PDA with AAAs and USB

[matt_j]

I'm looking for a PDA (palm or windows) that uses AAs and synchs via USB. I tried rechargable ones and they let me down when I need them the most. Partially it is my fault for not keeping up with charging. I want to use it for street work keeping medical dictionary, pharmacology and about 300 different pdfs. I will not use it for contacts or appointments. Any ideas?

 

[Tactical Sponge]

I haven't seen any PDAs that run on AAs or AAAs for a long time. The most recent PDA that does is the Sony SJ10. Other models that used AAAs are the Palm III series, which are quite ancient and may not have the speed, display quality, nor the storage to fit your needs.

If you're still willing to give rechargeables a try, Asus' newer models seem to have exceptionally good battery life (review here for their latest base model). However, the screen's resolution is 320 x 240 and you may prefer to have a higher res display (640 x 480). The Acer n311 has such a display. If you're always near a vehicle, you can buy a car charger for a lot of devices.

If you want more info, you can visit Brighthand or Aximsite for advice.

 

[barkingmad]

Or there are quite a few USB chargers that take AA/AAA batteries that you can use to power and recharge the device.

 

[dtrego]

Some Handspring Visors used AAA's - the original, Deluxe, and maybe one other model (the Pro?). Gray scale 160x160 display, Palm OS 3.x, USB cradles and cables (and serial ones, too). But given my experience, I'd be wary of older AAA PDA's now. I know of a few where the capacitor that stores the charge to keep the memory intact during a battery swap died - causing more or less a hard reset every time you changed batteries.

I have a couple of Visors sitting around, and some springboard modules. PM me if interested.

- Dwayne

 

[Dirty Bob]

+1 on the capacitor problem with some Palms. I have an m125 (monochrome, AAA batteries) that had to go back to Palm as part of the settlement on a lawsuit. Unfortunately, that offer is no longer available.

If it meets your speed/memory needs, a Handspring Visor Deluxe or Visor Neo might serve you very well.

Just because there are newer alternatives, some old tech still gets the job done! The Logitech keyboard for my m125 was just $12 new from Amazon a few years ago.

Good luck!
Dirty Bob

 

[NA8]

I've got an old Sony Clie PEG-SL10 PDA. It's AAA, mono screen, and about 8Meg of memory. Has USB and a 128M memory stick slot. It's a nice E-book reader, but I don't think it would work well for your PDF's. I recently looked at a Nokia 770 that someone recommended as a remote control for a Myth TV system. These are on close out for $140. There's a newer, better version but it's a lot more. The nice thing is it's got a pretty hi res screen for a little hand held. USB yes, AAA no. Check it out.

http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=204081472&dcaid=17873

 

[bones_708]

I have a HP 2415 that I use quite a bit. While you can't use AA or AAA directly it's easy enough to find a "charger" that uses batteries to keep from going dead. It's also cheap to buy batteries for this model and have an extra one to swap out. Takes about 10 sec.

 

[greenLED]

Handspring Neo.