PDA Recommendations for Son's Graduation

[mdcrab]

My son is involved in sales (retail Sears electronics) and also starting into financial planning. We have an 802.11b wireless system in our house. Would use for contact info and possibly finacial calculations as well as scheduler, etc.

What would be recommended, Palm, Sony Clie, etc. $200 to $300 range.
I have never owed or operated one, so I would appreciate some recommendations.

mdcrab

 

[RaynorWolfcastle]

I tell you this as a college student with a PDA: get him a nice MP3 player, he'll get much more use out of that than he will of the PDA, trust me.

 

[Dulanic]

Ipaq 1945 works well, I have a 2215. Much better then palm IMO. I use mine all the time, there is tons of software available for PocketPC, the iPaq is the best of them, it doesnt have built in 802.11b but honestly it isnt really needed for the most part. And as raynor said MP3 players is nice, but I use my 2215 for it ALL the time and it works GREAT.

 

[kuk]

I use my Palm Tungsten E as an MP3 player ... so best of both worlds for me.
Not to mention that it has been very useful for my college work.

 

[Ionizer86]

If you want wifi at a reasonable price, you can either get a used toshiba e755 on ebay (very expandable, has cf, can get usb, etc), or an axim x3i. You can get an axim x3i refurb with keyboard for like $330 or so. x3i solely is like $270 or $280 via Dell Small Biz.

I tell you this as a college student with a PDA: get him a nice MP3 player, he'll get much more use out of that than he will of the PDA, trust me.

I'm going to point out that PDA's can double as MP3 players. I use mine as my MP3 player now. Even though I only have a 128mb card and a 256mb card, I find it more than adequate. I've got dozens of songs, loads of programs, and I still have a spare 100+MB.

 

[jrphoenix]

I own a Dell PDA... very affordable for the features you get. I love the look and feel of the Ipaq (like Dulanic mentioned) but they are a little more expensive. All PDA's with the Windows OS can be used as mp3 players too (you can get an add on card for more memory too). I don't know much about the palm OS?

 

[WobbleWobble]

PDAs can double as MP3 players, but sound quality sucks. Even though I have my PDA, I still carry around a Minidisc player.

Tungsten-E is a great PDA, but lacks 802.11b functionality. Try checking out the Dell Axim x3

 

[vegetation]

I'll second getting an mp3 player instead as a gift. A pda is really personal, some people gravitate/hate towards Palm OS/WinCE, need/dont need 802.11b/bluetooth, want certain expansion issues, weight a major factor, battery life important, etc. Plus, even the best pda today will be outdated a year or two down the road.

 

[footbal07]

PDAs can double as MP3 players, but sound quality sucks. Even though I have my PDA, I still carry around a Minidisc player.

im not quite sure where you get that from because i have a hp 2215 and sounds worlds better any of my walkmans or mp3 players. i use that and the radioshack 3way spliter/amp with earbuds and it has excellent sound quality. with the 2215 you get both compact flash and secure digital i/o. this is a good setup because u can have both a memory card and 802.11b card. i couldnt ask for more since my school has 802.11b throughout the school and almost the entire schoolgrounds, so i can be listening to music and on aim/internet explorer all at the same time.

 

[WobbleWobble]

im not quite sure where you get that from because i have a hp 2215 and sounds worlds better any of my walkmans or mp3 players.

I haven't heard a PDA that has the sound quality of a Minidisc. Even most MP3 players I'm not happy with, because they don't sound good (not because of MP3 itself). That's one of the reason why I'm still sing MDs. But that's a personal opinion

 

[footbal07]

i had the same experience with mp3 players, i have yet to find one that i am satisfied with. i do not have much experience with the MDs but that might also be decent option. if you are to go with a PPC, some of the best are the ipaqs.

 

[mdcrab]

Thanks for all of the suggestions. I will start checking into them. Is there a PDA Roundup comparison somewhere?

Also saw this thread on the Clie TJ37 which has a comparison to Axim X3i and the HP iPAQ h4155.

 

[Dulanic]

Originally posted by: footbal07

PDAs can double as MP3 players, but sound quality sucks. Even though I have my PDA, I still carry around a Minidisc player.

im not quite sure where you get that from because i have a hp 2215 and sounds worlds better any of my walkmans or mp3 players. i use that and the radioshack 3way spliter/amp with earbuds and it has excellent sound quality. with the 2215 you get both compact flash and secure digital i/o. this is a good setup because u can have both a memory card and 802.11b card. i couldnt ask for more since my school has 802.11b throughout the school and almost the entire schoolgrounds, so i can be listening to music and on aim/internet explorer all at the same time.

Ya Im more then happy with my 2215's sound quality, I used it for a MP3 player on my last flight I took, and it sounded great.

 

[bearxor]

You can usually pick up an Dell x3i new for around three hundred bucks. Awesome PDA with a great wireless network manager. Not the smallest PDA, but pretty cool nonetheless.

Or depending on his cell phone provider, check into a PDA/Phone hybrid. I use a Toshiba 2032SP for Sprint PCS and love it to death.

 

[kuk]

Originally posted by: mdcrab
Thanks for all of the suggestions. I will start checking into them. Is there a PDA Roundup comparison somewhere?

Also saw this thread on the Clie TJ37 which has a comparison to Axim X3i and the HP iPAQ h4155.

Brighthand

All you need to know.
Good forums too.

 

[TlitJ]

Also, a couple of other good sites:

Infosync
PocketPCPassion (for Pocket PCs, obviously!)

 

[RaynorWolfcastle]

My main issue with PDAs as mp3 players is that the battery life sucks (in the case of my Toshiba e740 at least) when using it as an mp3 player. I get 3-3.5ish hours of listening time, which means that I have to budget my listening time so that I don't run out of batteries for when I need to jot a note or check a pdf document. I now use a separate MP3 player and a PDA. This works better for me since I use the mp3 player on an armband when I go rollerblading, and it has way better battery life than the PDA (12 hours or so on a single AAA nimh battery). All things considered I get way more use of my $70 mp3 player than my $200 PDA. Heck, for almost all my uses a paper agenda would do just as good (although the WiFi access in class is pretty clutch sometimes )

 

[Connoisseur]

heh i'd rather get an MP3 player myself. Most of the newer mp3 players (with HD's not flash mem) can also double as portable hard drives which I find VERY useful considering I commute from home to college. Personally, a PDA isn't much use to me because I'm terrible and keeping schedules etc. anyway. Besides I got me a hot lappie.

 

[suklee]

mdcrab, check out the Palm Zire 72. The review is on Brighthand's website, also linked above.

I have the Zire 71, and just about every aspect has been improved/upgraded --faster processor, more memory, better camera (1.2MP vs 0.3MP), better audio (louder when playing MP3s), no "slider", etc. No 802.11b, but it does have BlueTooth. Definitely a PDA worth serious consideration for your son! In fact, I'm thinking of ways to ditch my Z71 in order to upgrade, but the gf prolly won't be too happy since she bought it for me only last September for my bday present :evil:

 

[JoPalm]

Check out the Clie TJ37, seems like a very popular PDA right now. It's been compared to the Zire 71 and 72 on a lot of other forums too. My dad has the Zire 71, i'm looking at getting the Tj37 down the road. I currently use a Palm Vx but the built in wifi and doc's to go etc are very appealing on the TJ37

 

[suklee]

I like the TJ37 as well, but the one thing that turns me off from it (and any other Sony products, for that matter) is the Sony Memory Stick format. I don't currently own any Sony products and I would hate to buy a proprietary memory stick that I can only use on one device.

 

[JoPalm]

Originally posted by: Kai920
I like the TJ37 as well, but the one thing that turns me off from it (and any other Sony products, for that matter) is the Sony Memory Stick format. I don't currently own any Sony products and I would hate to buy a proprietary memory stick that I can only use on one device.

Yes very good point.

 

[mdcrab]

My son said he is interested in getting a PDA. He wants a Dell Axim x3i, so we are leaning in that direction.
Dell has 20% off on this model till 5/19 + free shipping at Small Bussiness site.


Also looking at hp iPAQ h4155 but it is more expensive.

The Palm Zire 72 looks nice but no WiFi.

mdcrab

 

[mdcrab]

Deal on the Axim 3xi is getting better. Just found a new thread over on Budgy Billfold w/ a coupon code for 25% off + free shipping. Also if you switch from USB cradle to travel adapter you can save $20, but I think I will stick w/ USB.

mdcrab