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I was thinking about getting a PDA, but I didn't know which ones were good.
I looked at reviews on amazon, but all of them have rather mixed reviews. I was leaning more towards windows rather than palm...I also would like some sort of wifi capability.
Do any of you use a PDA? what do you think about it?
Posts: 1901 | Registered: May 2004
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I have a blackberry. I loathe it and leave it behind as much as I possibly can. I have a paper planner I use for everything.
Posts: 26077 | Registered: Mar 2000
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Palm Tungsten T|X. Like an E but with WiFi and (more importantly, to me) a bigger screen and longer lasting battery.
Posts: 7790 | Registered: Aug 2000
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I have a Siemens SX-66 Pocket PC and phone combo. It has a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, bluetooth, wifi, dial-up internet, and can open (and share) MS Office files. It also plays MP3s and other AV files. Oh, and it has the usual calendar and contacts stuff. I also have a calorie-tracking app installed, which sometimes I even use.
I absolutely love it. I would, in all seriousness, call it life-changing.
Posts: 13680 | Registered: Mar 2002
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Palms have no problem with MS Office files (although you will need a fairly inexpensive application called Documents to Go). And most (mine included) play MP3s and such.
Not that I'm trying to compete -- there's no question that Ic's Pocket PC does many things my Palm does not.
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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Oh, I'm not saying that other PDAs can't, just answering the original question. There were a couple of people who were blah about the whole thing, so I just wanted to balance that with some of my enthusiasm. Posts: 13680 | Registered: Mar 2002
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I really like yours, Icarus, purely for the hideaway QWERTY keyboard. Now if I could find one that had that PLUS touchscreen and no phone...
Posts: 4313 | Registered: Sep 2004
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I'm a such a luddite. Not only do I not have a PDA, but I don't even know how to pronounce Wii, and I have only the vaguest idea what it means (despite having looked it up a time or two).
Posts: 3149 | Registered: Jul 2005
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I also have a low end Sony Clie and I really like it. I type up my schedule and what not on my PC and it syncs up really fast and uploads it onto the Clie, then I have the whole thing ready. I mostly use it for Homework and to play games when I'm bored in between classes, and it functions very well for those applications.
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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I have a Palm III -- a veritable dinosaur. It does everything I need and costs a lot less to replace when I do stupid things like drop it.
I've thought about getting a Windows device, but, realistically, this thing does what I want and is a fraction of the price. Since they made so many of them, you can still pick them up cheap.
I synch with my calendar and contacts in Outlook.
Posts: 300 | Registered: Dec 2002
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I have an original Palm whatever-it-was, and it's been gathering dust on my dresser for a few years. I have a paper planner that's been gathering dust as well.
I have a, what do you call it, "exo" wallet stuffed with phone numbers on the back of shreds of paper, business cards, and other assorted junk that should be on a calendar.
That's how I choose to live my life.
When I was freelancing full-time I really wished I had a Blackberry, just so I could check email wherever I was. Now that I'm anchored to a regular job again, I need a Blackberry like a fish needs a bicycle.
But I do love my laptop and I do love wireless connectivity in my home.
Posts: 5957 | Registered: Oct 2001
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Uprooted, I think it is far more effective in reality to know what a luddite is in comparison to being able to pronounce Wii (pronounced Wee).
Posts: 883 | Registered: Aug 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Chris Bridges: Palm Tungsten T|X. Like an E but with WiFi and (more importantly, to me) a bigger screen and longer lasting battery.
Chris, can you elaborate on this? Buy.com has both the E2 and the T|X, but the latter is a hundred bucks more. Ignoring wifi for the moment (I have a laptop, and any time I can't bring that along it is quite possibly better that I not have web access), is the difference worth it, in your opinion?
How much better is the battery, for instance?
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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I have an HP iPAQ. It works great for me, but I did have to buy an extra memory card since all my medical programs take up so much space. I do use it every day though. The wifi feature is pretty useless to me because when I really need to look something up on the internet is when I'm in a place that has no wireless network. Otherwise I'm usually within a reachable distance from a computer.
Lupus, I went back and forth between the Palm and Windows systems, eventually getting the PDA that most of my colleagues used and recommended. Haven't regretted it yet. Plus I got a great deal on it on e-bay!
Posts: 155 | Registered: Jul 2006
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quote:Originally posted by erosomniac: I really like yours, Icarus, purely for the hideaway QWERTY keyboard. Now if I could find one that had that PLUS touchscreen and no phone...
Just to clarify, mine does have a touchscreen. In fact, the touchscreen is a dealbreaker for me, which makes a lot of smartphones out of the question.
As for no phone, I suppose one doesn't have to use it . . . Posts: 13680 | Registered: Mar 2002
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quote:Originally posted by Kwea: rivka, have you tried newegg.com? I would look at it....I have found buy.com to be great sometimes, but newegg usually beats it.
There is a t5 for $259.99 and a e2 for $182.99.
Thanks, but since buy.com has free shipping on both, it actually ends up cheaper.
Actually, Amazon might be cheaper yet, looks like.
Still waiting on Chris' opinion though. *taps foot*
quote:Originally posted by erosomniac: I really like yours, Icarus, purely for the hideaway QWERTY keyboard. Now if I could find one that had that PLUS touchscreen and no phone...
Just to clarify, mine does have a touchscreen. In fact, the touchscreen is a dealbreaker for me, which makes a lot of smartphones out of the question.
As for no phone, I suppose one doesn't have to use it . . .
...
and I can find them for under $200 on eBay? Sold.
Too bad there aren't any unlocked ones this week. =/
Posts: 4313 | Registered: Sep 2004
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Sorry, didn't notice till Shmuel sent me the IM equivalent of a whack upside the head.
I can't give you hard and fast comparisons on the battery lives, as my usage changed from day to day. On the average, however, where I had to charge the battery every night with my T|E (although it wasn't fully drained) I only have to every other day with the T|X. <a href='http://reviews.cnet.com/Palm_TX/4505-3127_7-31546759.html">CNet reports</a> the battery is a bit behind the E2 and the T5 for video playback, but lasted 10 hours playing MP3s.
The processor is faster, though, and there's about 3x as much hard drive space available. The full screen is great.
One drawback, however -- my T|E had a simple USB jack and a standard power jack. I could easily buy cheap USB cables and generic power supplies for my car and office. You could also get a trickle charge through the USB cable so I could leave it plugged in at work and keep it charged. The new one, like other new Palm products, uses a proprietory jack for data and another one for power, meaning any replacements have to be purchased from Palm. Very annoying. For awhile with my T|E I was using the same power cable for that as for my Spring cellphone, which was very handy.
On the plus side, I can sync though WiFi at home so I only have to mess with the power cable.
Posts: 7790 | Registered: Aug 2000
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Hmm. That USB cable thing could be a deal-breaker. I sync mine to three computers -- home, laptop, and work. And I generally have it doing trickle charge at work (and via my laptop when I travel).
Multiple expensive cables are not something I want to have to buy. However, both the home computer and the laptop have wifi. You can sync through that? Not just through Bluetooth (which none of them have)? How does that work?
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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The good news: I ordered a pretty new case.
The other good news: My new Palm came.
The not-so-good-news: I made a mistake. What newegg had was not the TX, but the T5. No wifi. Then again, I really don't need a wifi-enabled Palm, and reviews indicate that the T5 is more stable than the TX. And it was cheaper.
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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Apparently there's a PDA-sized hole in my life.
What are these things, what do they do, and why do I need one? Also, what does PDA stand for? Is it an acronym, or is it pronounced "puh-duh"?
Is my life so boring that I don't pack enough into it, or do I just have a better-than-your-average-Paris Hilton memory?
The one thing I could possibly picture using one of these devices for is mobile internet, 'cause I've seen Icarus use his in a bar, and that's way cool. I don't know how many times I've had to wake up a friend at 3am to ask him, for instance, how many bases Rickey Henderson stole in his record-setting year (130 in 1982).
Posts: 5264 | Registered: Jul 2002
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As for needing one, not everyone does, really. I use mine to have contact lists with me everywhere (with details my cell doesn't have), keep track of appointments, and have ebooks and games with me whenever I want 'em. When I am without one, I definitely feel the lack!
But if you have never missed not having one, why get one?
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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Not everyone does. I use mine to accommodate my "handicap": extreme difficulty staying organized. Having then seen a value in it, I like the all-in-one-ness of it. Lots of people here have mp3 players. Does everyone need one? No, and not everyone needs a PDA.
But, now that I have one, I really like that it's a decent MP3 player, that I can use it to transfer files between PCs, that I can store pictures of my kids on it instead of having badly creased photos in my wallet, that I can keep my bank balance on it and keep it more up-to-date than if I balanced it at home, and that I can track calorie intake on it. And I like that I can record stuff around me digitally, and that I can talk on the phone. Oh, and the web-browsing. Any lists I make, I can store on it, and I can also download maps when I travel. I like being able to Priceline rooms while in the car.
I feel like I'm repeating myself, but does that answer your question? I don't think everyone needs one--but I can see why some people like them.
Posts: 13680 | Registered: Mar 2002
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quote:Originally posted by Icarus: I use mine to accommodate my "handicap": extreme difficulty staying organized. Having then seen a value in it, I like the all-in-one-ness of it.
. . .
But, now that I have one, I really like that it's a decent MP3 player, that I can use it to transfer files between PCs, that I can store pictures of my kids on it instead of having badly creased photos in my wallet . . . Any lists I make, I can store on it . . .
Ditto, ditto, ditto, ditto!
Except that I prefer to keep my phone separate from my PDA. At least until they make smartphones that are flip phones.
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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