Buying a palm/pocket PC... Ideas?

[FG Lurker]

I'm going to buy a Pocket PC or Palm sometime soon.

The last one I had was a Palm Vx and I liked it... But I am open to thoughts on other platforms as well.

I want it for a few things, but the key use will be for tracking hours on various projects and then being able to use this data on my PC for reporting purposes. I will probably end up coding this myself unless there is a really good app available for it -- I don't really mind the coding though.

Other uses... Probably some music playback (MP3), meeting notes, maybe some very light email use. Nothing too incredible I guess.

A good battery life and good screen are important. Not too heavy, hopefully not a cheap-ass plastic build. Price is not too big a deal.

Thoughts / suggestions / ideas?

[Watcher]

I've an iPaq 4150 (which was last years model). Love it. Make sure you get wifi and BT in whatever you get. Personally I'd go for PPc over Palm anyday because it is a more robust system (multitasking). Why don't you get one of the new smartphones (don't know what's available in Japan)?

Seems to me that for tracking hours all you need is something like excel (as long as you have no circular equations pocket excel has no problems).

[Neo-Rio]

According to http://www.bargainpda.com, the Dell Axom X50v is the most popular PDA at the moment.

Probably not what you're looking for, but personally, I'm drooling over number two in the rankings. That Sharp PDA with Linux on-board and the 4GB hard drive in there. Unfortunately, it suffers from only 7 hours of battery life (thanks to the hard drive) and is a bit bulky by PDA standards. Unfortunately no wifi built in but you have to get your own card.
On the plus side, it's more like a laptop replacement

[FG Lurker]

I've an iPaq 4150 (which was last years model). Love it.

How do you find the battery life in it? Would you buy it again if you were shopping now? How about in comparison to the Dell stuff?

Make sure you get wifi and BT in whatever you get.

Yes, I hope to get both of those... I'd love to sync wirelessly!

Personally I'd go for PPc over Palm anyday because it is a more robust system (multitasking).

I hadn't thought of that actually. Do you find yourself switching apps like that a lot? I guess if I had the ability I'd use it...

Why don't you get one of the new smartphones (don't know what's available in Japan)?

Really good phones aren't available here yet. It's getting better but still lacking.

Seems to me that for tracking hours all you need is something like excel (as long as you have no circular equations pocket excel has no problems).

Well, what I want to do is track the hours and tasks in the handheld when I am doing the work, and then generate reports automatically based on the data... I'm good at getting things done but terrible at doing the follow-up paperwork. I hope to solve that by making notes about things as I go along and then generating the reports at the end of the month...

Thanks very much for the reply!!

[aquamarine]

I must say, the iPaq 4150 is pretty darn nice. I used to have one before I came to Japan and loved it. It did have a few software issues but those have probably been corrected since. I currently own the Toshiba E830 (cheaper in Canada by 20,000!) and it is amazing. Speedy wireless b, bluetooth, Compact Flash slot, SD slot, SUPER bright screen, both portrait & horizon viewing of the screen and quite a nice bundle of software.

My only complaint is the battery life is... moderate at best... due to the bright screen and high speed (520MHz) but you can always pick up the larger battery pack.

Over-all, I strongly recommend it. It's a wonderful little machine, but some may not like it due to it's slightly larger size.

[Failsafe]

I have a 4150, it is very light and very slim.

Battery life is pretty good, i can listen to mp3's non stop for about 5-6 hours with the screen off, just make sure you charge it when you get home or get a larger battery for it, of course wireless and BT drains it a fair bit more.

I switch apps a bit, just get a proper task switcher rather than the MS crappy one, there are many free ones on the net and its just one click away to switch apps.

Something that has made me love my ipaq more than ever besides the snes and sega emulators is the PSX emulator that has just been released, all i can say is wow!

[FG Lurker]

I ended up buying a Palm Tungsten T for 10,000yen from a friend. The deal was just too good to pass up and really it does everything I want -- mostly to run a database (HanDBase is what I chose) for time and expense tracking.

Very happy with it so far. Extremely small, great battery life, good screen, does what I need.

Thanks for everyone's input!

[aquamarine]

Just to keep this going for another couple hours.... for those out there who have a PDA which is PalmPC, I'm looking for a couple things.

First of all, a decent (and preferably free) gallery program. All I have (and which has been free) was the default picture viewer. Although it works well, it shows EVERYTHING on the PDA and everything on the SD/CF card.

The next program I'm looking for is a database for all of my contacts which can include a small image of them. It's nothing too special, but it would be INCREDIBLY nice to have.

Any help?

[emperor]

Im bidding for an "iMate Jam"/"O2 Pda-mini"/1 zillion other alias'... on ebay at the mo and am wondering if any of ye know:
Firstly - if its any good? (ive read some good reviews - but checking if theres any 1st hand FG experience with it)
whether the Windows 2003 SE that comes with it has Japanese Language support?
are the pocket pc OS' very different from desktop?
the software i have to install is custom-made for pdas (cant use the same as desktop versions?)
i believe a 2005 version is coming soon - itll be possible to upgrade right? ... with a legitimate version of course

[Failsafe]

Im bidding for an "iMate Jam"/"O2 Pda-mini"/1 zillion other alias'... on ebay at the mo and am wondering if any of ye know:
Firstly - if its any good? (ive read some good reviews - but checking if theres any 1st hand FG experience with it)
whether the Windows 2003 SE that comes with it has Japanese Language support?
are the pocket pc OS' very different from desktop?
the software i have to install is custom-made for pdas (cant use the same as desktop versions?)
i believe a 2005 version is coming soon - itll be possible to upgrade right? ... with a legitimate version of course

Very nice phone/PDA, its a bit chunkier than a standard PDA but also quite robust. the only drawback is lack of wifi and a slower processor than most ppcs on the market now.

it runs all pocket pc software, you have to chose between Japanese or English for the OS but there is software out there that has Japanese language support on an English version.

WinCE 2003 is very simaler to an xp desktop, you can even customise it with freeware to look just like a desktop with my computer etc, the apps have to be ppc only apps.

i don't know about that upgrade though, i've seen a beta floating about but it isn't really recommended to use as its a bit unstable on 2003 pdas atm.

[emperor]

The lack of wifi is the only thing thats giving me 2nd thoughts.
I know I can buy a wifi sd card (which takes away my ability to store info at the same time!) but for the cost of that it would nearly make up the price difference to get a pda2k/xdaIIs/

I had been also considering the treo 650. (but again no wifi)
Despite that its only just been released in the UK and not yet in Ireland (with no expected date announced), a newer version is rumoured to be out by the end of the year.

[Failsafe]

The lack of wifi is the only thing thats giving me 2nd thoughts.
I know I can buy a wifi sd card (which takes away my ability to store info at the same time!) but for the cost of that it would nearly make up the price difference to get a pda2k/xdaIIs/

I had been also considering the treo 650. (but again no wifi)
Despite that its only just been released in the UK and not yet in Ireland (with no expected date announced), a newer version is rumoured to be out by the end of the year.

The XDAII and variants is the only way to go then, look at the XDAIIi thats a serious bit of kit.

http://www.my-xda.com/

[FG Lurker]

PDA OSes are often tied directly to the hardware, and unlike a desktop it is impossible to upgrade most of the hardware in your PDA.

So, it depends on what new features come out with 2005 and the specific PDA.

[GomiGirl]

What do you want your PDA to do? There are some great phones coming out now that you can attach a keyboard and if you must use Microsoft office, you can use these applications as well.

You are not limited to looking for WiFi as you can use the phone networks. Phones are getting better all the time - but then again I may be biased and I am blessed with small nimble fingers.

[oyajikun]

I dropped and broke my ipaq h4355 last week so I'm also looking for a new replacement. This new Asus that is meant to be announced very soon looks perfect. Integrated wifi, bluetooth and GPS! And it also is going to be sporting the new windows OS. Not the dated 2003se that most pocket PC's are still offering.

http://www.brighthand.com/article/ASUS_Wins_Award_for_MyPal_A636?site=PPC

http://www.bargainpda.com/default.asp?newsID=2539