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Ideal PDA Feature Wishlist?
RichiP asks: "My memory is so poor I forget friends' birthdays and appointments I made a day ago. I sometimes have an idea I want to jot down but that I end up forgetting when I finally come upon pen & paper. To help myself, I was thinking of purchasing one of those integrated PDA and cellphone devices (first the Handspring Treo then another by Samsung), but I've always felt that these devices were still far from ideal. I was wondering if the Slashdot community would share their wishlist of features for what they believe would be the ideal Personal Digital Assistant. Features for input, processing and output are all welcome. Perhaps the device I want may be years from becoming commercial. Given the right ideas from input from others, I might be able to come up with my own device or start an open project geared towards it." Even if you do feel that PDAs have a limited lifespan, if you had a chance to add a feature to a PDA (especially if you felt it would increase the lifespan of the PDA), what would it be?
A WiFI antennae. I've never heard of one being in a pda. Isn't it time to consider the posibility? I mean, granted, I'd just use it for email and slight telcom purposes.... but... I'd like 'em fast! ;)
Which is why i bought a Psion series 5. All the features the others have and a truly usable keyboard.
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sonds like a pocket pc.. i use an old (1999) compaq aero got it for less than $200. Have 32 megs of ram , with an option to get a micor drive (gigs), 70mhz processor, gray scale, nic, modem, and lots of software as well as upgrades from compaq and MS... my handwriting recongition is so good, i have natural writing enabled (which is also free).. i hate to say it but.. ive had it for a few years now..and i expect it to last even longer.. quite a product..
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I too find the need to remember appointments as well as reminders to do things (like my laundry) and I've been known to jot down an idea of 2.
I have a Handspring Visor Edge (the thin one that fits nicely in my shirt pocket). If find that it has enhanced my enhanced my performance, plus I read some eBooks with it, play a few stupid games to pass the time in waiting rooms, store passwords and account information in an encrypted database (Password Wallet), etc...
The key for me was the ability to keep it in my shirt pocket. The Palm 500 series would also work for me. Most of the CE devices (like the iPaq and friends) are just too big. Either you have to ware it on your belt (which takes me back to the days of SlideRules which had too much negative stigma when I was going to school), or you need to ware a sports jacket or suit (pleaseeeeeeees!). The Visor Edge or a Palm 500 series is just right for me.
I would give it a try before saying no to the Palm/Handspring PDAs.
Bob Harris
Of course, I'm a bit biased in that I tested the 2.0 recognition engine.
Looking at the references you give, most of them only criticize recognition on the earliest models, The sole exception is the document Handwriting Tips for Newton Power Users which was a guide to how to get the best possible recognition out of OS 2.0. As the person who anonymously wrote the bulk of that guide, I'd like to say that it was not my intention to slam the general quality of 2.0 recognition. Newton handwriting recognition rocked!
My hope is that when the ARM-based PalmOS devices come out, Sony will release a Clie that has decent word-based recognition. Newton's incredible achievement wasn't just that they got get great recognition but that they did it with such a small memory footprint. Given how much cheaper ROM and RAM are today, I wouldn't be surprised to see a Palm or WinCE device with decent recognition some time in the next few years.
I play Nerd-Folk!
1] Longer battery life
I still have a Psion 5mx which the batteries last for weeks of normal usage.
2] An actual keyboard (or a stylus that works)
Keyboard on my 5mx is *very* nice - and arguably still the best PDA keyboard around. I still see it being mentioned in magazine roundups for having the ultimate keyboard. It's small, but the buttons are big enough to touch type on.
3] Upgrade-able software
Hmm. There is a lot of useful software around, but I doubt devlopment is anything like it used to be.
4] Lots, LOTS of memory
Why? 16mb is fine for most things you want a PDA for, and you can always get extra memory. I *think* I read you can use the IBM Microdrive in it, but don't quote me on it.