PDA's

[StirStick]

Any recommendations on cellphone/pda/internet?

[Dixons Cider]

Sony Ericcson P910i.
It operates on a Symbian UIQ platform as opposed to one of Mr Gates products, however there are a wealth of applications out there to cover most requirements....

[sixmilehighclub]

Im with Dixons.

Got my P910i in December and its fantastic.

[The Real Slim Shady]

I've had a HP iPaq 5550 for almost year now and it's been nothing but trouble.

First the wifi stopped working and now the main battery, even with an expansion jacket, has died.

Couldn't recommend it at all.

[goates]

Unless you have a special application that you need a PDA for, many of the recent cell phones are probably good enough. I know I haven't been using my Palm Tungsten E very much recently as my new Sony Ericsson can do most of what I want, and the rest isn't that important to me.

goates

[Nightrider]

Running a HP 5550 and I needed about 3 weeks to get all the info required to update, update, update, adjust, reset, update....
Now it works charming. Whenever the Wifi starts own schedule of being available or not, remove the battery, wait 10 seconds, battery back...e voila...
Do not attempt to reset with the battery not in place...that is something like FDISK on W98....
I have 1 GB chip installed and the PDA does what I want, as said, after a lot of convincing arguments not to be published here....

[Memetic]

I have a P900 which is a great smartphone, but am still lookiing for a direct but enhanced (colour screen, integrated phone / wireless data) replacement for my trusty but now dead Psion, basically just becase it had such a usavbel keyboard and a wide screen for reading text without constant sideways scrolling.

I'm now looking at the Nokia 9500, looks a bit weighty but the keyboard and WiFi might swing it for me.

I would certainly go for Symbian based smartphones.

[Windle Poons]

Only had them for three months or so, but I have a HP hx4700 and a Motorola V3 on Orange. Not a whole lot of usage time to speak with, but am happy with them both and they talk nicely to one another, although Orange could be a bit cheaper with their GPRS bundles.

WP

[drauk]

I owned a Sony Ericcson P910i for about 6 weeks. I didn't like it at all and got rid of it. I find a good phone and a good PDA a better combination, but of course it does mean two devices.

[BOAC]

Browsing an airport mag shelf yesterday and saw a PDA mag (cannot recall the name) with a big review on the pros and cons of Smartphones v Drauk's solution. Lots of criticism for some of the smartphones. Personally I am with Drauk and feel it is worth waiting a while until they get themselves sorted out.

[Memetic]

BOAC so is there a good PDA now the Psion has gone?

For me good means pocket sized with an integrated keyboard and a touch screen.

Writing on screen is fine for SMS but not for real work.

[Snoopy]

For value for money, most mags recommend the Palm Tungsten E. I had one and it was good.

However, I needed to be able to use WiFi and so upgraded to the Tungsten T3 which is also a great machine.

[BOAC]

Memetic BOAC so is there a good PDA now the Psion has gonePersonally I found the PSION dificult as I never came to grips with the programming language (tempus fugit, I guess) and the programmes available were a bit limited.

I launched into PDAs with a reasonably cheap Ebay second-hand IPAQ 3870 (now well obsolete - Win Pocket PC 2002) and have been overall impressed. I have Sat-nav, Wifi, and bluetooth and just about all my desktop info can go onto it if required. I am 'playing' with Pocket FMS at the moment and it looks good. I use 'Message Manager' with the PDA screen keyboard and bluetooth for SMS via my bluetooth phone and for working on the phone address book. Visual Basic for the Pocket is there for those who need to 'create'. The sync cradle and programme is also easy.

So I am of the opinion that it is the way to go. To answer your q, yes, the 3870 is 'good' - but - there are many drawbacks, like small screen and consequent difficulty navigating the web, limited battery life, etc but the combo of !aaggh! Windows, bluetooth and wifi makes this form of kit, IMO, the way forward.

[Keef]

I've been using an iPaq 3870 and various Bluetooth cellphones for a few years, and it suits me fine. There are drawbacks - the screen isn't big enough for surfing, but it's still a lot bigger than the phone's.

I had the same rollcall of updates and ROM flashes to get the iPaq to do what it should - and even then, it screwed up right royally once and got me into deep trouble. It doesn't display "whole week" events after a bit if you're scrolling round looking for a free day to go to visit someone. So I ended up booked to be in two different countries at once. The cure is simple - don't use the iPaq calendar software; the separate Pocket Informant is brilliant as diary/address book/notebook etc - and good value.

The iPaq has a 512MB SD card, which holds all my data (including who's where in the churchyard) and doesn't lose it if the the battery runs flat.

Drawbacks:
1. Battery life is short - I carry a "battery extender" with four AA batteries in it.
2. Size - even with a small case, it's a lot bigger than a cellphone, although it does do a lot more.
3. Pocket FMS won't run on a 3870 if you use the SD card to store the software. That's some file access bug that nobody's fixed yet.

[BOAC]

Hi Keef - just to disappoint you - Pocket FMS IS running on my 3870 with an SD card:D Rob and team are aware.

[Keef]

Disappointed I ain't - you mean, the Pocket FMS software is on the SD card? My problem was that mine wouldn't work with it on there, and the CF slot is needed for the GPS unit, so I was caught between a rock and a hard place.

[BOAC]

Prog on the machine, data on the card.

[IO540]

The most important single thing that can be said about PDAs is that they aren't like PCs.

With a PC, you expect to load any software on it and usually it does work.

With a PDA, it is very much a matter of luck. Perhaps 30% works perfectly, another 30% works but needs a reset before it runs, and the rest doesn't work.

And nobody will sort it out, because all the mfgs have comprehensively washed their hands of support. Even HP.

The one thing that seems to work well are the basic caendar etc functions but.... for those you don't need a pocket/pc device, a palm/os one will do, will cost a lot less and runs for a lot longer.

PDAs are really single-application devices, originally designed for the executive market where the sysadmin tests and deploys the specific apps that the company needs, and no more. Anything else that appears to work is a bonus.

Probably the biggest joke (in reliability terms) I've ever seen on a PDA was various GPS moving-map applications.

[drauk]

IO540, I've not evaluated how much of the add-on software I've used works successfully, but I think you paint too bleak a picture. I mention it because I am reminded of the time I was thinking of buying a TiVo device. I read some forums on the Internet and I had taken notice of the general consensus I'd never have bought one (pre Sky+ days) and yet I did and it has been fantastic.

Your success ratio might go up considerably if you buy software, rather than try to use the various 'free' or very cheap programs available. As opposed to the general market in open source software (which can be VERY reliable - PPRuNe is testament to this), you don't generally get big communities of developers working on a PDA application. Your moving map example is one that I feel supports this notion. There are lots of very happy AnywhereMap users (just not in Europe) and I've personally used Memory-Map on 3 different ipaqs and it has crashed only two or three times (about as many as my Garmin 196). I've tried various pieces of software like Pocket FMS and though that particular one has improved a lot with time, I've had much less success and have given up on them.

Back to the original question - I think a lot of the problem with a combined phone and PDA is that for me to like a phone it needs to work well one handed, ideally with physical numeric keys, so that I can dial and text without having to give the device 100% of my attention (hey, someone has to capture that localiser and our AP doesn't work). For a PDA I personally like a thumb keyboard (in particular because I have to use a PDA sometimes to connect to servers, so predictive text is no good and an on-screen keyboard takes too much space) but these tend to be very small, so don't meet the requirements for a phone. I want a phone to be as small as possible because I have to have it with me all the time, but I want the PDA's screen to be big - hence no one device is likely to please me.

I tried a SE P910i because it was a decent compromise, with the screen as big as the device, a numeric keypad and a thumb keyboard, but the software is dreadful. You had to use the stylus to do things that so easily could have been done with the keyboard. The fonts were ridiculous for a device with a screen like that. I think the problem is that the OS is a generic one, not designed specifically for the P910i's particularly hardware (a touchscreen, a thumb keyboard and a four-way wheel).

The user interface on the popular Blackberry (the 7230 - I've not tried the latest more phone-like one) is fantastic - there are lots of key short cuts and the wheel works well (it's better utilised than on the P910i). It's not the best phone and the original ones didn't have Bluetooth. Even the new ones that do cannot be used as a modem; the BT is just for a headset. The other problem with Blackberry is the very limited range of add-on software.

The Treo 600 and 650 are quite good too, if you like Palm OS. The 600 lacked bluetooth which was a pain. But my 600 broke really quickly and the screen resolution was very low. Also I don't like the antenna poking out the top - don't know why they need to do this when so many others don't.

I could go on and on! My livelihood depends on the functionality provided by these devices, so I keep trying them to find the best to suit me. My personal favourite at the moment is a Motorola V3 phone (because it is small, has a loud ring and feels like it is good quality in your hands) and an ipaq 4350 (because it is has a good built in thumb keyboard, is reliable and runs all the software I need).

[effortless]

I use an old Tosh e740, It does pretty well all I want it to and, yes, I do use it for road GPS. Navman has all the maps I need as standard. They have their difficulties but if you use your head a bit you can get to most places in Europe. As with Google you have to know how to ask it questions.

[StirStick]

My personal favourite at the moment is a Motorola V3 phone (because it is small, has a loud ring and feels like it is good quality in your hands) and an ipaq 4350 (because it is has a good built in thumb keyboard, is reliable and runs all the software I need).


Do you use the phone to connect the PDA to the internet? When I originally started this thread I was on the brink of purchasing a cell phone/pda combo. After more thought I've decided against that because I do not want to lug around a PDA when I don't need it.

What I need is a PDA and seperate cellphone with the functionality to connect the PDA to the internet. The PDA also needs to run Windows Mobile rather than Palm.

Which cell phone companies are the best for nationwide access and internet access. Are there any that allow one to use the cellphone plan minutes for internet access, or do they all charge an extra arm and/or leg for this?

[drauk]

Do you use the phone to connect the PDA to the internet?

Absolutely. The magic for this to work is Bluetooth, which allows you to connect the PDA to the phone wirelessly. It can be a fiddle to get it set up properly (it's getting better in each new generation of device) but once it has been done it works very well.

I can't advice on calling plans and networks in the US. I understand there are some which offer unlimited data access (subject to fair-use policies) alongside a voice service. T-Mobile do this is the US I believe, but I've no idea if their price or coverage is the best.