Gadgetize me!

[Quboid]

OK, here's the deal: I presently have an SE P900. It's ok, but I find it too bulky as a phone, so I'm thinking of getting a small phone so I want the nice people of Neowin to decide how to spend my money. However, I'm worried about loosing important features.

Features I like about my P900 that I'm worried about loosing:

- Full net access (any website, any POP3 email server, even SSH) which I can get with my P900, which uses GPRS.

- A decent selection of free/cheap apps and games like card games, Mahjongg etc. TBH, more would be nice but at least there is some.

- Fairly easy to program (Visual Basic for example, I could probably live with C++ or Java if there's a good *free* SDK).

Do you get these on small phones? I doubt it, so what else is available to me? Is a small, cheap phone and a PDA the way to go? If so, how should I go about getting the net access? One way is through the phone, but I don't know if this is possible while keeping the size down. Another way is through the PDA, but this means getting a sim just for it, also, it means paying a lot more for a PDA which supports this. Is there any other way? Could the PDA connect to the phone (via wire or bluetooth) and transfer through it? Ideally, it should use my wifi connection to get web access at home and bluetooth on the road, but this might be pushing it.

I'm open to PDA and phone suggestions. I like flip phones so I'll probably take this route but I'd consider slide/etc (I don't like standard ones which need keylocks). Buying in the UK, no set budget. What PDAs have the best selection of apps/games? I'm thinking HP iPAQ hx4700 but I've no idea what PDAs are good.

[Silverity]

How about this one?

But if you want just PDA, get Dell Axim x50v. HP has crappy support these days.

[Quboid]

It doesn't look that great - tries to be everything, ends up being a bit nothing. I'm not saying it's rubbish, just that there's no real reason to go for one of those over my P900. It's not significantly smaller. I've heard nasty things about HP, I didn't know how true they are. Shame, because technically, they seem to be the best.

I'm very concerned with how much software there is for a PDA. Do Dell PDAs have as much free/cheap software as HPs? Do either of them have much?

[M1K3L]

I have a Moto V551, Which has Bluetooth, and High Speed EDGE Support (A lot faster than GPRS!)

So far, I LOVE my phone. I hate the fact that the phone itself is really slow, but you can install a program onto the phone called "WebViewer" which allows you to go to any HTML website, the same company also offers a email program for pop3 as well. My phone records videos, takes pictures.. Does a lot for what it is. It's a pretty basic phone, but sharp looking.

I'm planning on using a PDA via Bluetooth to surf the internet and chat online. A PDA is a really great way to go if you can afford it. There's acctually a emulator for Pocket PC PDA's which allows you to install Windows 98 on it.. Yes, Windows 98 on a PDA :-) It's buggy right now, but as time goes on, I'm sure things will workout.

A PDA and a phone has SOOOO many more possabilites!

Right now, I have my Moto V551 with Cingular, but i also have a HP Ipaq h6315 PDA Phone.. I'm in the process of canceling tmobile and selling my HP IPAQ. Their coverage is just not good here and the phone is really buggy.

I've used several PDA Phones, and Also used the Sidekick... and to be honest, I've found ALL of them to be very buggy devices.

Since I got a basic phone with Bluetooth and Edge.. I couldn't be happier. I'll even be more happy once i get my PDA! :D

[Quboid]

I've never heard of EDGE. Is that 3G? Is it available in the UK? Is it expensive?

The Moto V5xx look like good phones, they are high on my list. There's quite a few models in that range, I'm not sure which is best for me. My problem with it is it's width, which is why the V3 interests me.

What PDA are you thinking of? The Dell Axim X50v looks best for me if the reports of HP are true.

[Bobster]

EDGE is the equivalent to 2.5G. The Motorola V3 is a very nice phone, very small and sleek, I'd recommend Nokia phones such as the 6630 though as it has basically everything you want e.g. Full net support, there are thousands of apps/games for it and it has full java support.

[HistoricalNeowin]

The camera on that 6630 looks HUGE :|

[TheLegendOfMart]

What about a windows smartphone like the MPX220 above, i have the MPX200 and i can connect to pop etc... the only downside is the screen is smaller than a PDA like the P900 so you wont be able to surf full websites as good. Impressive little phones though, and you can get a wide range of software for it.

[BrentNewbury]

Why don't you try a SPV C500?

- Brent

[HistoricalNeowin]

Oneill whats the camera like on that? I'm looking to get a new smartphone soon but i want one with a 1.3mp camera and i dont liek symbian too much.

[Quboid]

I'm not really interested in a smart phone - they're too big. I like flip phones, but the width worries me. I'm leaning towards a Motorola V3 as it's thin, and Dell Axim X50v for a PDA, but I'm not set on either.

Does anyone actually know how bad the HP support is?

[Damian]

Smaller than SE p900, Windows mobile,Slide phone

[Bobster]

How about the Nokia 9300? Has every business feature exept a camera and is fairly small.

Here are the main specs:

- Advanced voice features: handsfree speakerphone and conference calling capability

- Full keyboard and two 65,536-color displays

- Messaging options: email with attachments, SMS and MMS

- Office applications: Documents, Sheet, and Presentations

- Organizer (calendar, contacts, tasks) and email with PC synchronization via Nokia PC

- Suite software

- Large memory storage: 80MB built-in memory plus MultiMediaCard (MMC)

- High-speed data connectivity with EGPRS (EDGE)

- Mobile Internet connectivity

- Tri-band (EGSM 900/1800/1900) operation for use on five continents

For full specs go HERE

[Quboid]

That Samsung i750 not bad, once I figured out what it is :) I don't think it's available in the UK. The Nokia 9300 is too big - I need a small phone.

3G would be nice, but there isn't many options - there appear to be no 3G flip phones with Bluetooth! The only 3G bluetooth phone I can find in the UK is the Nokia 6630 (EDIT: Opps, also the 6680 and Sanyo S750 - I've never even heard of Sanyo before!).

Edited March 28, 2005 by Quboid

[Toonie]

I have a Moto V551, Which has Bluetooth, and High Speed EDGE Support (A lot faster than GPRS!)

So far, I LOVE my phone. I hate the fact that the phone itself is really slow, but you can install a program onto the phone called "WebViewer" which allows you to go to any HTML website, the same company also offers a email program for pop3 as well. My phone records videos, takes pictures.. Does a lot for what it is. It's a pretty basic phone, but sharp looking.

I'm planning on using a PDA via Bluetooth to surf the internet and chat online. A PDA is a really great way to go if you can afford it. There's acctually a emulator for Pocket PC PDA's which allows you to install Windows 98 on it.. Yes, Windows 98 on a PDA :-) It's buggy right now, but as time goes on, I'm sure things will workout.

A PDA and a phone has SOOOO many more possabilites!

Right now, I have my Moto V551 with Cingular, but i also have a HP Ipaq h6315 PDA Phone.. I'm in the process of canceling tmobile and selling my HP IPAQ. Their coverage is just not good here and the phone is really buggy.

I've used several PDA Phones, and Also used the Sidekick... and to be honest, I've found ALL of them to be very buggy devices.

Since I got a basic phone with Bluetooth and Edge.. I couldn't be happier. I'll even be more happy once i get my PDA!  :D

585678204[/snapback]

What is that phone called with google on the screen ????

[Quboid]

I think that's the Sidekick with google on it. There's now a sidekick II, although neither seem to be particularly highly regarded for some reason.

[icecaveman]

Quboid I own a P900 and Dell Axim x50v, the Axim feels way better in the hands. Yes the Axim tryes to be everything and is everything, just sell your P900 and get a cheap bluetooth phone you won't regret it. I hate the P900 it's pain to use as a PDA.

[Quboid]

I've now ordered an Axim X50v, kinda excited about it. I don't know where to look for free software. What browsers, email clients and MP3/Ogg players do people recommend? Can I stream audio from my PC over BT or Wifi when in range instead of filling the memory? I want full web site viewing, at least as an option, not WAP or rubbish like that.

As regards phone, I intend to order a Motorola V3 Razr soon. It's a nice size and the only feature I'd like that it doesn't have is 3G and it's clear that there is no 3G phone available that suits me. Maybe in a year's time...

[icecaveman]

You can ofcourse go to http://www.freewareppc.com/ to get free programs although you should not expect anything great there. You will find some better Open Source projects such as PocketScumm and lots... You can emulate most SNES games with this device at acceptable speed WITH sound and the d-pad is usable for games unlike most PDAs. You can access date with Wifi.

Beta Player is the killer program you can get for a x50v, it's the only video player that fully supports the 16mb intel graphics card on the device and allows you to play high quality videos in VGA.

[Steve]

I switched from a P900 to a S700i, really quite happy with it really. :)

[Biggs]

I've now ordered an Axim X50v, kinda excited about it. I don't know where to look for free software. What browsers, email clients and MP3/Ogg players do people recommend? Can I stream audio from my PC over BT or Wifi when in range instead of filling the memory? I want full web site viewing, at least as an option, not WAP or rubbish like that.

585690169[/snapback]

Best place for axim related questions is Aximsite, you'll find everything. Get a look on the forum too. Hope that doesn't count as advertising.

[Quboid]

I'm registered there already - it's a very good community for the specialised topic it covers.