Should i get a pda??

I have a fair amount of experience with various pda's.  From Palm to Blackberry, Trio to Pocket PC.  In my organization, just about everyone has a PDA, some use them daily, some have them in the docking bay on their desk with about an inch of dust on them.

Me personally, I dislike them.  My first was a Palm and it was kind of cool, the screen sucked, but there were still some cool games for it.  The calendar stunk because it only interfaced with the Palm Desktop.

My next PDA was one of the first HP Jornada's.  The screen was awesome, the entire shabang interfaced with Microsoft Office and used Outlook for Contacts, Calendar, Tasks and email.  There were few cool games for it but it had media player and with a compact flash card you could listen to music just like an MP3 player.

My next PDA was a high-speed HP Jornada.  Better OS, screen was awesome, thing still interfaced with MS Office, still played music and there still weren't many cool games for it.  I mainly used it to listen to music.

My latest PDA was a Dell Axim.  Same as the other two, OS was Pocket PC 2003--did all of the things the other two did--It's currently in a drawer along with the other two PDA's.

Here's my personal line of thinking on the PDA:
-You're probably going to go to the office in the morning, at which point you can put in any upcoming appointments into outlook.  If you have an appointment, outlook will let you know, you'll stand up--attend your appointment and return to your desk afterwards...at which point Outlook will pop up again with another appointment.

Is there a real need to carry around an additional piece of gear?  Do you truly need access to all of your contacts, appointments etc. while you are mobile?  I do not and I don't feel that many people really do.  The PDA isn't extremely versatile in taking notes or editing documents.  Documents show up very small and you have to scroll and it sucks...

Now for the business implementation aspect:
-Between Palm, Pocket PC, Trio and Blackberry...they each interface differently with different applications.  If you use outlook exclusively, the Pocket PC will work great for you.  If not, the pocket pc doesn't interface with other applications without third party software.  With Palm, conduits are used to interface with the desktop applications--so you get more of a choice, most are going to require third party software.  The Trio and Blackberry half-assedly interface with a variety of applications.

Then there is the issue of add-ons and connectivity.  Currently there are no secure digital modems that are worth a hoot (I think there are blue tooth modems that are external but no actual secure digital to modem)--So if you are ever on the road without network connectivity, you won't have a modem if you buy a PDA that only has Secure Digital.

At the end of the day, if you had your heart set on buying a stand-alone PDA, I would recommend an Axim because they are pretty cheap compared to some of the other offerings.

If you could afford it, I would look at a Blackberry or a Trio, only because it will function as a phone as well as a PDA.

Unstable has a great point. Is it really worth-it? Blackberry's are very cool. I have used them before; sadly, it wasn't my own. :(

yep a great post and intresting points

basically, i want a mix of ipod + cell phone + computer + 1 or so megapixel camera...all in one small handheld....

but like blackberry's are so big, i can't imagine using one as a phone, unless i use a bluetooth headset every single time...

I think integration sucks...maybe you feel differently

But whenever I have a chance to buy a motherboard with less crap on it...I do.
Who wants a mobo with built in video?  Back in the day mobos that had no sound, video, lan were the ISH because you could buy whatever add-in cards you wanted and you didn't have to disable some stupid crap on the mobo.

Anyhow...

How often do you take pictures now?  How often do you use a cell phone?  What about organization stuff...do you have a real need for all of this crap.  Plus music--do you carry around a CD-player now?

Just because you HAVE THE CAPABILITY doesn't mean you will use it.  My MP3 player sat on my desk for proabably about 5 months collecting dust...I just put 45 songs on it for use at the gym.

I've got a bunch of PDA's sitting in my drawers at work.
My digital camera spends most of the time on the shelf next to my computer...except when I want to take some pictures of my kids...then I take it out.

I think you get more quality when you invest in a device that doesn't try to be EVERYTHING to EVERYONE.

true...the quality of a product individually will be better than an \"all-in-one\" but i use my cell phone very often...as do many people....mp3 player? i listen to music every chance i get....so i guess those 2 are the most important to me...and i don't need \"ipod quantity\" features with my mp3 player, i just wanna see what song is playing...maybe a basic stylus notepad on it would do me just fine since i have to take simple notes many times when i'm out regarding anything...but nothing severe....and i know many ppl have been in that situation where it's the perfect \"kodak moment\" and they don't have there camera on them....nobody carries there camera unless they know 100% they are going to use it....so something that's like 2mp would be fine...

Tungsten E by Palm is good as well

oh d**n yah..i love the way it's close to a mini comp cuz of the small keyboard.....i've sold a slot at circuit city BECAUSE of the keyboard....ppl just fall into my traps..muhuahahah

but yah..i have small fingers anyway and i think using the stylus to write is kinda annoying at times...and mostly slow (unless you just freestyle it in notepad, but that takes up a lot of room cuz u can't really write small)

Blackberries are nice, but they're like 400 dollars. :@

I have a HP Ipaq h1945 Pocket PC that I use. It is nice having Windows on the device. I use it primarily for music and internet browsing. It is also GREAT for traveling. If you get one with WIFI or you buy the card like I did, you can travel with it and browse WIFI in populated areas. (Some people don't know to add WEP to their routers :P ). The speed is the same as a regular PC online. Overall, it's a great \"anti-boredom\" device, and if you have an office or sales job, it can also be a helpful productivity tool.

BMR777

Well, now that sounds nice to have ;)

I love taking that Palm of mine and trying to get it completely up my butt right before I whine like a little b1tch about another site doing better than my lame forum and report them for TOS violations.

Seriously, how lame can I be?

waaaah, that site is better than mine! wahhh!

boo-hoo, I wont answer the phone at copycat printing where I work and the number is 214-350-4104, and I also wont answer my emails, or IMs or anything because I have sand in my vagina.

Let me tell you all something... every person thats put an email address in this site is basiclly gonna lose that account all becasue of how this fucktard Matt Ittoop acted.

This s**t is goin down. Fu?k off Matt, you big sloppy pussy.