<< Is it really worth it to pay the extra 200 to get a pocketpc when you can get a palm? Someone plz explain. >>
I love my iPaq but I have to say I also loved my Prism. Of course to get the equivelent color, storage, and multimedia capabilities of a Pocket PC you would probably have to spend just as much.
The most important question you should ask is 'what do you need?' I started off needing something to take notes, be a glorified address book, and provide me amusement with games. When I wanted more storage I added a Memplug module and stored stuff on a compactflash card (not that I would ever use up the 64MBs of space on that card). When I wanted pictures I got a eyemodule. When I wanted to play MP3's I got a Minijam. Of course towards the end my whole package cost quite a bit.
Now with the pros of each:
Palm
- Easy to use and to learn to use (It took a while to get my Pocket PC setup because it's not as simplifed to use, but it's more intergreated with the system).
- PC or MAC (Don't believe Pocket PCs work with MACs)
- Graffiti (I think Transcriber is great but a bit difficult to use I prefer using the keyboard on my iPaq), if you get a word completer program you can have words completed like with the pocket pc. I don't know what foggy is talking about the one work at a time...
- Small programs
- Easy to transfer running programs/games between Palms (I don't believe you can just beam programs from one Pocket PC to another and have it just run)
- Lots and lots of freeware (not that Pocket PCs don't have tons but Palm freeware outnumber Pocket pc freeware)
- Doesn't crash (hate to say it but Pocket PCs sometimes freeze up or act quirky until you reset the thing)
- Better battery life (my Prism with it's MP3 player on can last several hours but my iPaq with it's MP3's have about an hour of battery life)
- More variety of accessories (when I first got into Palms there was almost nothing besides cases that you could get for them. Now every store has stuff for the Palms, but the stores need to start getting more stuff for Pocket PCs)
Pocket PC
- Excellent multimedia capabilities (of course a Palm, not matter what most people say are not built for multimedia and those that are usually cost as much as some Pocket PCs, ie Clie or my setup as noted above)
- Great filing system, never had that with the Palm
- as Hgabriel mentioned more integration with Windows software
- Better screen (of course that can also depend on your Pocket PC, some early HPs look dim and washed out)
- Better integration with PC, when connect to the PC I can have full access to the Pocket PCs files and edit or add to them as if it was just an external device (not sure if this is just within XP but I find it much simplier than working with the Palms)
- Faster processor (not that this is nessacarliy a bad thing for Palms, they just don't need the speed for what they usually run, that's where the multimedia issue comes in. If you need to run movies, music a faster processor may be needed.)
There's probably is more but I can't think of any more (also taking too much bandwidth). Just look at what you need and see what fits. Don't spend $400 for a Pocket PC when all you need is a $100 - $200 Palm for basic notetaking, games, and address keeping. But on the other hand don't spend $100 - $200 plus $200 in upgrades when you want multimedia or more on a Palm.