Suggest a PDA for me

snappieT

PDA is a new area for me, never had one before, so I need a suggestion. The cheaper the better, but my absolute max is 500.

In order of importance:
PocketPC (rather than PalmOne)
WiFi
IrDA
Weight
Battery Life
Size
Looks
Speed of Delivery

Thanks!
snappieT

Jammer

Hewlett Packard 3715

Class PDA.

digitaldeath

Well I'm currently replying to this thread from my XDA while I'm on the bog! :-)
I have an O2 XDAIIs and it's a great piece of kit!
This is a Pocket PC 2003 PDA but is also a phone!
It's got wifi (I'm serious - I'm on the bog right now using wifi), bluetooth and IR.
As a phone it works great and this is one gadget I'm glad I bought! I have 6 months free line rental and can cancel after that - sim free!
But the killer feature of this phone/PDA is a slide down qwerty keyboard! Makes typing way better. Oh, there's an alright cam on it too!

Overall, well worth the money (€480).

snappieT

I wanted touchscreen, so I'm going to steer away from the XDA, taking a look into the 3715 now, cheers Jammer.

Keep the suggestions coming!

snappieT

Jammer wrote:

Hewlett Packard 3715

Class PDA.

Another question: where's the best place to pick one of these up?

Rollo Tamasi

digitaldeath wrote:

Well I'm currently replying to this thread from my XDA while I'm on the bog! :-)

mmm, what are doing sitting on the bog with a pda in your hand? should you not use tissues?

Now i know there have been advances in technology but in fairness a pda that wipes your bum.....now thats nuts! and all for <E500. :rolleyes:

TerrorFirmer

Snappie, there is a mod selling a Dell Axim on the FS computer forum, its a nice piece of kit, I used to have one. 400mhz, 64ram, etc.....

jimmycrackcorm

snappieT wrote:

I wanted touchscreen, so I'm going to steer away from the XDA, taking a look into the 3715 now, cheers Jammer.

Keep the suggestions coming!

HUH? the XDA is a touchscreen - it is a PDA!. I second the other posters opinion of the XDA iis. I have one from work and the integrated phone option is fantastic. I use the bluetooth option automatically work with my car kit so the PDA stays in my pocket and as soon as I turn the car key - the XDA uses the car kit for phone calls. I also use the bluetooth for seamless activesync with my laptop. I use the wifi option for surfing and mail at home and the automatic switchover to GPRS when out and about. The ability to so easily and automatically switch between GRPS, WIFI and bluetooth for connectivity is fantastic.

I also got a 1GB SD card from Aldi and I have hundreds of mp3s/WMA's on for the Gym/park etc.

I have a friend who has a Dell Axim and good as though it is, it is nowhere as comprehensive as the XDA.

The XDA I got cost €350 on a business tarriff.

These are wicked - trying now to get IR software to control the TV / DVD player etc.

Jammer

snappieT wrote:

Another question: where's the best place to pick one of these up?

PC World have them for €329 ish (i think), i'm sure you could pick one up cheaper online, from expansys maybe?

Goto PC World and have a look - at least

digitaldeath

Cheers for settin him straight jimmycrackcorm about the XDA IIs! of course it has touchscreen ffs! It's an amazing PDA and the qwerty keyword is the bomb! heck I'm gonna have to post picks of mine to convince this guy!

Karoma

I'm very happy with my axim x50 - but a QWERTY keyboard built-in would be nice (It's a matter of personal preference)
I would imagine (i.e. I cannae be arsed checking) that the XDA would be lighter...

snappieT

OK, I looked at the Axim x50, and it seems quite good, but it's not really much cheaper than the HP 3715. The HP is also physically smaller and lighter, and includes a camera.I'm not really a huge fan of Dell either.
As for the XDA, I'm really not sure. The idea of having a phone included is certainly a plus, but I don't like the o2 branding. Expandability would also be a problem, I guess: I can see HP releasing new firmware and software for the iPAQ on a regular basis, I can't see o2 doing much the same. Correct me if I'm wrong.

masteroftherealm

The XDA is actually just the o2 bradning if this phone
http://www.expansys.ie/product.asp?code=I-MATE_III
bus as ya can see its a lot cheaper with O2. all the software updates from iMate are totally 100%cool though.

snappieT

Oh wow, thanks...
I can't seem to find it anywhere... how much is the XDA II?: from o2 that is...

snappieT

Alright, went into town, and the XDA would set me back 550 and 20 a month for a year. No thanks.

So it looks like it'll be the HP. Trotted into Dixons, couldn't see any PDAs, so I decided to ask. The sales clerk didn't even know what a PDA was, so no luck in finding one to buy. I'm fairly certain that was the same girl that said to my friend when he was playing around with an mp3 player, and I quote "well if you've got the cash, why don't you just go ahead and buy that one", and repeated that several times. We promptly put the player back on the counter and I told her she had just lost a potential sale. Idiot.

So I reckon I'm out to Liffey Valley PC World tomorrow for it...

Lump

Whoot.... /me gets an XDA IIi on O2 for £99, bill is £19 a month with 50 Minutes and 500 texts. I'LL HAVE THAT!

John

snappieT

How did you manage that Lump?

Lump

That's the deal.... in the UK anyway. It's on Contract with O2..... http://shop.o2.co.uk/cgi-bin/o2uk/jsp/handsets/viewHandsetDetails.jsp?prodID=consumer:O2:XDAIIi:GROUP


Ouch, its not even available on contract in Ireland!

John

snappieT

It is on contract! Did you not see the €20 a month reference!

Lump

Yea.... but it costs €550.... according to you. I couldn't find it on the site, at least not when I looked on the O2.ie shop site.



John

Sparky

i must inquire what is is for a buisness customer like myself, i heard something like €199 and some rental aswell as phone rental, but id rather use a normal pda with it connected by bluetooth to my phone

digitaldeath

I bought the Xda IIs for €430 with 6 months free line rental here in ireland. I aint on a business plan or anything. after the 6 months switch to the lowest price plan, pay the off for the year and get the phone unlocked for Speakeasy or Read to go. that's what I'm doing!

Lump

€430! My god.

John

snappieT

Well, I'm certain the XDA IIi was €520 on either Active life 40, Easy life 150 or Text life (all €20 a month), and no free line rental in there either.

digitaldeath

I'm talkin about an XDA IIs not the XDA IIi, so how's about ringing around and getting some quotes? Not all O2 shops have an XDA IIs in stock though, but they're well worth gettin! plus, with an XDA you don't look as stupid as you would with a regular PDA! EG: "hey man wtf is that thing? a pda, man ur sum geek!" or with an XDA "oh, it's your phone - but a pda too? aw man, that's so cool! i gotta get me one!" lol :-)

snappieT

Well, I got the HP 3715, got in in PC World, where it happened to be on sale, and I ultimately saved €45 on what Amazon would have charged me!

I'm thrilled, lovely little gadget, co-workers were well jealous.