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A true PDA geek would get a PDA holster.

While not large enough for a laptop, these shoulder holsters are great for the smaller gear: Civilian Labs Holster and e-Holster

If you have a laptop I ask "why do you need a PDA?".

I have a PDA and a flash drive and no laptop. I could not carry a laptop around. It just wouldn't work well for me but there are plenty of desktop PCs where I go. A PDA, however, with a belt wallet is the envy of my co-workers. I have Documents to Go so I can carry machine lists or whatever. Sure I could do this with paper. But I won't remember paper. I remember my Palm and so it works for me.

The e-holster is another good alternative: http://www.eholster.com/. Not to be worn in airports however.

An all in One PDA will never be good enough to fit all the needs.

But until we got some tiny, open and efficient modules, you should consider this as a very effective way to accomodate all your gizmos without running out of pocket space... and still be able to wear only a shirt in summer !

Besides, the integrated wiring system will not only keep your wires tidy, but could also be used to fit a GPS antenna !

http://www.eholster.com/

Some things I've come across:

• Timbuk2: Supposedly top quality custom made bike messenger bags that come in four sizes (S,M,L,XL). They have a newer Shortcut bag that looks particularly interesting. Certainly not cheap.
• Manhattan Portage: These seem a little too hip and trendy for me, but they are certainly popular with the NYC crowd... especially the Model 1414 and various DJ bags. Not horribly priced, but not cheap.
• Maxpedition: I don't know much about this place. There are some people that recommend their Thermite Versipacks.
• e-Holster: Heh. No.
• SCOTTeVEST: Some people actually say these are cool. But it doesn't meet my design criteria of not wanting to wear a vest/jacket/etc all the time. What about summer?!
• Kelty supposedly has some smaller bags that people have used as well.

BTW, if anyone else has a bag that they are currently using, please share some info!

Also, here's the obligatory eHolster link (although that really looks like a BatBelt -- nevermind).

I really don't think he expected us to start giving each other high-fives and whooping. We were pretty bummed when he saw our reaction and told us he was kidding.

Man, I really wanted one, too.

You know, I've agreed with your sentiment for a long time. But recently I bought a Sony Clie SJ33 as a birthday gift for probably the most amazing, beautiful girl in the world, and after seeing her daily use with it, I've changed my mind on this.

I started with Palms ever since I got a Palm 1000. You know, that boxy dark-grey thing that had 128kb of memory long before Palm realized that independent developers would write thousands upon thousands of applications for the platform. Back then, they did one thing and one thing well--organize. Finally, there was some device I could hold in my hand that could actually improve my day-to-day life. Something that wasn't merely a toy but a real, useful tool.

I eventually moved up to a Palm Vx for the 8mb RAM, LiIon battery and small form-factor. To me those were great features that complemented the key point of it all--to organize. I loved my Palm Vx and shook my head with disgust as the Palms that came after disappointed me. The next Palms traded battery life for fancy colour screens and suddenly you were paying extra for features that didn't matter.

Well, this Clie SJ33 has changed my mind. Now they are actually coming out non-organizer features that are actually useful. The MP3 playback integrated with the Palm alone makes this handheld amazing. Sure, you can carry around your Palm, music playing device and cellphone. I've done that before, but I always had heavy, bulging and uncomfortable pockets as a result. The best solution I've seen is more than three years old, and it's the eholster which tucks your miniature high-tech devices under your arms. Unfortunately they aren't actually usable because they actually look like real gun-holsters and pulling out a PDA has made a few people around me jump as it looked like I was drawing a gun. Practical, but doesn't work too well in this post 9-11 society. This girl that I speak of prefers wearing pocketless skirts over bulding pants, so integrating the music player with a small form-factored Palm works perfectly for her.

Digital cameras on a Palm also work very well, found on the Zire 71 mentioned in this Slashdot article and also the memory stick cameras, not to mention the built in one on the Sony CLIE PEGNX70V or PEGNZ90. Sure, they are barely 1 megapixel, but they are a lot of fun. Basically if you're like me, you're going to have your Palm on you at all times. But I only think to bring my camera to social events. So now you have the ability to capture anything, anytime as you go through life. See a funny subway ad that you want to show your girlfriend? See Natalie Portman walking down the street and want to take a picture with her? End up spontaneously at a party and want to take some pictures? Sure the quality won't be up there, but you can still capture some memories at unexpected moments.

I could go on with the many more features available, but my point being that mere organizing changed my life, but now they are adding features that can also improve my day-to-day life, and everyday these features dive cheaper and cheaper.

I was most amused to find the eHolster , that'll cost three to four times what my rig did.

I have no idea if they are any good. I merely saw their ad in Computer Shopper.

The eHolster is disturbingly similar a weapons harness. Don't be suprised if somebody addresses you as "officer".

I can't lay my hands on an actual reference, but I remember a news story about something like the Eholster a few years ago.

Apparently the "holster" was designed to carry the (luggable) mobile phones of the day. Some poor guy was wearing one in a trendy London wine bar and someone mistook it for a gun. Bearing in mind this was London, not New York, he was somewhat suprised to be greeted by the Armed Response Team on leaving the bar.

Looking at the eHolster I'm not sure I'd want to risk wearing one on the streets.

its about time we change the meaning of that word.... when you look it up in the dictionary I want you to see a picture of this stupid eholster... G.a.y

The holster idea has already been done, check the Eholster website. If I had to wear suit & tie everyday I might actually consider this device..

The site seems to be slashdotted already, so I haven't actually seen the product yet..

Brett

Like the eHolster?

I have to warn you, if you wear that many gadgets, you will look totally gay.

By the way, I can't imagine that wearing one of these would be better than the vest solution you mention... but at least it exists.

Please buy one, so we can all laugh at you.

If an eHolster isn't good enough for you, go to a military surplus store, get a vest with lots of pockes, and depending on local climate, either wear it, or reverse it and sew it to the inside of your favourite jacket.

• Eddie Murphy has this line in a Beverly Hills Cop movie; "you know; if you guys get your jackets cut fuller your guns won't stick out the back like that." I now understand what he's talking about. A cell phone and a PDA in a conceal holster add about 4-6 inches to your chest measurement.
• I have the full leather rig and the flaps on the holsters are pretty long and big. Since the flaps are velcro, they can get hung up on your jacket/coat.
• Especially when it's warmer, I usually wear my rig openly. Only once has a cop actually come over and talk to me about how people could misconstrue my rig. However, YMMV depending on where you live.

bandolier with that Palm, cell phone, pager, MP3 player, Leatherman, along with a MagLite and batteries (AAA & AA) filling the rest like ammo would be cool. Sort of a Nerd Rambo effect.

Check out e-Holster. Not quite the same thing (it's more for those "I wanna look like a geek FBI agent" moments :-) but fills a similar need.

And, yes, I'm getting to the point where I need a Sam Browne belt for all my gear. Cell phone, pager, Palm, Swiss Army knife--and that's just the everyday stuff! There's also the GPS, the digital camera, the walkie-talkie, the MP3 player....

This would go nicely with the eHolster.

They don't call us webslingers for nothing.

Kevin Fox

Last thing I need today is a freaking eholster !!!!

Linux Lover

DRAW!

A little thinking out loud...

HUDs are the way to go to cure the physical screen limitation. Bonus is you get a little more privacy.

Micro Optical Corporation has the right idea with their Clip-On. IBM could pull it off with their Wearable stuff.

For audio, look to the In-Ear monitors musicians use...

For the rest of it, I think Charmed Technology has the right idea. The ultimate form for our every-day tech is when it no longer looks like tech. It's the peripherals that count. A single screen that can pull the video from any device, clip-on headphones to listen to any audio, and cameras and microphones added as you see fit - the Blue Tooth promise.

To be honest, the barriers to physical size reduction are power-source and connectivity between chips. Watch the SOC developments (System-On-Chip) for significant shrinks from multi-chip to single-chip forms. At the rate feature size is shrinking on-chip, the limitation isn't how many transistors or gates you can squeeze on, it's how many bond-pads you need to I/O with the chip.

Aside: Bought myself a couple of E-holsters to take care of more immediate gadget-loading. Works well under a sweater or jacket.

that is me...
it's an eholter. damn know i have to right a review, of how ppl react to an eholster. for the most part my eholster has become invisile to me. my palm is just where i need it. althought you are not the first to think i was armed...

althought i can see the headlines now. Linux user group takes FOSE, at gunpoint." :)

but in all reality FOSE was a lot of fun, got to talk linux to ppl. most of which have just heard about it, and whated to know what was the big deal. told them that my home computer hasnt crashed in 60 days. and then was only rebooted because of brownouts. explained that i have all the software i need to be produtive. while i thought that we had some work to do in makeing the GUI easy to use. ie as easy as windoze. these coming mounths we would see those app's.

nmarshall
#include "standard_disclaimer.h"
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