My new job requires heavy use of a PDA for organization and scheduling. I have an old Palm Vx that does the trick, but I hate carrying more than I need - my BatBelt is bad enough as it is. A single integrated device would be great. I'm thinking one of the new generation combination PDAs / mobile phones such as Blackberry or one of the WinCE machines would be a big help. Getting the wireless email feature would be nice, and if it can handle MP3s, all the better. Any tech freaks here that have or use one of these devices that can comment on the relative pros and cons of the various devices?
according which service you choose. when i was working for t mobile, the pocket pc was where it was at. however if you are gonna use cdma ala verizon, i would suggest some of the new generation treos. with tmobile i believe the data plans are much more affordable. now that alot of the comapnies have gone to gsm like tmobile, you can find those pocket pc's and older treo's for fairly cheap on the old evil-bay.
My wife has had one (Kyocera) for a good while and I've looked at them. One recommendation: Even if you're like me and apt to pass on the no fault protection coverage they offer for an additional charge, take it if you get one of these. My wife didn't, and very nearly got royally screwed when she cracked the screen on her first one. Other than that: Wireless web browsing still sucks and isn't really worth the trouble. I'm sure it will continually improve, but there's a long way to go yet. I don't think you'd want to try to download or email MP3's on a handheld device, either -- too little bandwidth. My experience has been with Verizon/CDMA service, btw, so as Jon Burnet suggests, GSM may offer some improvements. As for email, I have no trouble trading email with desktop users using my phone's SMS messaging....
I have a colour Sprint phone, does the wireless web thing, pictures, enail, all that $100. Screen is small, but the color is very good. Until the wireless web doesn't suck, I'll be using this: http://www.phonecycle.com/phones/ModelDetails.asp?ModelID=57&BrandID=4 edit: I don't have this yet but I'm thinking about it: http://www.wirelessgalaxy.com/ac/DataPilot/DataPilot_Sanyo.html
I've used the T-Mobile Pocket PC Phone for over a year. I can't imagine ever owning seperate devices again. Jeff
Web connectivity is a fairly low priority for me, and would probably be limited to simple lookups like weather and directory assistance. However, major Outlook integration is a must! I just saw a Trio 600 at BestBuy. This one is on Sprint (which I would *never* consider), but I hear Cingular may be offering it, too. Impressive!
Everybody I've ever known who has Sprint never stops complaining about their customer service, particularly the billing. Also, Sprint has miserable coverage in my area.
After the first of the year, I'm going to be getting myself a PDA/phone, I'm getting tired of carrying both everywhere! I'm pretty simple, the phone has to WORK (on Cingular), and the PDA has to operate on Palm software (all my stuff is ALREADY there, I don't want to have to transfer it all ). Smaller is better. That's it - any suggestions?
Go check out the Handspring Treo 600 - it runs Palm OS5 and is available on Cingular. I'm impressed enough to check further...
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