Thinking about getting a PDA

By ahfunaki
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Grand Master

ahfunaki

Posted
Posted

Well I'm always up for spending money I don't have, so now I want to buy a PDA. I want to get a Pocket PC instead of a Palm just because the Windows feel seems more appealing to me. I want to get something that I can expand to put a wireless 802.11b card in, and for other media so I can put games/mp3 on it. I don't really want to spend more than $150 on one, and odds are I'll be getting it off of eBay so if all of you could be kind enough to tell me some models that would fit what I am looking for that would be great so I can check them out.

Also if someone could explain what the advantages/disadvantages to the Palm OS vs. Pocket PC would be. Because the Zire 71 looks pretty sweet to me, but like I said I don't know if I want to go with the Palm OS...

Thanks

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bonobozoot

Posted
Posted

You cant get a cheaper PPC unless it is a used one. If you wanted a PPC, get a Toshiba e740 (dont know if they make this anymore) but it has the wireless card you are looking for. Infact, it was one of the earliest PPC to have a wireless.

Maybe you can get a Dell PPC. I heard that it is very good and cheaper than other PPC models. Check out dell.com for more.

Personally, I have two Palms, Handspring Visor ( not made anymore and a m130). So far, it is great. One is color and the other B&W. So, i get the best of both worlds. Basically, Palm Apps are less-resource consuming so they launch and close fast. Also, multi-tasking is not available in older Palms (and will change with OS6) so you cannot run multiple apps at one time. PPC models run off faster processors and require more RAM.

Also, the Washington Post has a review of the new Palm models at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/artic...9-2004May1.html

If you read USA Today, check out April29th issue or go online to USAToday. They reviewed latest Palm handhelds, the Zire models. They have given a thumbsup to it.

Whatever you buy, make sure that you test it (say at Bestbuy). Feel it and see how it works and then buy. If you have more questions, ask me.

/edit - here's some more

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?p...1&notFound=true

WP's Handheld Section

off-topic, which part of Ohio do you live in??

Grand Master

ahfunaki

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Cool, thank you all for the info. I'm actually thinking the e740 would be perfect between the 400MHz processor ( how does that translate to computer processors? is it the same exact speed? ) the built in wireless 802.11b, and having the option to use both sd and cf I don't think it could get much better than that... And it seems to be alot cheaper on ebay than the Axims. So I'm looking to get that now...

And bono, I'm in northeastern ohio...

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bonobozoot

Posted
Posted

Check these out

http://palmtops.about.com/library/weekly/aapr101702a.htm

http://reviews.zdnet.co.uk/hardware/handhe...10001494,00.htm

There are other reviews about the e740 but these are the best that I found.

Palmtops and Brighthand Forums are the ones to go to once you buy your Palm/PPC machine. ;)

ahfunaki, I live in the exact opposite direction, SW Ohio :D

Grand Master

ahfunaki

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Well I bought the Toshiba already. I think I got a decent price, shipped I paid a little under $160. It's used naturally has one tiny dent on the back and a couple very minor scratches on the screen ( from what the discription says ). It came with:

  Quote
Toshiba Pocket PC E740 PDA - 64MB

2 Cradles

Power Supply

Power Cord

Carrying Case

Software

Think it was a good deal?

Veteran

Jelly2003

Posted
Posted

I ordered a PDA today, I couldnt really afford it that much but I got the HP iPAQ H4150.

It's a 400Mhz XScale, 64MB Ram, 32MB ROM, Bluetooth and WiFi. More Info at this Link.

Cost me $693 which includes delivery (a good price in AU, you would usually expect to pay $750 excluding delivery).

There are good cheap models available, one of which i almost bought, the iPAQ h1930. It cost about $399, which I expect would sell for $200 or less in the USA. It contained 64MB ram, 200Mhz Samsung processor, but no WiFi or Bluetooth (which is what I wanted).

Info on this link

I honestly dont see anything wrong with Palm OS and I dont know why people bash it all the time.

It comes down to how you intend to use your PDA.

* If you are a power user who wants to tweak, and you want an OS that doesnt hide anything from you then I'd probably go to Pocket PC. People have told me that they spend quite a while getting a Pocket PC set up to how they want it.

* If you want minimum setup fuss, and you want somthing that does exactly what you want it to do right away, then I'd lean towards Palm OS. Plus I think that Palm OS seems to be a quicker OS then Pocket PC. The major diasdvantage is that Palm OS is child proof, and you cant really tweak it to how you want it.

Anyways that my take on things.

Grand Master

ahfunaki

Posted
  • Author
Posted (edited)

Yea, actually the e740 has close to the same specs as the one you just ordered:

Intel PXA250 400 MHz

64 MB DRAM

32 MB Flash ROM

IEEE 802.11b

I don't think the US version has Bluetooth, but I have no need for it anyway...

Plus it has SD and CF slots, which I think is a big plus...

And like I said above I only paid unde $160 usd shippped. It's used and a little beat up but thats bound to happen anyways...

Yea, but the ipaq looks alot cooler, and it has 2003 on it where as this only has 2002...I'm reading alot of you can't upgrade and some you can. So I'll def have to look into that...

You can read all the specs on it here

And I just realized the dent that is on it, is on the battery door so if I really wanted to I could get it replaced...

Edited by ahfunaki
Explorer

DeMo_BR

Posted
Posted
  Jelly2003 said:
I ordered a PDA today, I couldnt really afford it that much but I got the HP iPAQ H4150.

It's a 400Mhz XScale, 64MB Ram, 32MB ROM, Bluetooth and WiFi. More Info at this Link.

Yeah, I'm thinking on getting this one too.

I saw it at a store some time ago and it rocks!! Powerful, lightweight, small and thin!

Veteran

Jelly2003

Posted
Posted (edited)
  Quote
Yea, actually the e740 has close to the same specs as the one you just ordered:

Intel PXA250 400 MHz

64 MB DRAM

32 MB Flash ROM

IEEE 802.11b

I don't think the US version has Bluetooth, but I have no need for it anyway...

Plus it has SD and CF slots, which I think is a big plus...

And like I said above I only paid unde $160 usd shippped. It's used and a little beat up but thats bound to happen anyways...

Yea, but the ipaq looks alot cooler, and it has 2003 on it where as this only has 2002...I'm reading alot of you can't upgrade and some you can. So I'll def have to look into that...

You can read all the specs on it here

And I just realized the dent that is on it, is on the battery door so if I really wanted to I could get it replaced...

Looks like a great little PDA, and you cant beat the price!

Edited by Jelly2003
Veteran

Jelly2003

Posted
Posted
  DeMo_BR said:
Yeah, I'm thinking on getting this one too.

I saw it at a store some time ago and it rocks!! Powerful, lightweight, small and thin!

When I get mine, ill let you know what it's like.

I have read plenty of reviews, not just online ones, but ones in trusted computer magazienes, and they all sayits a great PDA.

When I had a play with the really cheap HP one (the 200Mhz one) it seemed quite fast and zippy, and I probably would have gotten that one if it had Bluetooth. Having both WiFi and Bluetooth will be handy, because ill be able to get online in both public hotspots and by using my mobile phone (and eventually use my home WiFi network when i get that set up :D)

Veteran

Jelly2003

Posted
Posted

I find the Dell Axim's impressive considering its price point, but I think they also look bulky, i suppose thats another thing that I like, a compact unit, which is what impressed me about the 4150, in fact for its size I cant believe the amount of functionality that have crammed into the unit.

Grand Master

morganpugh84

Posted
Posted
  Jelly2003 said:
I find the Dell Axim's impressive considering its price point, but I think they also look bulky, i suppose thats another thing that I like, a compact unit, which is what impressed me about the 4150, in fact for its size I cant believe the amount of functionality that have crammed into the unit.

Yeah the 4150 is great init :)

Rising Star

elfangor

Posted
Posted
  Jelly2003 said:
I ordered a PDA today, I couldnt really afford it that much but I got the HP iPAQ H4150.

It's a 400Mhz XScale, 64MB Ram, 32MB ROM, Bluetooth and WiFi. More Info at this Link.

Cost me $693 which includes delivery (a good price in AU, you would usually expect to pay $750 excluding delivery).

There are good cheap models available, one of which i almost bought, the iPAQ h1930. It cost about $399, which I expect would sell for $200 or less in the USA. It contained 64MB ram, 200Mhz Samsung processor, but no WiFi or Bluetooth (which is what I wanted).

Info on this link

I honestly dont see anything wrong with Palm OS and I dont know why people bash it all the time.

It comes down to how you intend to use your PDA.

* If you are a power user who wants to tweak, and you want an OS that doesnt hide anything from you then I'd probably go to Pocket PC. People have told me that they spend quite a while getting a Pocket PC set up to how they want it.

* If you want minimum setup fuss, and you want somthing that does exactly what you want it to do right away, then I'd lean towards Palm OS. Plus I think that Palm OS seems to be a quicker OS then Pocket PC. The major diasdvantage is that Palm OS is child proof, and you cant really tweak it to how you want it.

Anyways that my take on things.

Great choice. I have a 4150 myself and it never ceases to impress me how small it is considering it has wi-fi, bluetooth and the works.

I agree with you. I also have a Sony Clie TG50, which I found to be much more userfriendly than pocket pc. I think for most people, a Palm OS is more suitable, because how often do you really need to play video clips and such on your palm device? Besides, Palm OS now has programs that do pretty much everything the PPC can do.

Either way, it depends more on the individual device than the operating system.

Grand Master

morganpugh84

Posted
Posted
  elfangor said:
how often do you really need to play video clips and such on your palm device?

Well I watch a video on it every day! I have loads of simpsons, family guy, futurama, etc episodes I have encoded for my PPC and I can fit 8 episodes @ 30MB each on my 256MB SD Card with space for all my documents as well :)

I have also watched a few films on it aswell. It is great at work at lunch time if I take it later in the day when everyone else has had lunch and I am on my own. I can just watch an episode of The Simpsons and totally forget about work :yes:

The reason I didn't get along with PalmOS is because no matter how powerful the device (Tungsten T3 was the most powerful IIRC) video playback was always not 100%, I tried loads of players but nothing was good enough :( Windows Media Player 9 Series on WM2003 is perfect, great audio, great video and already on the PDA :) Also encoding couldnt be easier with Windows Media Encoder. However I do miss some of the things about PalmOS but I like things about WM2003 like that fact it comes with a file browser, I had to use Filez on PalmOS and although it is a great program Palm should really supply one considering how many people use SD Cards, etc these days.

I have good and bad things to say about both PalmOS and WM2003. WM2003 is the best FOR ME, everyone is different though. If you want multimedia for a PPC device as PalmOS isn't very good.

Grand Master

radioboy

Posted
Posted

toshiba is refusing to release a Windows Mobile 2003 upgrade for the e740, meaning you're locked into PPC 2002.

this means you don't get the advantage of the rewritten 2k3 kernel, which is optimized for XScale processors, plus the wireless configuration enhancements.

toshiba abandoned this pda, saying "it's good enough it doesn't need an upgrade" less than a year after it was released. i would not buy a toshiba pda.

Grand Master

Roger H. Veteran

Posted
  • Veteran
Posted
  nuggetman said:
toshiba is refusing to release a Windows Mobile 2003 upgrade for the e740, meaning you're locked into PPC 2002.

this means you don't get the advantage of the rewritten 2k3 kernel, which is optimized for XScale processors, plus the wireless configuration enhancements.

toshiba abandoned this pda, saying "it's good enough it doesn't need an upgrade" less than a year after it was released. i would not buy a toshiba pda.

well Windows CE wasn't optimized for any processor. It's just more effiecient than Windows CE 3.0. CE 4.2 on a iPAQ 3600 ran faster than 2002 using the same hardware (Don't ask bout how you get 2003 on a 3600 cuz it was mad but not realeased by HP and you'll never get it ;) :shifty: :whistle: )

  Quote
There has to be some way around it...

Don't think about it buddy.. someone said this quote.... (concerning Smartphones but it applies here too)

"Don't buy a product with hopes that'll it'll be upgraded. Either wait till you can get the device you want with all the upgrades you need or buy the ones' available now for what is has and those features would suffice for now."

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