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Palm PDA Roundup

Posted by michael on from the toys-for-adults dept.

Melvin writes "Hardware Extreme has a roundup featuring some of the top PalmOS based PDAs in the market (and a few coming out in the 2nd and 3rd Quarter). Being a geek's gadget, :) I would recommend you guys to check out this roundup if you are planning to get a new Palm PDA."

15 of 227 comments (clear)

  1. Only info I could find... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    Everything else is jut press releases...

    The SL-5600, SL-B500, and SL-C700 will be avaiable Quarter 1 of 2003. Prices have not been set, but the SL-5600 is expected to retail in the $500-$600 range.

    http://www.infosync.no/news/2002/n/2593.html

  2. Roundup? by t0ny · · Score: 4, Informative
    I wouldnt call it a roundup. Looks more like a review of all the available product liturature in one convenient place.

    More of an advertising spot than a review; I was hoping for comparisons and criticisms on the different models.

    Which one will play Quake 3?

    --

    Manipulate the moderator system! Mod someone as "overrated" today.

  3. Re:Review? Round-up? Where? by wavedeform · · Score: 3, Informative
    And they didn't even do a good job of that. In the Treo "review" they say:

    "The Treo 180 have all the Treo 270 features except without a color screen. The black and white screen will greatly increase your battery's life if you frequently use your phone."

    Even ignoring typos, this is just plain wrong. The color 270 gets significantly better battery life than the B&W 180.

    Sigh.

  4. I must be one of the first to own an SJ33.... by Viceice · · Score: 3, Informative

    Anyway, the SJ33 does live up to it's claims. I've been playing MP3s on this baby with the screen ON, and 3 hours later i've only used up 20+% of the battery life.

    The only thing i dislike about it is the really expensive Memory Stick. But then, which other company makes a Palm OS based PDA with an audio system that can stand up to the Clie's? It's basicly a Mem Stick Walkman seamlessly married into a PDA + extra.

    --
    Sometimes I wish I was a plumber, then I'd know how to deal with other people's shit.
  5. Re:Review? Round-up? Where? by Yo+Grark · · Score: 5, Informative

    Couldn't agree more.

    I am in the market to buy a new Palm/PocketPC and was looking forward to this article.

    Not one pro/con, not one REAL THOUGHT.

    That ranks right up there with the recent journalism though, so all in all I'm not surprised.

    Yo Grark
    Canadian Bred with American Buttering

    --
    Canadian Bred with American Buttering
  6. Samsung SPH-i330 by ahrenritter · · Score: 5, Informative

    I just recently purchased the Samsung SPH-i330 smart phone, and I have been very happy with it. It runs PalmOS 3.5.3 with 16mb of RAM. It has a virtual silkscreen, so you can do fun stuff similar to what you can do with a HandERA such as having a full keyboard (SilkyBoard). The only draw back to it is that it doesn't have an expansion slot. I did purchase the data cable and hooked it up with my Delorme Earthmate GPS and XMap® Handheld Street Atlas USA® Edition. It works quite nicely like this.

    --

    All I wanted was a rock to wind a piece of string around, and I ended up with the biggest ball of twine in Minnesota
  7. It's not the PDA that sucks by sjbe · · Score: 4, Informative

    All these PDAs are cool but they all suck in one very important way. None of them work with any email/address/calendar clients besides Outlook, Notes or Eudora. And even there support is iffy. I'm still waiting for ANYTHING to fully sync with Mozilla. (Palm does a very half baked job and nothing else bothers)

    I'd love to buy one of these but I need something that works with a genuinely cross platform email/address/calendar client. Evolution is great, Outlook is easy but none of these are on every platform I use. Without that, it's of no use to me.

    1. Re:It's not the PDA that sucks by krokodil · · Score: 3, Informative

      All Plam devices sync with GNOME address book
      and calendar. Just get yourself mail client
      which can use these.

      It is right way of doing this, because you could not
      support all email cients on the market. So it is up to email client to integrate with gnome calendar and address book.

  8. some thoughts by pummer · · Score: 3, Informative

    Why would anyone ever need anything more than what the current top-of-the-line Sony Clié has to offer?? Camera? Got it. Mp3 player? Got it. Plenty of memory? Got it.

    Help me here.

  9. I love my Kyocera Smartphone, but... by mbstone · · Score: 4, Informative
    ... next time I'll buy a separate PDA, 'cause the airlines won't let me use a PDA-phone, even though the phone in my Kyocera SmartPhone powers-off separately and the PDA has a big, obvious display reading "PHONE IS OFF."
    Dear mbstone:

    Thank you for writing. We have recently updated our electronic device usage policy to include PDAs with cell phone capability (whether the phone is on or off) on the list of those items not approved for use during flight. We reached this conclusion because there is no definitive way to ensure the cell phone function is or remains off during flight. Therefore, in the interest of safety, we decided to prohibit their use all together.

    We hope to have your understanding and cooperation on this important issue. Please travel with us again soon. It is a privilege to serve you.

    Sincerely,

    Customer Relations
    American Airlines
  10. Handspring Visors... by KeelSpawn · · Score: 3, Informative

    Although the newest visor came out at the end of year 2000, let's not forget the clever feature that they all came with - the springboard expansion slot. With over 100 modules varing from GPS, digital cameras, digital voice recorders, language translators, bar-code scanners, mp3-players, CF/SD/MMC readers, digital projector adapters, Personal Massagers (!), to other numerous wireless moduels.

    Maybe the newest handhelds today has all the above "built-in", but let's not forget who invented the wheel.

    --
    http://www.palmzone.net
  11. Re:Zire is the only one that make sense by guacamolefoo · · Score: 3, Informative

    I would suggest buying a used handspring visor. You get the PDA stuff and you can use the modules. My current favorite is the Sprint PCS module, which gives you a (slightly bulky) cellphone/PDA combo for about $15 bucks (eBay). A Visor Deluxe or Neo can be had for about $70. Whole deal is less than a Zire and far, far cooler.

    GF.

    --
    Lots of petrified grits
  12. Looking for a used Palm by abischof · · Score: 3, Informative

    I have a Palm Vx at the moment, but I'm finding that I use Plucker more and more, which I figure would really benefit from a color screen. So, if you happen to be selling your (color) Palm, drop me a line :). (Plucker is a free offline web browser for the Palm)

    --

    Alex Bischoff
    HTML/CSS coder for hire

  13. Bought a Zaurus and have a Palm... by SuperKendall · · Score: 4, Informative

    The Zaurus sits unused while the Palm V still goes with me every day - because it's right there in my pocket with my keys!!! The Zaurus is just too big for that.

    The Zaurus is kind of nifty but it's no real Palm replacement. Not to mention the battery life is terrible, especially if you even think about attaching a CF 802.11b card!

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  14. ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW by mildness · · Score: 4, Informative

    1. Get a keyboard. I've had different PDA's since the first Palm. My tests show I'm 3x faster with the little keyboard (I can't do a little "v" in grafitti so save my life). I've read that Jot has even more keystrokes than Grafitti.

    2. Palm OS is everywhere. If you want to use off-the-shelf apps from avantgo, etc get a Palm.

    3. The smaller the better. Who cares how cool your xyz toy is if you need a backpack, dorkyass beltloop holster or little purse (like my buds with they Sonys) to carry the thing around with you?

    4. If your goal is hacking, just like the desktop, get linux. If you want it to solve problems with a minimum of fuss go with Palm OS

    5. Color is nice for pictures of family, etc. Greyscale is fine otherwise IMHO.

    Cheers,

    Bill

    --
    bamph