What I would like to pull off with this post is to get some opinions for the best PDAs on the market right now. Not just the uber powerful with linux under the hood but also the super user friendly 'enduser' PDAs. I had a friend of mine, in college, ask me if a PDA would be a good choice for him to carry around school, library, etc. I started with telling him about the sharp zaurus and got a bit too excited and lost him. He just needs something with a full keyboard for writing papers, emails, connecting to the internet and simple to sync to his pc and move documents. He is not a tech buff so ease of use is also a concern, it just has to work.(heh maybe apple should bring back the newton). So that brings me here to get the opinion of the minds, your 2cents if you will. Not only from my friends benifit but I really have not looked much into the PDA market in awhile and I am wondering myself what the best geeky PDA is right now. And lets throw smartphones in the mix as well, why have 2 devices if he can get it all in one package. CJ
21
Oct
06
Although it is now outdated, I’ve done just fine with a Dell Axim X5 that I’ve carried around since 2003. Previous to that I used a Compaq Ipaq (now under the HP branding) and although it provided superior scalability to the Axim, it lacked on battery life and eventually the internal battery it held died on me in the first 70 days of it’s use. That soured me on Compaq/HP altogether as a portable device provider strictly because I lost some valuable data in a remote location that I couldn’t replace.
You’ve got to ask yourself the question though, are you looking for something to go wardriving with, keep a calendar and review a few emails here and there after a sync-session or are you looking for a serious integrated mobile storage and communications device that will allow you to inteoperate with several different enviroments? I’m going to make a likely assumption and go with the latter - although the route just rose in cost by doing so.
With the advent of technology prices plummetting daily and the forward development achieved annually, you’d be best to look at purchasing one of the supreme mobile devices available from telecommunications vendors/manufacturers. Siemens, SonyEricsson, Sony and Nokia all carry mobile, GSM/GPRS/WAP-ready phone+PDA devices that store more, perform quicker and interconnect with almost any other wireless device on any other protocols like Bluetooth, 802.11x Wireless standards, infrared, etc. Take the SonyEricsson P910a ( http://www.sonyericsson.com/spg.jsp?cc=us&lc=en&ver=4000&template=pp1_loader&php=php1_10185&zone=pp&lm=pp1&pid=10185 )or P990i ( http://www.sonyericsson.com/spg.jsp?cc=us&lc=en&ver=4000&template=pp1_loader&php=php1_10336&zone=pp&lm=pp1&pid=10336 ) models for example - lightweight, visually attractive and functional OS, superb clarity in audio emissions, great range, vastly scalable and enough profiles to keep you busy for days in configurations for every eventuallity. The storage is both internal and removable ala Sony MemorySticks - it can play all sorts of media and incorporates a cellphone. This is where the world is going and has been over the past almost 30 years - integrated everything in a tiny package.
Do I seem biased towards SonyEricsson? Well I guess I would be. Having worked for Nokia and knowing the type of trash components that were commonplace to installation into the mobile devices with a approximate 40% recycle rate before ever being allowed off the assembly line and a large percentage of reworking per product line, I’m very much opposed to their offerings. I’ve put my personal and business needs in the hands of SonyEricsson for several years now and I’ve not regreted it. I’ve heard many a praise story over Siemen’s products as well and even Microsoft’s mobile devices as of late by word of my brother-in-law.
Who is to be trusted? You. Your research and attitude will determine your satisfaction with the product.
I find PDA’s annoying, the *ONLY* reason I have one is because its a 3G Windows Mobile platform that allows me to make video calls as well as SSH into my VPN / Servers if I need do to so on the move, also a great 3G bluetooth modem.
I never use the calendar, I have computers for that and to be honest I am pretty good at remembering what I have going on when I am on the move. I am not a sales rep and don’t have 500 pointless meetings a day.
My of my clients keep sending ‘BlackBerry’ messages (that annoying ’sent from my blackberry wireless’ tag line on all emails!) so I can only assume that PDA’s make some people’s lives easier, mine however I find that other than VPN / SSH access and video calls - they are bricks.
Although I do get real use from Solitaire for the journey home whe I left my newspaper in the office.
Haha! I am one of those people with the blackberry. I agree with you that if you got a use for it to make your life easier or more convenient then go for it. If you don’t have a use, then yeah its just a brick.
I depend heavily on my blackberry now for email(all of my email accounts are pushed to it so I get my email wherever I am at), contact/address book, other communications(sms and voice), ssh, search/info tools, maps/directions and surfing the net when sitting in a waiting room or something bored out of my mind.
I personally took a blackberry apart.
A government worker accidentally spilled fluid (coffee)
I wasn’t impressed.
It’s not “hardened” at all.
It seems like it wanted to connect all the time.
Who needs that extra RF in the home?
I could be wrong..
but ask yourself honestly, am I?