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POB/London
12/11/2002 at 09:28
OK - the time has come. My parents, my gf, my boss and my housemate have all told me to sort my life out and stop missing things / being late, and generally be a bit more "with it".

After going to a "time management and professional development" course at the weekend, I remember being recommended several Personal Digital Assisstants (!). So I want one to use alonside my lovely soft, leather Filofax.

What's the score?
How much are they?
Is it worth getting colour?
Which one is best?

TBH, I've already decided that a camera and an MP3 player would be useless to me, but basically the smaller the better.

I've had a *very* quick look and the Visor and Sony offerings seem a bit sexier than the Palm ones, although the software appears to be much of a muchness.

Thanks guys.
"I can't help being a little simian, it's my nature" (Masaaki Sakai (aka Monkey) 1980)
"Remorse; the fatal egg that pleasure laid" (William Cowper 1731-1800)

VDCR #155 - TWO#A/90/650/650/1100 - ZEN#325
TIT moment... and my trip www.PM-04.com
Dodgy Geezer
12/11/2002 at 09:32
It depends what you will use it for and with. Personally I wouldn't go for anything other than a PocketPC machine because unless it interfaces with outlook & my MS Office files on works servers, it becomes nothing more than a glorified diary

Sure, Palm etc software can be made to talk to Microshite products but it's never gonna be as seamless or functional
pierre
12/11/2002 at 09:34
Sony Clie! I swear by mine!
braindead
12/11/2002 at 09:36
Ive got a Clie wifes got a plam, the Clie is far better and easier to use.

BD

Colour is nice but by no means essential


Nippy
12/11/2002 at 09:37
I agree with DG. I have an iPAQ, which is excellent.
FJSRiDER.
12/11/2002 at 09:40
Palm - Drool
POB/London
12/11/2002 at 09:40
Dodgy Geezer wrote

...it becomes nothing more than a glorified diary


That's exactly what I'll use it for mate. I have a laptop and a newish Nokia phone, but the diary and to-do in the mobile aren't good enough to use every day.

I want something that will remember lists b'days and the like, possibly store (but not retrieve?) emails and act as a dynamically editable to do list. I can also use one of these things to quickly input ideas and generate daily timetables for meself.

Oh, and it's my birthday soon, so my parents are gonna buy it! I think they look lovely, but are they worthwhile? More ideas?

"I can't help being a little simian, it's my nature" (Masaaki Sakai (aka Monkey) 1980)
"Remorse; the fatal egg that pleasure laid" (William Cowper 1731-1800)

VDCR #155 - TWO#A/90/650/650/1100 - ZEN#325
TIT moment... and my trip www.PM-04.com
Revo
12/11/2002 at 09:42
Personally I like the Psion Revo which i've got,
it interfaces quite well, and the apps are good enough to work on.
The battery life is very good as long as you recharge it once a week.
Ok so it isnt in colour, but it does have a keyboard (tried the palm, didnt like it).
It also manages to get emails and web/wap access via the infr red link on the mobile or by the separate modem quite well.
Plus I like the width of the screen (landscape as opposed to portrait) so you get to see more of your documents/mails/web pages with less scrolling back and forth.

Its slim and lightweight enough to get in a pocket, and with being a clamshell design the screen is protected

I think they have been discontinued now, so you should be able to pick one up cheap (mine was £170 when I got it) plus there are loads of apps freely available for download on the web.
Dodgy Geezer
12/11/2002 at 09:42
Pocket Excel, in particular, is an excellent product. All the useful things you need of a spreadsheet (multiple worksheets, preprogrammed functions etc) and none of the bloaty rubbish the desktop version is full of

Pocket Word is a bit pony though, although as I'm not exactly gonna be writing long documents on it I can live with it

You need AvantGo more than anything else - there's some superb product out there, particularly from media organisations. Synchronise for 5 minutes and get your newpapers, periodicals etc updated daily. Whiles away the time on a tube train

Only the file explorer of PocketPC OS annoys me; the rest is remarkably intuitive for Microsoft
Dodgy Geezer
12/11/2002 at 09:45
POB/London wrote



That's exactly what I'll use it for mate. I have a laptop and a newish Nokia phone, but the diary and to-do in the mobile aren't good enough to use every day.

I want something that will remember lists b'days and the like, possibly store (but not retrieve?) emails and act as a dynamically editable to do list. I can also use one of these things to quickly input ideas and generate daily timetables for meself.

Oh, and it's my birthday soon, so my parents are gonna buy it! I think they look lovely, but are they worthwhile? More ideas?



Then go to your local PCWorld or whatever and ask for a demonstration of the Palm & Clie. It seems the tasklist is one of the biggest things for you, and if you don't particularly need to synchronise in detail with a laptop/desktop, you prolly don't need PocketPC. The task part of Outlook is quite weak, as I'm sure you know

Don't underestimate ergonomics with these things. If it's awkward to use, uncomfortable to hold or whatever, you won't bother with it, which defeats the object
POB/London
12/11/2002 at 09:50
Pocket PC devices look pretty good, and the spec is way higher than PDAs, but I have a laptop and desktop machines, and I can't justify the (much) higher price.

Another really expensive thing to stress about breaking? £200 I can handle, £600 I can't!

Although...

"I can't help being a little simian, it's my nature" (Masaaki Sakai (aka Monkey) 1980)
"Remorse; the fatal egg that pleasure laid" (William Cowper 1731-1800)

VDCR #155 - TWO#A/90/650/650/1100 - ZEN#325
TIT moment... and my trip www.PM-04.com
Lob Rockster
12/11/2002 at 09:51
I've an iPAQ and a T68i - both sync with the PC at home (and iPAQ syncs with work too). Excellent, I love both.

You've to ask yourself what you're gonna use it for - certainly you get more oomph with the PocketPC but this costs you size, money and the battery life can be a pain.

On the other hand, with PalmOS machines, you have often less functionality but there is a lot of applets out there.

If you're going for a PalmOS machine then the Sony is the one - especially with the virtual graffiti zone on the screen.

If you want PocketPC then look at the iPAQ, Pocket Loox etc - there are many challengers out there....!!

Alternately, you could do what my missus has just done and get a Nokia 9210i communicator - also a good machine (but no bluetooth nor GPRS).

If I was to replace my iPAQ, I'd look for something running Windows for PocketPC 2002 with a good screen, 64Mb or more RAM, bluetooth and SD card slot. A CF slot would be good, especially if it was built-in....

FJSRiDER.
12/11/2002 at 09:54
POB/London wrote

Pocket PC devices look pretty good, and the spec is way higher than PDAs, but I have a laptop and desktop machines, and I can't justify the (much) higher price.

What is the battery life like on those things? (asks the Palm user...)

Thought about a Palm device that is also a phone? Dunno the spec, but I've seen them in phone shops....
Lob Rockster
12/11/2002 at 09:57
FJSRiDER wrote


What is the battery life like on those things? (asks the Palm user...)

Thought about a Palm device that is also a phone? Dunno the spec, but I've seen them in phone shops....


Handsping Treo 180 (B&W) and 270 (Colour).....

I've used the 180 and it's not that intuitive.

The XDA running PPC2K2 Phone Edition is a lot more user-friendly, in my opinion

POB/London
12/11/2002 at 10:02
Like my phone too much to want a crossover device. The SD card idea sounds like a good one, since the laptop had an SD slot. I don't have a Sony PC, so what's the deal on transferring data w/Memory Stick? Or would I use IrDA (at what, 4MB/sec)?

I went into Comet the other day and ended up thoroughly pissed off with the atrocious service. I had *just* started looking around, and yet I already knew more than any of the staff, including the supervisor, who appeared to be 11 years old.

I think most of the PocketPC things last under 15 hours, which isn't that great. How long does a Palm last. It was interesting to note that the Sonys all use Palm OS, but seem ergonomically much better than the alm machines - I bet they regret that software license! I've always been impressed by sony stuff I've had in the past (laptops and MD players / recorders) and so I may be tempted into clie-land.

Point taken about getting the one that I like using the most, cos you're right - I won't use it if it's a drag.
"I can't help being a little simian, it's my nature" (Masaaki Sakai (aka Monkey) 1980)
"Remorse; the fatal egg that pleasure laid" (William Cowper 1731-1800)

VDCR #155 - TWO#A/90/650/650/1100 - ZEN#325
TIT moment... and my trip www.PM-04.com
silentmemory
12/11/2002 at 10:04
Above anything else, if it's possible I'd get something which recharges in its sync cradle.

I have a Palm jobbie but I wouldn't recommend it because it only works on batteries, and these seem to drain whether the machine is on or off. A few weeks and they're dead, and everything on the Palm is lost. Consequently, I don't trust it so don't use it, other than to sit in bed and read books downloaded off the internet.

A while back I looked pretty hard for decent map software, I wanted a road atlas of the country. The Palm stuff was rubbish, the PocketPC stuff looked much better.

Xbox Live gamertag: FullTilt
Lob Rockster
12/11/2002 at 10:08
most devices should charge in the cradle - be it using power from the PC or mains.....

And Autoroute Europe comes with Pocket Streets 2002 - and your AE maps can be exported to the PocketPC.

If you look at the market share that PPC devices have taken, they're finally doing something right (since Windows CE 2.11/3.0)...

POB/London
12/11/2002 at 10:12
That seems to be the way, SM. Older models and the basic "no frills" new ones seem to be battery-operated. I want one with a proper internal Ni-Cad or Li battery pack, and the cradle recharge thingy. Another thing that will have to live on my desk....

Can you synch them via IR (like I do with my phone)?
Are they tough?
Has anyone's ever broken / crashed / whatever?

The toughness question is also important. Although I can look after the laptop (special bag, slip case etc) I am not planning on trying particularly hard with this thing - I'll just chuck it in my bag / pocket.

And what's the handwriting recognition like? I could write on this borrowed one at the weekend, but it was slightly contrived, as you had to scribe letters in a certain way (the one I played with was used by a doctor who had actually worn a hole in the screen he used it so much!)
"I can't help being a little simian, it's my nature" (Masaaki Sakai (aka Monkey) 1980)
"Remorse; the fatal egg that pleasure laid" (William Cowper 1731-1800)

VDCR #155 - TWO#A/90/650/650/1100 - ZEN#325
TIT moment... and my trip www.PM-04.com
FJSRiDER.
12/11/2002 at 10:12
silentmemory wrote

I have a Palm jobbie but I wouldn't recommend it because it only works on batteries, and these seem to drain whether the machine is on or off. A few weeks and they're dead, and everything on the Palm is lost. Consequently, I don't trust it so don't use it, other than to sit in bed and read books downloaded off the internet..

I just use my aged Palm IIIx as a diary, appointment, phone book and note paper. The rechargeable AAA's last a month or so - I sync it daly so data loss through backups aren't a serious problem. Newer Palms seem to have Ni-Cads and cradle chargers.
Lob Rockster
12/11/2002 at 10:19
My iPAQ I sync via IR at home; CF-network card at home; Wireless CF card at home; USB cradle at work.....

For network use (esp. with WiFi) the battery gets eaten.

For normal use, you're looking at 10 hours usage with the backlight on. If you have the light off, it goes up. But I always will have a power cable if I am away for a long time.

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