I'm interested in getting a PDA. I've never owned one before and don't know a lot about them. I've been looking at them the last few days and it looks like I should be able to get what I want for $300 or less but I'm not sure which model to go with. I don't need a lot of extras on my PDA, I need one mainly to do the following: store and view Excel (I collect books and some other items and want to be able to carry a database with me so when I'm out and see things I know if I have them in my collection or not) and Word documents, use it for notes, contact info, and store some photos on it. I'd also like to use it occasionally for email when traveling, so wi-fi might be nice to have. I was looking at a Palm Tungsten E2 at Radio Shack last night for $199.00. It looks like it would do everything I need with the exception of Wi-fi. The other unit I'm considering but haven't seen in person is the HP iPAQ rx3115. I'm definitely open to other suggestions though. John
Need info on PDAs
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powernoodle
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This is a little OT, but I have tried using a PDA several times and always come back to a Franklin planner. For me, just writing stuff down in the little binder is easier than going thru menus on a PDA and tapping out things on the teeny keyboard. PDAs seem to be fantastic tools, though, and I am somewhat envious of folks for whom they are right.
As for the wi-fi, I strongly encourage it if you will find it convenient to send and receive email either around town or while travelling. Mrs. Powernoodle has a blackberry-like email device, similar to a PDA, and uses it all of the time. Its nice to be able to do email anywhere, any time, if that fits into your needs and wants. Good luck.
As for the wi-fi, I strongly encourage it if you will find it convenient to send and receive email either around town or while travelling. Mrs. Powernoodle has a blackberry-like email device, similar to a PDA, and uses it all of the time. Its nice to be able to do email anywhere, any time, if that fits into your needs and wants. Good luck.
We live in a small town in southern Kentucky, there's probably not any hot spots for wi-fi in or near our town but I have a motor home and do quite a bit of traveling to other states. When I've done that before I've always stopped in large cities and found a wi-fi connection to use with my notebook to get email. I plan on trying to do the same with the PDA when I travel but the main use will be database, notes, etc.
I've had the same experience Powernoodle describes. I've used, and worn out, a couple of Palms (Pilots, and then Zires).
I ended up using the small sized Day Timer, because it was fail-safe, a little smaller than a Palm, I didn't have to mess around with syncing it or worrying about charging or replacing batteries. The battery issue was what finally caused me to give them up - it was just one more thing to worry about.
I retired a couple of years back, and other than no longer having to carry a cell phone, my greatest joy is no longer carrying a Day Timer or Palm Pilot. Of course, now you can get ones that handle both funtions reasonably well, combined into the same little mini-brick. If I still did all that, I'd probaby go for one of these combo units - less to carry around.
My wife, however, who retired at the same time I did, still uses a Palm, and just upgraded to a new one (Tungsten, I think she said) a couple of months ago, which she uses several times a day. She carries hers in her purse and her take is that if I carried a purse (yeah, fat chance of that) I'd still be carrying a Palm. I doubt that, but the point is that she still likes, and uses, hers.
As for brands - they all do pretty much the same thing, but there is always that _one_ feature that one make / model has that others don't which will make the difference for you. The trick is figuring out what that one feature is . . . .
I ended up using the small sized Day Timer, because it was fail-safe, a little smaller than a Palm, I didn't have to mess around with syncing it or worrying about charging or replacing batteries. The battery issue was what finally caused me to give them up - it was just one more thing to worry about.
I retired a couple of years back, and other than no longer having to carry a cell phone, my greatest joy is no longer carrying a Day Timer or Palm Pilot. Of course, now you can get ones that handle both funtions reasonably well, combined into the same little mini-brick. If I still did all that, I'd probaby go for one of these combo units - less to carry around.
My wife, however, who retired at the same time I did, still uses a Palm, and just upgraded to a new one (Tungsten, I think she said) a couple of months ago, which she uses several times a day. She carries hers in her purse and her take is that if I carried a purse (yeah, fat chance of that) I'd still be carrying a Palm. I doubt that, but the point is that she still likes, and uses, hers.
As for brands - they all do pretty much the same thing, but there is always that _one_ feature that one make / model has that others don't which will make the difference for you. The trick is figuring out what that one feature is . . . .
I think that would not be a problem. Most windows based pdas have a scaled down version of excell, word, powerpoint, ie, etc for them. THey maybe an upgrade than std software.
The palm products, at least the palm os powered ones use a third party sofware that can be rather criptic to use that is shareware or freeware. Sure it can do the job, but there is a learning curb.
I used an old palm 3c color and m125 b&w model in college to read my digital books and digital hand outs, flyers, etc. I used the c3 in low light areas to see the screen and m125 in bright classes. I also had some hacks to make the fonts larger. Plus, my poor handwriting was transferred to plain text with the built in garaffi hand writing recognition system. Theres a learning curb to that. I think the newer version is much like block letters.
The palm products, at least the palm os powered ones use a third party sofware that can be rather criptic to use that is shareware or freeware. Sure it can do the job, but there is a learning curb.
I used an old palm 3c color and m125 b&w model in college to read my digital books and digital hand outs, flyers, etc. I used the c3 in low light areas to see the screen and m125 in bright classes. I also had some hacks to make the fonts larger. Plus, my poor handwriting was transferred to plain text with the built in garaffi hand writing recognition system. Theres a learning curb to that. I think the newer version is much like block letters.
