Handheld PC's / PALM ?
 

Thinking about a new handheld PC or a Palm Tungstein.

Any reccommendations?

Thanks.

Winblows CE sucks. There is no reason a handheld organizer should ever CRASH.

I used to have a Pocket PC and it was pretty cool. The only thing I disliked was the battery power if you used it continuously.I had the Casio EM-500. If you are going to get one, get it with wireless internet and get a compact flash or an option so you can view /store digital camera pictures.

Re: Handheld PC's / PALM ?
 

I'm still using a 3 year old Sony Clie, but I've got my eye on the Tapwave Zodiac . It's promoted as a "gaming device" but is really just a high-end Palm device...with tons of memory, 320x480 resolution, stereo speakers, long batt. life, and TWO card slots. It can also do wireless Internet access (802.11b) with a card for about $60 more. It looks really good, and I haven't read a bad thing about it.

I like Palm... it talks to Apple waaaay easier than Pocket PC.

Re: Handheld PC's / PALM ?
 

Are you thinking of replacing your phone too? If so, check out the Palm Treo 600 or 650. I never thought I'd find a combo unit that would suit me, but the Treo 600 does it.

If you're only looking for a PDA, go with any Palm unit with a built-in keyboard. I had a Windows CE unit years ago and was totally disatisfied with it due to battery life, processor speed and overall software clunkiness. I'm sure the new CE models are light years beyond the one I used but I'm a Palm guy now.

I've got a brother in law that has a Toshiba Pocket PC that he thought he needed. Essentially never used it. He mentioned he wants me to put in on fleabay. I don't have it yet, but it's available if you're interested.

what do you want to do with it? That will determine a lot of your choice.

HP iPaq - Wireless (11g) Internet, Bluetooth for my GPS receiver, SD card slot. I highly recommend mine (H4150) but it's probably out of date already! I use it at home to browse the Pelican forums when I can't be bothered firing up my P4. When I'm out of the office, it's good fun finding wireless hot-spots and logging into MSN, checking email or browsing the Pelican forums... :D

There's a local cafe near my home, where you can sit and drink coffee, while using their wireless. It's pretty neat.

[edit] Good battery life, nice screen res. I crunch DVDs to fit on my SD cards (4 feature movies per 1gb card) and they play flawlessly. I also have a ton of MP3s on it. My GPS receiver, together with mapping and navigation software I bought gives me a full voice-command Navigation System, which is handy in the car.

If you want to cut down to 1 device for phone and organizer, the Treo 650 is hard to beat. The HP-iPAQ h6315 also looks excellent and has Wi-Fi in addition to cell phone.

I have an iPaq 5455 and am pretty pleased with it overall; however, I think the Windows Mobile units are still better geared towards "tinkerers" and IT early-adopter types. The configuration of WiFI, ActiveSync, Bluetooth, and all the other stuff can be a PITA. And I have had to cold-restart several times which results in having to reload from a backup (assuming you have one). Still, it is a very powerful and versatile device.

For a straight PDA I would seriously look at Palm as they are hard to beat for bulletproof calendar and contact management. Although, for that matter, some of the newer cellphones are almost as good at those basic functions.

I've got a Treo600 and a 6315. The 6315 blows as a phone. It is OK for wifi, bluetooth is still sketchy. The 600, despite the fact that I hate mini keyboards, has been the most solid device for getting info (read email) when I need it...SnapperMail is pretty flawless. Web blows on the Treo, and isn't much better on the 6315 (pocketIE has almost no configuration capabilities, nor does outlook).

The symbian stuff isn't much better. I have yet to see a decent "do all" device. The Treo is the closest so far.

Actually I'm glad to hear, as I was considering the HP.

What Palm needs to do is put "something" into the plastic to help position the phone in the ear, make it more natural. Wi-Fi would be nice too.

As far as the web sucking, it's great to look at the real time traffice map while driving, even if it's small. I love my Treo 600

sony th55 - wifi & a camera, or if you get it in europe (or on ebay buy a european one) wifi and bluetooth. about 350.00 should do it. comes w media players & etc

I have a Tungsten T5, just upgraded from the old T; if you can find a T3 (around $275) buy a big sd card and you have everything the t5 has (will need an sd wifi card for wifi). Works as a media player. Get the program called datebook5 from pimlico software, it's a whole lot better than the palm datebook apps; downloadable from pimlico, proceeds go to a gorilla rescue, the guy who wrote the program is both a software genius and a great philanthropist.

(and was it mark twain who said 'philanthropy is the last refuge of the cynic?" , this guy gives me hope)

tungsten also comes w media players for video, music etc, you can use instead of an ipod, and either jack into your car or w ear buds...incredible sound.

I' ve never liked the Palm OS...

I've been through a few Pocket PC type Handhelds and converted my Wife from a Palm Pilot to an Ipaq. She uses it religiously and I use mine a bit too - but I just have never had good luck with Palms and Outlook (Which we both use at work).

Palm and Outlook? They work out of the box. Getting the Palm to synch with Lotus. Now that is a trick!

I had a Palm Tungsten II for a year and hated it. It worked well and synched with Outlook effortlessly, but I'm just not a "Palm guy" and went back to my old school Franklin Planner.