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Best PDA for College?
andyic3 asks: "College starts in a month. I've been searching for a very simple, tiny, modern PDA for storing due dates on. I've looked at the REX 6000, but it's too simple. I've looked at PocketPC's, but can't seem to find anything smaller than the old iPaq H1910. I've looked at Palm solutions, but can't find anything there. What's the best PDA for this application?"
How about accepting a better list of requirements from someone who has both been playing with PDAs since the Newton and already graduated from college? This is what I wish I had in 1995- and this is what we have available today from a variety of manufacturers:
A fold-up full sized keyboard for data entry that can fit in your pocket- preferably wireless (either IR or Bluetooth) so that it can be set up quickly.
A good note taking application of some sort- it should accept both typed text and pen drawings.
A good Todo List that links to the calendar in some fashion- to give you early warning of upcoming deadlines and allow you to prioritize assignments.
A reasonable-quality voice recorder- if possible one that you can record up to 90 minutes on and still run the results through a voice recognition program to get text notes out. No matter how fast you are at typing or handwriting you will always miss something in your notes- automatic note taking would be a big plus.
It should have a very large internal memory as well as interface to your desktop machine back at the dorm for backups- ideally every night before you sleep everything you need should both be on the PDA and your desktop machine- and best of all this should be automated.
Anybody else have any other requirments for this young person? Anybody know of a ready technology that fits this list? I've got my own favorite right now (PocketPC HP Ipaq 2210 with Bluetooth Keyboard and Hitachi 2GB CF-form-factor Hard Drive) but I'm pretty sure there's a cheaper linux solution out there as well that also fits the requirements- and there are certainly better PDAs when it comes to the hardware buttons.
SJW: a person who perceives an injustice, and while correcting it, commits a greater injustice.
No, the notepad won't beep at a given time, nor will it play Solitaire. And yet, despite this severe handicap, hundreds of engineers managed to figure out how to put men on the moon and return them safely to earth, all without some goddamned gadget beeping at them on a regular schedule.
I mastered the art of how to use a clock about the time I was five. It's not that hard, really. See, when the little hand is on the four, and so is the big hand...
My advice - get a cheap used or after market model from a couple years ago. Carry it around for a few months and see if you use it and how much damage it receives.
You may find that you use it constantly. Certainly true if your memory for names and numbers is anything like mine. If so, then you'll be in a position to make an informed choice when you buy the newest model in a few months. Informed, in this case, means that you'll know what features you'll actually use on a pda.
Or, you may find that you never touch the thing. Then you'll have saved hundreds of dollars that you can spend on something you really will use.
Or, you may find that you're the kind of person who destroys or loses several of pda's every year, in which case a constant supply of old cheap ones may be the ideal solution.
You can find used palm-IIIc's for $25, aftermarket new ones for a little more. Or, if any friends of family are pda users, they may will just hand you their old model if you ask them for it. (I've gone through two models this way myself, and passed each along to other people when upgrade time came.)
The only caveat is that the newer high(er) resolution screens are a lot nicer for reading lots of text. If you plan to view books on the thing, then the older models just won't cut it. (But unless you work in a cleanroom or you like to read in bed and you share a bedroom with someone who goes to sleep earlier than you, you may well find reading books on a pda isn't something you ever want to do.)