Gak wants a PDA
 

Well, I've decided that I want a PDA more than I want a laptop. It just balances out better. Now I want a PDA and I want a good one. Yet I have no clue what to get!! The first thing that I absolutely have to have is the capability to use a keyboard, and obviously to plug it in. I'd prefer to be able to do both at once. My reasons for this is because one of the key selling factors is so that I can take notes in class. I write extremely crappy, and to top it off, I write really slow. :) But I can type extremely fast, at time I type faster than I can even think of the words to type. So typing notes seems like a safe choice.

So again, Keyboard & able to plug in. I don't want a phone combo, this is a PDA... a computer.. not a phone. ;) Also, I have seen some PDA's with little buttons under the Screen for each letter of the alphabet. I don't need this kind of interface, as I'll have a keyboard. Now I seriously need all the geeks of TFP to help me out. If I can choose within the next week or two, then my parents will give me a hundred or two as a Xmas present (if not then that money will be used elsewhere :D). But regardless I need info as I need to have this before Second Semester in January. I have a professor who gives solid notes for the whole class. I've noticed he gives 2 front and back pages of notes in a hour length of class. I will have him 3 days a week, and I don't feel like pulling any muscles. :)

HELP OUT GAK!!! :):) Thanks Guys!

You might want to check out some psion ones, they come with a built in keyboard

Tungsten T3 with an external keyboard. Clean, efficiant, and fast.

btw, Links are not whores so use 'em! :)

My boyfriend has an HP iPAQ 5555 Pocket PC. I use it a fair amount, and love it.

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0...1.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0...2.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

It's not to small (7.29 oz) and fits in your hand perfectly. Anything smaller would be hard to use in my opinion.
The display is large and clear for its size (240 x 320) LCD.
You can add extra memory using a SD card through a slot at the top. You can add a camera the same way. It plays MP3's wonderfully, and has integrated wLAN and bluetooth. The keyboard is on screen but once you get the hang of it is very easy to use. Built on keyboards for Pocket Pc's have such small buttons that I am not sure how they can be used quickly and easily. I don't have experiece with them though, so I can't say for sure. It also comes with a voice recorder.

One of my favorite parts of the iPAQ is the finger print identification. You can add all 10 fingers, and its simple to use once you get a feel for it. My boyfriend added both his fingers and mine so I can use it too.

The great thing about a pocket PC is having the internet EVERYWHERE. I love being able to go out for coffee and browse the forums from starbucks. :D

HP iPAQ 5555

Dell has a nice pda for $199. The X5 with 400mhz, 64mb memory and with sd and cf slots. Best deal right now available imho.
Check out the X3's also for more sleek uptodate design:

http://www1.us.dell.com/content/prod...=19&l=en&s=dhs

I just got me this one:
http://www.viewsonic.com/products/po...ocketpcv36.htm

It has a built in camera if you're into that. Also a $100 rebate which made my net cost $199.

I bought it Friday and I'm loving it already :)

if you want something to take notes on, I might want to steer you back to a laptop... most pda keyboards are dinky little things and probably would slow your typing down considerably...

I have also used them a good bit, and their predecessors, and have found them to be excellent PDAs. Not too cheap, but excellent.

Cheers... I do know that you can get foldable Fullsize keyboards to hook up to your pda. I plan on getting one of those.. which means I'll have a little carry case for when I bring it to class with me. How much is that HP iPAQ 5555? Seeing all that it can do from just what you guys said alone, I'm guessing I can plug any old keyboard into it :D

What do you guys think of the iPAQ 4155? It seems to a less expensive version of the 5555. Finger Recognition is cool, but I personally don't see how I would need any use for it. My guess is that that is partially why its cost is why it is. The 4155 is 100-200 dollars cheaper. It has the WiFi accessability among a lot of the other cool features. Its also really small, but I haven't really tried the "feel" test yet. I spose I'll have to go to Best Buy and just hold some different types to fully understand that part of it. But again, what do you guys think about this model?

Again thanks for any and all help! Keep giving me ideas! :)

I dont know off the top of my head, but I would suspect that is has a slightly slower processor and less memory. It also probably doesnt have the Bluetooth support, which you may or may not care about. Im sure the specs are on HPs website. WiFi is a good thing to have though, I would try to make sure it has that (assuming your house is wireless).

Well here's something I found...
http://www.seretogis.org/gakface/Benchmarks.JPG

I do believe it has bluetooth and WiFi capabilities.
Here's a link. http://www.pdabuyersguide.com/ipaq4150.htm

It says the battery only lasts 4 hours? Is that good?

the HP iPAQ 5555 can last up to 3 days on battery alone.


here's a link that compares the two products

HP Product comparison

Boy, I'm really surprised at the WinCE favoritism going on in this thread.

PalmOS is where it's at. In my ever-so-humble opinion, of course.

The new Palm Tungsten line is super sexy. And I'm just DROOLING over the Handspring Treo 600 smartphone (though I know you're not looking for any such thing).

Link Me! Link Me! :)

Uh, FlamingPeach, I don't think that link is what you thought it was....

>_<

i guess it redirected, sorry about that.

If you check out the PDA's on HP's site you can go to a comparison page for them. :)

jesus, 400 MHz, that thing has more power than my linux router/server! :eek:

Ive heard good things about the ipaq, the only problem I had with them is that they use microsoft...

I have used the Garmin.. er.. I forget the model at the moment, but its basically a palm based pda with built in gps. The next model in development will have bluetooth built in and the capability to go 802.11a/b, with the expansion slot.

Id highly suggest it as well, although its too late for my brain to remember links nor model numbers...

I just bought a Tungsten T3, partly due to this thread http://tfproject.org/tfp/showthread....threadid=33587

I am extremely impressed with it. Blown away is more like it. A year ago I probably would have picked up a Windows device, but Palm has made a huge leap with their newer technology. No regrets at all.

so much to read through and choose from... I dont' know how much I should spend to get something good that will last a long time... :(... I guess I really need to just sit down and figure all this out...

I have a dell X5 basic. It's the best PDA I've seen for the money. No phone, no bs, and it's backed by the Dell warranty.




block

flamingpeach is right

I have a 5550 and it's just wonderful.
I use the handwriting recognition (transcriber) and it kicks the ass of many a thing.

I vote for a Sharp Zaurus. It runs an embedded version of Linux, plus Java and is a pretty versatile little thing.

No, that's terrible! My Palm T2 lasts 60 days without a charge being used for about 1.5 hours cumulativly a day and my old Palm m500 once made it to 90 days!

Take another look at palm, they are the dominant player in the market, and never make something with the intent of just tying it to one platform (like the obvious MS bias towards interoperability with other MS products)

Keep in mind that since Palm cpu's are risc based, cpu mhz is a useless judgement point since it's apples and oranges:rolleyes:

I don't know what is accepted as "good" today but a few years ago I used to get a month or two on a set of batteries in our Palm I, & III. Daily usage.

i vote for ipaq too, the only thing that bugged me about my ipaq was if you forget to charge it, it reset itself, but thats no only the ipaq, and you should have it synced anyway.

as for cpu power, has anyone seen a useable linux on a palm ? :) and no ucLinux doesn't count, my cellphone can run that.

i usually use mine for playing mame though..

pocket pcs are also risc based so mhz is valid

My dad was talking to me about a Dell. They might be good in pda's, but as a computer guy, I think... "Dell".... "Ugh". How are they in pda's...

why don't you go to a computer store and try a few out?

Here Fry's has all the pda's on display for you to try etc.

It might help you with your decision.

yeah I probably should... I just wish I didn't have this hatred for Dell.. might help me choose seeing how the money is good. iPAQ looks good, but its also something that makes my bank acount wave to me.... and is not going to say hello. ;) I plan on taking some time tomarrow to research all of this in greater detail, and perhaps go to BB or something and get some advice... or Circuit City?

B'ware salesmen. they want to sell hte most expensive gadget not the one that's best for you. Take what they say with a grain of salt...

good advice cheerios, i always joke with the frys people that when they answer whats the best performing or such thing for me, they'll say whatever they've got in stock :)

I'm gonna go against the grain and recommend that you reconsider that laptop. I thought the same way as you until I got a PDA. It's been sitting on top of my monitor for 2 years. look at some of the subnotebooks. much more useful.