Help me pick a new PDA!

[onesix18]

I recently got a new job, and the company for which I work will not "support" my Clie T615. (I.e., I can't install it on my office computer.) That's the bad news. The good news is that they have offered to purchase a new handheld for me--with a budget of +/- $500. The handheld MUST be a Palm or H-P brand.

So, I'd like to ask all of you: WHICH HANDHELD SHOULD I TELL THEM TO PURCHASE FOR ME?

I want a lot of features, but form factor (I love the small size of the 615) is important to me. I'm not up on the best/current models from Palm & H-P. I feel horrible leaving Sony-world, but I have no choice! Help!

Thanks!

P.S. -- My wife will be the happy recipient of my old reliable 615...so she's excited...

[ScottLP]

Why will they let you install a palm and not a sony?

If I was stuck getting either a palm or hp, I'd get the new tungsten. Pricey, and more then I need, but the palm OS is for me simpler and preferable.

[Eric S]

Did you tell those bone-heads that the Clie is PalmOS-based? Aside from needing a different cradle and driver for the cradle, it uses the same software.

If you're used to 320x320 color, the only thing Palm has that qualifies is the Tungsten T.

[Macabre Man]

I just got the new Tungsten a couple of days ago. It rocks.

I had a NR70v and I like this one far better.

[OcellNuri]

Yea, Tungsten is most-deff the way to go. But before you make the purchase do make sure that they realize that Sony is PalmOS. Everything works the same.

Ask them if they support your make/model of car in the parking lot.. or do you need to purchase a Kia that is compatible with their parking spaces...

[Tixx]

Wonder why the brand limitations and not instead just OS limitations.

[onesix18]

Thanks for the input so far.

The IT dept. of the company is well aware that the Sonys are Palm-OS based, and have actually admitted to me that there probably wouldn't be a problem upon install. However, their policy is hard-line--it's either Palm or H-P. I'm thinking that perhaps there's some sort of contract/service agreement/etc. with the two companies.

Sounds like the Tungsten T is the clear winner so far from Palm. Anyone want to give an opinion of the H-P devices?

[wellsjs]

I can understand your IT dept's stance in this situation. Sony does have their hands in the Palm OS 4.x code, i.e. a little Sony customization, and probably of most interest to your IT dept, in the area of syncronization.

So, don't fight city hall, go with a Tungsten T! ;)

[FiloD]

I agree, if you cannot get an NX, get a Tungsten.

[onesix18]

Has anyone taken a good look at the H-P iPaq H1910? It's small! Smaller than my 615...it was a form-factor like this that attracted me to Sonys in the first place...Is there anyone out there who has switched from PalmOS to PPC recently?

[williepalm]

Originally posted by onesix18
Has anyone taken a good look at the H-P iPaq H1910? It's small! Smaller than my 615...it was a form-factor like this that attracted me to Sonys in the first place...Is there anyone out there who has switched from PalmOS to PPC recently?

If they had, they definitely wont be here in Cliesource anymore. :)

Anyway, the H1910 is the entry level PPC. Its not worth getting it. As most of the Cliesourcerers here suggests, get the Tungsten.

[JadeDragon]

What's interesting to me is that the Palm, Inc. and Sony both license the same OS. To an IT dept, it'd be like buying different brands of PC running Microsoft.

Tungsten is a great unit, but you will miss the MP3 and camera if you had spend that money on a NR70V. Oh, well.

[Importluva]

Yea, I would say a T|T as well. Solid device IMO

[bg002h]

Go zire! I actually like the zire, albeit completely featureless! I think the idea of a disposable PDA is a good one. Brian

[Macabre Man]

Originally posted by JadeDragon
What's interesting to me is that the Palm, Inc. and Sony both license the same OS. To an IT dept, it'd be like buying different brands of PC running Microsoft.

Tungsten is a great unit, but you will miss the MP3 and camera if you had spend that money on a NR70V. Oh, well.

Tungsten is an MP3 player, Palm is working with Real/or someone else who has not been named yet to make a mp3 player for the unit and then it will be a free download. It will not just me real media files, but also mp3 files.

[Vidge]

Originally posted by tbellas


Tungsten is an MP3 player, Palm is working with Real/or someone else who has not been named yet to make a mp3 player for the unit and then it will be a free download. It will not just me real media files, but also mp3 files.

And I think 2 different MP3 players have already been released for the T|T. Check Palmgear.

[Eric S]

Originally posted by Vidge


And I think 2 different MP3 players have already been released for the T|T. Check Palmgear.

Which is more than we can say for the Clie NX, since Sony won't release the information necessary for 3rd party MP3/OGG/whatever players.

[Importluva]

The sound quality on the T|T is horrible from what I hear.

[OcellNuri]

I played with a TT tonight at the TAPIT meeting. Awesome device. I love the feel of it. Also, using GraffitAnywhere you can use the device without having to slide it open for text entry. Makes the TT even smaller in every day use. I do have to say though, MPEG-2 playback on the NX whoops the pants off of Kinoma on the TT.

[Eric S]

Originally posted by Importluva
The sound quality on the T|T is horrible from what I hear.

There's a bug in the sound streaming software. I've heard that they've got a patch for it, but it hasn't made it through testing yet.

[onesix18]

Well, I hope you guys aren't too mad at me, but I chose the iPAQ 3970 over the T|T. The company got it for just over $500--a good price I think.

After having it 2 days, I already miss the simplicity of the PalmOS (which my wife is now enjoying), but I am impressed with the feature set. It's funny--activities for which you had to install 3rd party apps (video, viewing jpegs) are no-brainers. Also, I like the fact that the unit/SD card are now simply recognized as a "drive" by my PC. I really like that PPC2002 syncs *all* Outlook fields flawlessly.

Funny thing is, even with a 400 MHz X-Scale processor, this unit doesn't feel any faster than my 615 for PIM functions.

THE. SCREEN. IS. AWESOME.

I downloaded uBook ("Micro-Book") from www.gowerpoint.com, and am quite happy on the e-Book front so far.

I'll be creating a new page for this unit at www.jcarroll.net/palm.asp after getting a few weeks' use under my belt. Would like to hear anyone's thoughts. Thanks.

[williepalm]

Goodbye.

[SamuraiCatJB]

Originally posted by onesix18

Funny thing is, even with a 400 MHz X-Scale processor, this unit doesn't feel any faster than my 615 for PIM functions.


congrads on the upgrade.... enjoy having the same speed.... :rolleyes:

[swinter]

Originally posted by onesix18
Funny thing is, even with a 400 MHz X-Scale processor, this unit doesn't feel any faster than my 615 for PIM functions.


 

That's the thing about Microsoft versus Palm. Some people are seduced by the hardware specs, but they don't realize that it's the interaction of the hardware and the software that governs the experience. Having more hardware doesn't speed things up if the programs themselves are bloated.

Personally, I would have gone with an OS 5 machine.

[onesix18]

True, swinter. I'm trying to remain unbiased through all of this. The iPAQ is certainly very capable, and will help me be productive just as my 615 did. There will be some adaption to this new tool, and hopefully it will perform as I want it to. I'd like to have a good discussion about the pros/cons of these devices, and your comments are right on the money (unlike Willie's and Samauri's smart-a** replies).

To Willie and Samauri: I'm still fond of the PalmOS, but *objectively* there are merits to *both* platforms. It's unwise to remain blindly loyal (or even fiercely loyal) to any platform, or any tool (or any *thing*) for that matter. Remember, these things are indeed tools, not children or lovers. Emotion doesn't apply to tools.

[swinter]

Quite agreed. Personally, though, I have so much paraphernalia (memory sticks, bluetooth, keyboard etc.) for the CLIE T series, that I would be loath even to change to another Palm OS machine. (Though the forthcoming Garmin does look tempting. Sony, make us a 32 MB, vitual grafitti T series!)

[SamuraiCatJB]

Originally posted by onesix18
True, swinter. I'm trying to remain unbiased through all of this. The iPAQ is certainly very capable, and will help me be productive just as my 615 did. There will be some adaption to this new tool, and hopefully it will perform as I want it to. I'd like to have a good discussion about the pros/cons of these devices, and your comments are right on the money (unlike Willie's and Samauri's smart-a** replies).

To Willie and Samauri: I'm still fond of the PalmOS, but *objectively* there are merits to *both* platforms. It's unwise to remain blindly loyal (or even fiercely loyal) to any platform, or any tool (or any *thing*) for that matter. Remember, these things are indeed tools, not children or lovers. Emotion doesn't apply to tools.

Actually, I am not blindly loyal. I do recognize the differences for the OS's and their uses. They are predominantly aimed at just slightly different markets. If your market is taking your desktop stuff on the go (word, excel, etc), PPC is hands down more compatable. It is hard to say better because of the screen differences, but at the least compatable. PPC syncs much better with windows stuff pretty much all around.

And there is a price to pay for the optimized OS on Palm.... It is restrictive, though fast, and doesn't look as attractive. :) Mine is primarily PIM functionality with some entertainment and cross-utilization thrown in as secondary. This was why I chose Sony over plane palm. :) I actually have had a PPC (early one), Palm IIIxe and now sony. :) I am not blindly loyal, but sony fits my needs better. :)

The discussions have been had before many times before. It all comes down to organizing your preferences. If compatibility with windows programs is #1, chances are you are going to end up on PPC unless you have a perponderance of other factors weighing it back to Palm OS.

It all depends on need. I was commenting specifically on the PIM functionality which has been beaten like a dead horse that Palm is the hands down winner being as efficient for single operations as a machine with hardware rated four times as fast.

[onesix18]

Excellent comments, Samauri--thanks.

Swinter, I wasn't up on Garmin--I'll check it out.

[swinter]

One thing, though, Samurai is that if you do complex documents (for example, with footnotes etc) in either WordPerfect or MS Word you are actually better off with Palm OS and either Docs to Go or Wordsmith -- at least every comment I've read says it syncs better than Microsoft's own program for the PPC. This will become even more true once Docs to Go comes out with it's new version, which uses MS Word and WP (etc.) docs in their native formats.

Here's the link for the forthcoming Garmin unit. It's pricey, but looks really nice.

http://www.garmin.com/products/iQue3600/

(check out the 3D display)

[Unregistered]

OneSix,

I would recommend checking out this Palm Showcase. Although it isn't a review, they showcased most of the hottest Palm pdas in the market - looking at the pictures are fun too :)

http://www.hardwareextreme.com/reviews/misc/showcase10/

[Ronbot]

Originally posted by OcellNuri
Ask them if they support your make/model of car in the parking lot.. or do you need to purchase a Kia that is compatible with their parking spaces...
LOL. Good one.