Who uses a PDA? Do you like yours?

[gertdog]

My boss would like me to get a PDA (he's paying). He said to get whatever features I think I need (and said I could get fun features too- e.g. he wouldn't frown on one that plays MP3s, because his PDA does that too).

I'm excited that I get to choose what I want- but... what DO I want? :p :confused:

If you use a PDA, what kind is it? What features do you like? Dislike?

Thanks for any feedback you can offer! I'll do some research elsewhere but I'm interested in words of wisdom from you all...

Stephanie

[lisas3575]

I have a Visor, the most basic one, and I love it. It goes everywhere with me, and I'm never without a calculator, my complete address book, and my dayplanner. That being said, that's all I use it for. :o I don't have any desire for the digital camera attachments, etc. (I do think an MP3 player would be nice, but we already own an iPod and use that instead). I've never used any other third party software either-- I download and install it and then never learn how to use it. :rolleyes:

Are you a "gadget friendly" person? If you know how to program your remote control and are comfortable operating other small electronics, then go for the gusto. If you're intimidated by all that, I'd suggest starting out with a basic, bare bones model (or used) until you get comfortable with it.

[lorilei]

Not sure PDA would be at all acceptable to me... I tend to steer away from such things myself ;)

[Ralph]

I've had one for over three years now. It's a Visor Deluxe, not even made anymore. Frankly, I don't use it as much as I used to. Yes, the calendar/datebook is invaluable, as is the address book. Beyond that, I use it for just a few professional purposes - I purchased a version of a medical reference designed just for PDAs, and I also have a full drug reference program that I use daily. I've got a couple other medical programs, but they're a bit more tedious to use than the old-fashioned print versions!

I've got a handful of games on it, put play them rather seldomly. Beyond that, that's it!

I agree w/Lisa regarding a basic PDA. But, if you have other use for it, certainly go with a more advanced type. Look thru www.palm.com and www.handspring.com for ideas of what they do, have, etc.

A few questions to ask yourself:
- color or not (though I don't think many of the newer ones aren't color
- do you want Internet access?
- pictures, MP3s

[gertdog]

Originally posted by lorilei
Not sure PDA would be at all acceptable to me... I tend to steer away from such things myself ;)

Silly me, and I can't go back and change the title of the thread to Personal Digital Assistants now. Doh! :p

For the record, I'm not big on public displays of affection either!

Lisa and Ralph, thanks for the feedback. I'm my own tech support person for work, and I learn pretty fast. The main reason I'm getting the PDA, though, is so I can have a portable calendar/address book. I travel a lot for work and I have to keep track of umpteen different clients, meetings, and programs. My schedule is very "fluid" and my paper dayplanner is covered in things that are crossed out, moved/rescheduled to the point where I can't read it anymore.

I'll have to think about the bells and whistles and how I might use them.

[MKSquared]

Don't send your PDA through the washing machine. It won't work afterwards. It will, however, remain tempting to thieves. :rolleyes:

All that being said, I wasn't particularly upset when I accidently dropped my Palm Pilot in the washing machine. Sure, when I first got it, I had all intentions of using it faithfully. A few months into it, my interest waned. Then the batteries wore out and I hadn't backed it up, so I lost a ton of information. In the end, I learned I'm a pen-and-paper person. I like stickers, and colored pens and being able to flip pages and compare weeks side-by-side.

[lorilei]

Originally posted by gertdog
Silly me, and I can't go back and change the title of the thread to Personal Digital Assistants now. Doh! :p

For the record, I'm not big on public displays of affection either!

Ah... Stephanie. You knew I had to get my jabs in there while I could :) Didn't you?

It makes it worse that I have no constructive feedback to give you regarding a PDA. I'm a big pen/paper fan myself -- so I'd have a really hard time giving them up for a more automated system.

From what I know, though, most people who have PDA's really learn to love them. I've heard from many people that paying attention to the "usability" of the unit is important -- how big the buttons are, how easy the screen is to see, and how many characters display at one time. So, I'll offer that up as words of "real" advice :)

[Kismet]

I have a Palm m505 (also not made anymore) that I really like. I use it mainly for a calendar/address book which is so handy to sync with my calendar at work! My favorite extra is a free shopping list program that I downloaded. Now, I always have my grocery list with me, and I can check things off as I go, so I rarely forget things anymore! I also find it great for carrying around "notes" - things like window measurements, birthdays, id numbers, etc. so I always have them at ready reference.

[aggie94]

I also have a pretty basic Visor that is no longer being made. It's fine, but if I had a compatible wireless carrier, I would buy a Handspring Treo 300. It's your wireless phone, email, internet, and organizer all in one handheld unit, with color screen and built-in keyboard. Several of the attorneys at my office have one, and they all LOVE it.

I know it's not compatible with AT&T, though, which is why I don't have one. One of my coworkers actually cancelled his AT&T contract and switched to Sprint in order to get one of these when it first came out. If you already carry a cell phone, and don't want to be bothered with having to keep track of two different gadgets, this might be something to consider.

Another thought -- we bought my brother a PocketPC for Christmas, and he loved it (until it was stolen :mad: ). If you use a lot of Windows-based applications on a desktop for work, and want to be able to edit documents, read email, etc. on the go, a Windows-based PocketPC might be a better option for you than a Palm-based PDA.

Good luck, and what a great boss!! :)

[mlr73]

I don't have a PDA (well, that's not exactly true - I have my husband's old hand-me-down which is stuffed in a drawer somewhere). My husband, though, really enjoys his. He has a Sony Clie. I don't know which model, though.

He doesn't leave home without that thing. He puts a lot of information from the internet on it (news, local movie times, etc.). He also puts street maps from our area (or from where he might be travelling to) on it for when we're driving around. He uses it for anything and everything - phone numbers, addresses, shopping lists, reminders, alarm clock when he travels, calculating...and the list could go on and on. Like I said, he really likes it and I don't think he could go without one.

I don't know much about PDAs, but I'll give you the advice I think my husband would give you -- just do the research on the PDAs. Find websites that compare/contrast the models that are out there. Research what features you like and dislike and find the models that fit your needs and wants. If you plan on going to a store to buy the PDA (rather than purchasing it on the internet), go prepared with some knowledge about the models you are interested in. My husband does his research all the time for these kinds of gadgets and he goes into a store knowing a lot more than the sales people. More often than not, the sales people tell him the wrong things (then again the sales people at the gadget stores we go to are mostly teenagers). So, I'd go prepared or, at the very least, go home before you buy and check if the information they gave you jives with what the websites have to say. The technology is getting a little cheaper these days, but it is still a good amount of money to shell out for something your not happy with or doesn't fit your needs (even if your boss is paying for it :))

Hope that helps.

[colleency]

My dh got me a little wizard about 10 years ago, and I hated it, because it had little tiny keys in a standard keyboard configuration.

I now have a handspring visor that I love. It has graffiti, which lets me handwrite my notes in it. And I love the desktop feature. I think I use the calendar more on my desktop than in my visor. I keep track of everything in there. I wish I could beam it more efficiently to my dh's portable pc, like a month at a time, instead of an entry at a time.

What I use mine for: calendar, phone book, memos about used up sick time, notes about which books I want to buy, recipes that I get at parties where I have to copy it down anyway, reading books in the doctor's office, finding out how many WW points are in something, games...rarely. DH also uses his (pocket pc) for maps, drawing, and I think music.

What I would want next time, depending on the cost: color (it's easier to see dh's, which is color) and a phone (but not at the cost of losing graffiti for a keyboard, which is what handspring offers now.)

Good luck!

[1MegMeg]

Currently, I have a Toshiba Pocket PC e330. Its operating system is microsoft so it easily interfaces with MS outlook, word, access, explorer, etc. Mine also has a slot for additional memory or wireless connectivity.

I used to have a Palm IIIxe and I like the Toshiba MUCH better. After using PDAs with a palm operating system and a microsoft operating system I would only get a PDA with a microsoft/windows system. For me, the MS word and excel interfacing is so convenient.

:)

[hlao23]

I have a Visor and liked using it for the calendar/address book but now that I have a cell phone I just use those functions on it. One less thing to carry around.

[aggie94]

Originally posted by 1MegMeg
Currently, I have a Toshiba Pocket PC e330.

I think that's the same PocketPC we bought my brother, that got stolen. :( He loved his as well.

[slknight]

DH and I each both bought the Palm Vx several years ago. We were fairly "early adopters" and spent a ton of money on them. We did use them a fair amount at the beginning, but now I don't even know where either one of them is. They're both in a junk drawer somewhere in the house.

I used mine quite a bit when I was still traveling from work, but really don't have much use for it anymore because I work from home. I never go anywhere that I truly need to have it for. If I do go somewhere for work, I've got my laptop with me that has my Outlook calendar/contacts/etc.

[SusanMac]

Palm5, which I absolutely love and can't live without. I don't consistently carry a cell phone for work, though, so don't have the multiple device issue (although it would be a hassle if I did). I use it a ton for maps/driving directions, in addition to the typical things. Synching with Outlook is a huge plus, although I'm sure all of them do that. I didn't get the kind w/Internet access because I didn't want to pay yet another monthly fee for something. I can manage email, but learned early on that I'd rather use my PC for that. (dont' have a job where I need remote urgent email)

FYI for shoppers or current users w/support....Palm recently acquired Handspring (which was a spinoff anyway and shared the same OS, I think)

Good magazines/sites for reviews: PC Magazine, InfoWorld, ZDNet.com, ConsumerReports, Computerworld

[crlykat]

I have a HP Jornada Pocket PC and I love it. It's got great back light and lots of cool features. I use it for everything-calendar, contacts, handwritten notes, and you can even record a message to yourself on it. The cool thing is for traveling-- you can download magazine articles, books, and news and then flip through it when you're in route, like say on the plane. It came with a little keyboard for typing in things in a word doc, which I need when traveling for work.

[SusanPC]

I have a Palm and I never use it. When I travelled more I did but now everything is in my cell phone or in outlook. I recently got a Blackberry though and love it (I work on a European fund so it is really handy since I have that 5-6 hour time lag) b/c it synchs with my work email and it beeps each time I get an email/voicemail, it also has my address book and calendar. Really helps when I am out of the office. Although, between the Blackberry and the fact that my cell is posted in the employee directory I feel a little too accessable at times.... That is where caller id and the off button come in handy :)

[d_ferrero]

I have to agree with Eva... I'm a recent convert from paper to Palm (well, Visor)... but if I could've gotten one and kept my cellular service (which I'm happy with), I would've gone with the 'all in one' Treo approach. I think one of the best features, regardless of which model you choose, is the ability to sync my desktop calendar and contact list with the PDA.

[gertdog]

Just wanted to thank you all for your input! I'm off to go shopping this afternoon. I think it will be between the Palm m515 and the Sony Clie (can't remember which model but it has an MP3 player). I like the Palm m515 better but have read about some recurring user problems; people rave about the Sony. Now I need to go actually see some real models! :)

Thanks again,

Stephanie

[Kismet]

Stephanie - I believe that most of the user problems were on the m505 (the model I have, and unfortunately have had a few problems with). I think the m515 is supposed to have fixed most of those.

[KathrynY]

Stephanie, just wondering how your search went? :) I'm looking now myself, and there are so many choices it's a little overwhelming.

[gertdog]

Kathryn,

I ended up with a Palm Zire71. I LOVE it. The color display is great, navigating is easy, and using "graffiti" to enter information is easier than I thought (I believe my Palm has Graffiti 2 which is apparently an improvement over the previous incarnation).

My machine also has the ability to play mp3 files (though it needs extra memory to do so, and I haven't added any yet) and it has a built-in digital camera. I thought that was a frou-frou extra but I've actually used it a lot! I've also loved being able to download driving directions from Mapquest into the Palm, since I travel a lot for work.

One thing I haven't done yet is buy the new version of Mastercook which lets you download your grocery list into the Palm- so cool! I will do it soon, though! :D

Two little gripes. One, this Palm has a little joystick-like controller on the front which is great for navigating, but it also turns the unit on. Unfortunately, the case that came with the Palm is very slim-fitting and any slight pressure on the case can activate the joystick and turn on the Palm, resulting in battery wear. This happens when I toss the Palm, in its case, into my purse.

The other is that it took me a while to figure out how to sync between my computer and the Palm. The "hotsync" software for Outlook is by a third-party vendor. When I had trouble and called for support, Palm said it was the vendor's issue, and the vendor said it was a Palm issue. It got resolved with only a little hassle, though, and I haven't had a problem since.

[leannebw]

I just noticed this thread, which is timely, since last week I ordered my first PDA, a Toshiba e355. I can't wait to try it out. FYI to anyone interested, Amazon is selling these for $199, which is a great price.

[Shagbark]

I use a Sony Clie and love it. I'm a nurse and have ePocrates (drug book) at my finger tips. I have also had fun with pictures and games. I HotSync daily and I'm able to read the news/weather/entertainment.....whatever you want on my lunch hour and also get in a game of hearts. My suggestion to you is to go out and see what's out there. The selection and price range is huge. Good luck! You'll love it.

[KathrynY]

Stephanie, thanks very much for the feedback. The Palm Zire 71 is one of the models I am interested in, and when I went to the store to look at them, it felt the most comfortable to me. Glad to hear you love yours!

[donnamp14]

I got DD a entry level Palm as she started senior year in college as an RA, and I played with it for a few minutes, and then ran out and got one for myself. I don't know what I'd do without it! I got the Handspring Visor and I love it. I always have the phone numbers I need, and I can always tell you what meetings and appointments I have missed. ;)