the only thing I use it for is phone numbers.

So basicly this thing is useless to me, so I just let it sit in it's charging cradle all the time. I used to read ebooks on it, but I figured out that a regular book weighs about the same and isn't much bigger. Oh well, I have a nice paperweight.

 

[lini]

I've got a Psion 5 MX - which I obviously need so badly, that it's still in the package since last December. Well, it was on sale, then, so I couldn't resist - and it still seems to be the only PDA that makes any sense for journalists because of its half-decent keyboard...

Greetings from Munich!

Manfred / lini

P.S.: So the essence of the story is: If you've got money to spend on an almost useless toy, get a PDA. Otherwise you can just laugh about broken Ipaqs et cetera and spend your money on something more sensible...

 

[hokiefritz]

I have an iPAQ and while it is a very cool gadget, I almost never use it. I have [2] computers at work and one at home, which provide as much organization and information that I want in my life.

People away from a computer for large periods of time that need access to a lot of information can really benefit from PDAs. Like physicians can carry the whole physician's desk reference with room to spare to keep patient information and so forth. For me it's an expenisve toy and I would be totally fine without it.

For organizing your homework and projects, I could see the PDA being useful. Of course, you could just keep track of things in a paper organizer too.

Since I assume you're on a budget but interested in getting one, I suggest buying the cheapest one you can find with the features that you need. If you find that it's valuable to you, maybe later you can get a fancy one. It would be sort of nice to have a cheap one too since you won't be as worried about scratching or losing it.

I vote for the Palm OS too. The Windows on my iPAQ is intuitive to me since I've been using Windows since it was invented, but is very clunky. The Palm OS gets the job done without fooling around.

 

[dngl]

It's not hard to find a palm iiixe for under $100. I wouldn't leave home without it because I have no memory. There doesn't really seem to be a reason quite yet to spend a lot of money on a pocket PC, but a $200 Toshiba e310 would be nice.

 

[ChenaynayC]

My Palm is my brain! I've had it (Palm IIIx w/TRG chip upgrade to 8.192) since 1999. I use it everyday and have actually left work twice to retrieve it!.

1. I read books on it - great when waiting at appointments, traveling, and reading at night with no light on to disturb others etc (SmartDoc)
2. I log gas mileage, car repairs, tires etc on it (AutoSlate)
3. I love the HandyShopper program (it's free). I keep shopping lists for me and my Mom, in addition to lists of fountain pens I like, CDs I want to buy, movies I want to rent, watches I want to buy, books I have read, headphones I want to try etc ...
4. I use Datebook4 to keep addresses, phone numbers (personal and work), and of course appointments to log meetings at work, tee times, basketball games, when to set the VCR etc... I seldom double book myself anymore.
5. I am a project manager/business analysis and there's nifty software to keep project plans, so I have all the dates available that I need to nag folks on or complete my tasks (Project@Hand)
6. I use a 'freehand' writing program when I'm taking someones phone number or address (Diddlebug)
7. I monitor vacation days and hours worked on it (PTimLog)
8. I have the myriad of passwords I use on the internet and at work. (Strip)
9. I have a journal for monitoring those mood swings! (Palm Journal)
10. I monitor my bloodpressure readings via a program on the palm. My doctor loves it! I also used it during rehab from the achilles surgery to monitor sets/repetitions of all the exercises I had to do.
11. I have all birthdays/anniversaries/deaths monitored with advance warning (not the deaths of course) - DateMate
12. I do crossword puzzles on it! (Crossword)
13. I input all my golf scores and monitor stats on it. (intelligolf)
14. I have a couple of games - nothing high powered, just mindless addiction type things - Niggle which is Scrabble, NoMess, and Bejeweled)


All in all - I'm quite anal. And Palm let's me be.

 

[leon]

a. I used to think that these things would never be useful.
b. Then Loki the god of gadgets suggested that if I get one, he'll polish my booty, so I was seduced and got a Palm (m505).
c. I need to jog down random thoughts, phrases as they come through, so I use it for that, but it's still not quintessential.
d. Then I started my transpacific-transcontinental move, and it really became important that i've got all the info in one place.
e. I went one step further, and offloaded much of my thoughts into the PDA, which frees up my mind from fearing that I forget something.

All righty o... The point is that it's up to you how useful it is. If you want to get into the habit of referring to the PDA for date, time, memo, phone number, biorhythm, weather, remote control, class notes, reading, or whatever it can do, it's going to be useful. If you're not consciously consolidating things it may not be very useful.

I'd always lusted over the Sharp Zaurus (since its pre-Linux days, and I had the 5800 once), but I chose Palm over PocketPC, because the smallest Palms are smaller than the smallest PPCs in every direction (and that's still too big for me). Another reason is that you get a lot of software - proper paid stuff, or grassroot-level shareware/freeware for the Palm OS.

P.S. I got a Sony Clie T615 (for the better screen) and I'm planning to eBay the m505...

Edit - When you're deciding on a PDA I'd say you need to go to a store and see the screens for yourself, they will make or break the user experience.

 

[Ari]

Quote:

Originally posted by Jon Beilin It's not hard to find a palm iiixe for under $100. I wouldn't leave home without it because I have no memory. There doesn't really seem to be a reason quite yet to spend a lot of money on a pocket PC, but a $200 Toshiba e310 would be nice.

____________________

Palm III xe is one of the best machines Palm did until today. It's very solid, X for extended memory (8Mb) and E for enhanced display. It uses the Palm V's display wich is wolderfull. IIIxe for 100 box is a very good value !!! Super !!!

A

 

[jlo mein]

wow this keeps getting more expensive than i thought....lol just like headphones

...

Originally i was just at work (Winners Sales Associate, store like TJ Maxx), and one day we got in a new shipment for men's accessories (rare). I started putting out these Oregon Scientific Organizers on the shelves. I thought, these are cool for $40 canadian (about $25US) ! They're the size of a credit card, and they come with a carry case! (im a sucker for included carry cases).

After some reading online i found out that this thing is absolute crap. So looked around and found a sale on this Casio Pocket Viewer PV-S250 for only $70 canadian ($45US, and only til Labour Day). I started reading about this, and found some pretty happy consumers. It seemed to do everything i wanted (cheap, schedule, phone numbers, excel sheets, memo).

Now ppl keep on telling me that i should get a Palm (asked this question on 3 diff forums i visit, all say i should buy Palms). While a Palm may be great and have more features, the cheapest one i've found is the Palm m105 for $115 canadian ($75US). Now this is a whole different price range than i originally thought (only $25US).

Do i really need a Palm? Will it be the savior of all my life's problems? does the Casio PV-S250 really suck that bad?

 

[fredpb]

A good alkaline battery PDA you can use with your computer is nice. If you carry it around, it can contain your complete address book, schedules, checkbook functions, etc. It can contain books, or games. Some can connect to the internet and you can get email and send email.

I used mine a lot, but now use it just for a directory and scheduler/alarm.

I also have a GOOD diet program for it. Before you buy research sites that sell or offer freeware for the Palm devices.

I recommend a simple Palm, Inc device. I am not familiar with the new stuff. Don't go broke. You might try a used one on eBay. Be sure to get one with 8mb of memory or more.

 

[jpelg]

I've had a few pda's over the past several years.

1. I initially purchased a Rex PRO5, which is credit-card sized similiar to the Oregon you mention, but far more functional. It is actually a PCMCIA card that can be inserted directly into a laptop slot or use its docking station. It's interface is tiny and not practical for data input, but easy to use once data is downloaded. Long story short - it cracked in half when in my pocket (inside my wallet) - not pretty.

2. Casio Pocketviewer V200 - standard Palm-sized pda. The Harmony synch software worked perfectly with Outlook 97/98. Nice little pda for the money. Serial interface only. Never had a problem with it, but sold it because it had to have something more powerful. The newest ones have Wordviewer and Excel viewer apps built-in, which would have been nice.

3. MaxTech 910 (Everex OEM) WinCE 2.x - liked the MS interface (unlike many people). Liked the JOT input, more intuitive than the standard Palm Graffiti input. Synch to Outlook was a no-brainer. IrDa + serial interface options were nice. Liked the idea of CF card storage option. Downloaded various programs including JPEG viewer, and MP3 player, but was ultimately limited by its black & white screen and mono output. Utlimately it started to flake out on me.

4. Palm IIIx - Decided to follow the pack this time. Tons of software available. Interface is very straightforward and fast. Character recognition not as good as JOT (which you can buy for the Palm). FlashRAM is useful as backup with another commercial program. Palm Modem & Landware external keyboard transforms this into a mini-laptop - nice for travel. Beaming business cards to other Palm-geeks is a hoot. Still, it all sits in a drawer in brand-new condition.

What do I use now? I am back using my trusty Filofax! No battery problems, character interface is 100% accurate (even if spelling is not

. The only thing I like a pda for is the ability to backup and synch my contacts. But my cellphone does an ok job with that now, and all the rest I could live without. I am lusting at the new PocketPC Phone. To me that is about the closest to the ultimate pda: phone, contact info, multimedia player/viewer, external storage, internet access. Battery life is still a problem though. And cost? Yeechh! For $500-700 I can buy alot of CD's.

Just make sure the pda you choose enhances your life, and does not become it's own reason to exist or obsess over, you know?