Hi all,

I am planning to buy a PDA. But I really don't know whether I should go with Pocket PC or Palm.

I will use my PDA for reading ebook. This is the number 1 reason that make me to get a PDA. I know there are 2 popular formats for ebook, one is MS reader, another one is Acrobat ebook reader. I just afraid if I get a Palm, I can't read those ebook which are in MS reader format.

Anyone have any suggestions for me?

Thanks a lot :)

I persoanlyl bought and iPAQ (Pocket PC), because of how good they are. I looked at Palm, but I really didn;t care for them at all. I lie what you get with a PDA, and that it's build off of Windows CE...which gives more room for people to program.. I also lik how it works with my Outlook 2002, and everything!

anyways get what you want, PDA is usually more than Palm, but it's worth it to me.

Well, as you probably have a cell phone too, if I had to do it over again, I'd consider the new phones that are also PDA's. There are a few, some range from rather inexpensive to $500-$700. Not sure you are interested but, just something to think about:

About $80: http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?product_code=283164

About $500: Ok, I couldn't find it at the store above. I just saw it there, but can't recall who makes it. Phone's buttons weren't actual buttons (part of the display) and it looked just like a Plam Pilot type thing, more than the one above.

$700: http://www.nokiausa.com/communicator/1,4990,|SRC-HM,00.html

The Nokia looks cool as heck. Didn't see it at the store, but it is like a cell phone that flips up the long way and has a keyboard and screen, etc. Pretty neato, wish it was $200.

Originally posted by Chicken
$700: http://www.nokiausa.com/communicator/1,4990,|SRC-HM,00.htmlChicken, that link isn't working, even when correct for the misplaced /url tag. But I found this one:

http://www.nokiausa.com/communicator/features/1,4983,|SRC-P,00.html

That does look pretty cool. I'm almost in the market for a new phone, and have been thinking about a pda as well, so it might be worth a look. Only ("only?") priced at $599 on the site, too, not $700.

Some points about the Nokia 9210 Communicator. I wouldn't use it as a phone for the simple reason it weighs 244 g.

I have a Nokia 8210 and it only weighs around 79 g.

The above model numbers are for the UK phones. They may be different numbers for the same phone in the US.

Anyway unless you want to walk about with a brick, I would keep away from the Communicator.

A PDA is acceptable to weigh that much because you can put it in your briefcase or something however a phone is normally in your pocket...

just my $0.02 :D

Originally posted by rochen
Some points about the Nokia 9210 Communicator. I wouldn't use it as a phone for the simple reason it weighs 244 g.Ouch. Good point! And I like that my current cell phone is so small... thanks for being the voice of reason.

Well, I have one of those tiny touchpoint phones that doesn't weigh anything either, however if you're going to get a PDA *anyway* then I don't see the difference. Most people I know carry the PDA in their pocket and a cell phone.

I will say that I checked on coverage for the Nokia 9290 Communicator and it said service wasn't available in my area and I live 15 miles from downtown L.A. soooo.. there's something wrong with that...

Check out the Treo. It's a standard GSM phone.

http://www.handspring.com/products/communicators/index.jhtml?prod_cat_name=Communicators

I would not use anything other than my Handspring/PalmOS PDA. I get many days of battery life compared to typically one day or less in a Pocket PC, and I don't want to give Gates any more money than he already extorts from me...

-t

anyone know the weight of the treo?

Pocket PC

I once used someones Palm and HATED IT!

Originally posted by justinF
anyone know the weight of the treo?
According to the data at the link posted above, either 5.2 or 5.4 ounces depending on the model.

-t

I have an Ipaq PocketPC and think its very useful. I have used both PocketPc and palm and there is so much more you can do with PocketPc powered devices. If you are going buying a pocketpc I would recommend waiting a while as there is a whole new range of devices coming out in the coming months with Intel Xscale processors (400mhz). :D

Get a phone + PDA that can talk to each other by bluetooth. Mine is a GSM based ericsson t68 + Palm 515. The phone only weighs 84g or so. The palm is able to connect to the Internet (browse the web, check email, etc) through the cell phone, but using bluetooth you keep your cell phone inside your shirt pocket without requiring any strangling cables or line of sight. No hassles :).

An iPAQ is nice, but is not a very fashionable thing in geek crowds. Unless you upgrade it to Linux, that is :).

If you want PDA+phone combo, get a treo. It weighs about 150g, the lightest among all the PDA+phone combos but still too heavy for my taste.

The alternative is the siemens SX45, but being a Windows device, it suffers the same fashion problem as the iPAQ. It also weighs twice the treo, and has a horrendous charging time.

Someone told me that samsung has a palm based cell phone+pda combo, but I have yet to see one.