I wanted to post this question here because I got GREAT advice on a digital camera about 6 months ago...thanks Rich, btw.

I need to get better organized, and I need to be able to do this fairly simply...and I believe a PDA would be of great help. I do outside sales (Industrial sales).

I am not sure whether I should get a PDA phone from Sprint (my contract is up) or if I should simply buy a PDA. I have already concluded it is not necessary that I have a data package to access the internet (costs more than I care to spend each month)...wifi would be perfect. I could do that for about $250 with a Mogul HTC handheld (it's the only pda phone with wifi offered by Sprint)

Part of me doesn't want to get a PDA that is also a phone...I don't want to haul around a PDA when I am doing things unrelated to work...and I don't want to be out a phone and a pda if I happen to break it!

I'm also interested in the HP iPAQ 11 It is supposedly easy to use, fast, has wifi and blue tooth...it's a few dollars more but I don't know if it's worth the difference or not.

I'd love to find a good pda for about $200, but the wifi thingy seems to be available only on mid/higher range pda's.

Anyone have advice? Other pda's I should consider?

__________________
Craig French
Married and father of a beautiful daughter.
Member of Christ The Word, PCA
Toledo, OH

MY BLOG

I have almost retired by Palm E2 in favor of the iPod Touch. Its phone book and calendar sync well with the cooresponding Mac applications. With wifi you have web and email access. With 8, 16, or now 32 Gig of memory, it can hold more data that most, if not all, PDA's.

The only things that keep my Palm E2 from being totaly retired is a couple of third-party applications, which are not available on the iPod Touch.

__________________
Soli Deo Gloria

John Schultz
Member, Riveroaks Reformed Presbyterian Church (PCA)
Germantown, TN

"The reason why we worship God in a slight way is because we do not see God in His glory"
Jeremiah Burroughs

The "Touch" is GREAT, I had one and gave it to my wife after I broke down and got an IPhone, but they are super.

__________________
~etexas~

I am using palm TX and a prepaid phone. The palm TX is a great device with wifi. I have palmbibleplus software (free!) for Bible. Plucker (also free!) for downloading and reading website offline (including Calvin's Institutes!). It can read up to non-standard SD card of 4Gb size (by the way, I think E2 can only read standard SD card up to 1 or 2 Gb size). The cheapest price one can find is now around $280, palm had it on sale during Thanksgiving for around $200, but it might not happen again in the near future.

One concern though is that Palm OS is a dying OS... Windows mobile or Google Android seems to be the future... Touch would be great if it opens up third-party and open-source software.

__________________
Polo
Layman, Chinese Evangelical Church/Independent
San Diego

For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. (Romans 11:36)

Apple will be releasing a development system (SDK) later this month for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

I got an e-mail for Olive Tree that they are taking a serious look at porting their Bible Reader when the SDK is released.

I did some more research...if I got a pda that doesn't have wifi, am I able to simply buy a wifi card? If that's the case, i could probably buy a pda for less than $150.00 and get a wifi card.

Has anybody else done that?

BTW, Polo,
that palm tx looks pretty nice...does it come with Word and Outlook, or are those extra?

Craig,

I'll be interested to see what kind of advice you get. The government provides me a Blackberry for free and I find it useful. I like it because it is set up to receive/send my e-mail while I'm away from my computer and has my contacts and calendar entries from Outlook on it.

Increasingly, however, when I'm stopped for any length of time, a PDA is maddening to me. I hate having to scroll through a long e-mail and the screen is too small to view any PDF or Word attachments that I have. Hence, I find that having a notebook is indispensible for me (especially since I also want to read the Puritanboard if I'm on the road).

What you might want to consider is that you don't need to have a PDA that's going to become obsolete relatively quickly given the amount of $$ you'd have to sink into it just to get a reminder of calendar entries. Unless you're going to be getting critical e-mails on the go or need to be reminded of appointments that you'd otherwise forget, you might find that carrying around a really small, lightweight notebook might be better for you.

This little badboy has been getting a lot of attention lately: ASUS | Eee PC (costs about $400)

It uses a customized set of applications and runs on a variant of Linux but many have found it to be a really good piece of gear.

Anyway, I don't know what your needs are but I wanted to give another perspective.

__________________
Rich
Okinawa, Japan

WebsiteMaven - Web Hosting Reviews, Guides, and Advice to build and promote your web site.
SoliDeoGloria.com - A Community for Reformed Thought and Discussion

Click to get: Board Rules -- Signature Requirements -- Suggestions?

When I read "PDA Advice" I thought you were looking for tips on public displays of affection, I was gonna' tell you that this was the wrong tree to bark up here.

__________________

Travis Speegle
Redeemer Presbyterian, PCA (Waco, Tx)
Pacific Cross Roads, PCA (Los Angeles, CA)


"When it comes to trustworthy theologians one can usually honor the rule of thumb that the deader the better."-Dr. John Hannah, DTS (of all places)

This may involve a trade-off. For example there is a wifi card available for the Palm E2. It goes into the SD card slot so you can have wifi or extra memory.

I thought about a notebook...the only draw back, to my mind, is that it is more difficult to tuck away. The MAIN need I have is a way of managing contacts and making notes related to those contacts...and some way to send off an email when necessary. As I've been researching, I'm not seeing much along the lines of contact managment...is there software you can buy to do that?

By contact management, I mean ph #'s, emails, and being able to write in blurbs concerning conversations so I can refer back to those things each time I see a contact again and also generate a report on my sales activity.

I'm not trying to sell you on the EEE but check it out. The screen is only 7" and it weighs < 2 lbs. The HDD is compact flash (it only has an 8 GB capacity). I use a Blackberry and I *hate* how long it takes me to peck out e-mails using the letters on it. I guess I could buy a tiny keyboard for it but I like bigger screens. It's something to consider. Of course, if you're in the middle of nowhere then the EEE won't let you send out an e-mail because you'd need a WiFi hotspot to connect. The computer comes pre-loaded with all the basic apps you'd need.

That's the last I'm going to try to convince you of the product because I don't want to be responsible for guiding you wrong if this doesn't fit what you really need.

It definitely looks nice...if my sales job was different, it would be a perfect fit. I am walking through industrial places where I can't set down a laptop (it's difficult writing on a pad of paper, even)...plus I'm carrying products like PLC's and contactors and product literature...so I simply need to stream-line.

BTW-
that Fuji finepix you recommended...is better than any camera I've come across. When I ask people to take pics of me and my family, I regularly get comments about the resolution and how well it takes pics in the dark without a flash. I've even used it to make youtube videos...and the video quality is excellent.

I'm glad it worked out for you. I have the exact same model as my "carry around" camera. Unfortunately, I'm such a shutterbug that I still like to lug my Digital SLR with me (like the other day when I went to the Aquarium). But I do like the Finepix's quality.

The thing about it is that many people are wowed by megapixels and don't realize that when you cram more and more pixels on to a tiny chip that the optics and the processing can't really focus and provide accurate colors and sharpness for it. Fuji bucked the trend with these models and it's become a huge hit with folks who step back from the megapixel fray and want good image quality.

Actually Craig, I am going to upgrade to Eee PC when the price drop. As I said, Palm is dying and they haven't came up with a new PDA for a couple of years. Happy hunting!

Well...I ended up ordering the HTC Mogul...got it in the mail today.

It's really nice. The slide out keyboard is handy so I'll be able to write up quick quotes,send out a message w/out hunting and pecking with the stylus, and I'll be purchasing software for contact management...all in all, this is a great fit for me. I don't expect to use it for much else...like listening to music or reading books, etc (though I can, handago has some stuff that looked interesting...like writing from the Scottish Covenanters).

The only drawback are the extra steps it will take to dial out...of course speed dialing from my contact list is just as easy as a regular cell.

Thanks for the advice everyone, it helped me know what I should consider and where to look so I knew how to make the decision.

Craig, I don't think the Puritans or the Reformers would approve of PDA. However, since your married, I suppose things like hugging and holding hands are fine.

__________________
Josh Hicks, Chloë's Daddy
Member of TRBC. My Blog
The Puritan Pub (Team Blog)
Board Rules -- Signature Requirements -- Suggestions?

Craig,

I upgraded to the Mogul last month as well. I think you will be happy with it, especially when the new Sprint ROM comes out soon (this will enable GPS and EVDO Rev A).

There are some registry edits out there that will make your life much easier when it comes to the Mogul, plus ways to watch streaming flash video through IE etc. If you need any help, let me know.

__________________
Jeff Bartel
Mechanical Engineer
Member - Trinity Reformed Church - RPCNA

"To believe in the power of man in the work of regeneration is the great heresy of Rome, and from that error has come the ruin of the Church. Conversion proceeds from the grace of God alone, and the system which ascribes it partly to man and partly to God is worse than Pelagianism" (The Reformation in England (London, 1962), Vol. 1, p. 98)

Click to get: Board Rules -- Signature Requirements -- Suggestions?

Also, the voice dialing works excellent, especially with bluetooth headsets, so you might consider using that as a short easy way to dial people.

Come on, Guys! It was a joke...and a really really good one!

I knew it was a joke, Josh...but I'm too puritanical to give you a laughing smilie. Be assured, on the outside I'm frowning, shaking my head, and turning red in the face...but I'm laughing on the inside.

Thanks, Jeff. I'm playing around with it and it's definitely a great piece of equipment...and I'll be getting a blue tooth head set shortly.

Do you know if software is only downloadable off the internet? I couldn't find software for pocket pc's at Best Buy...Would Handango be the way to go, or should I look elsewhere? For instance, THIS looks really good...but I have no way of gauging if it is good or not.

Anything you know about where/what software is good, would be appreciated!

Craig,

I think you will be hard pressed to find software that you don't download.

As far as top programs, this site is very hepful in ranking best programs for pocket pc's.

Nominees, Finalists and Winners: Best Software Awards 2007

The program you linked to seems pretty job specific, so I doubt it will be listed, so a google search would probably help lead you in the right direction.

If I can help at all, don't be afraid to ask.