I currently have an HP IPAQ 4350. I've had it for about 2 years or so, and I really like it. I'll talk about what I like, and what I'm looking for in a PDA, behind the cut. Any thoughts folks have about PDAs would be great to hear!
(I fully expect
egriffith to jump in here, since he knows all about these things and writes about them!)As I mentioned, I currently have a HP IPAQ 4350 I bought off ebay (review/info at mobile tech review).
Here's what I use a PDA for:
- keep track of my calendar (sync'd with my work Outlook server)
- keep track of my contact info (again, sync'd with Outlook)
- keep track of to do items
- make notes on things (writing, schedule, todo, etc)
- read documents (in PDF)
- (occasionally) go on the Internet over WiFi, but that's not crucial
- (occasionally) play games, but that's not crucial
Here's what I like about it:
- it's NOT a phone (I like my small Nokia cell phone)
- big screen (3.5" diagonal, color)
- keyboard (i can actually thumb-touch-type on it)
- syncs with my work Outlook
- has a memory card slot (SD)
- wireless (wifi and bluetooth)
What I like in a PDA:
- Sync'ing with (work) Outlook is, alas, crucial as I manage my calendar, contacts (ie, my life) through my work Outook and can't change that fact.
- The keyboard might be a more important feature than the big screen, but I really like the big screen too.
- I'd really like dependability wrt battery power so that it doesn't flake out and I lose text (and occasional issue with the IPAQ 4350 that kept me from using it for doing much impromptu writing).
- I like WiFi, but it would be nicer if more sites worked well with mobile devices that have small screens (cough, wikipeda, cough, yahoo mail, cough, livejournal, cough).
The IPAQ 4350 has been flaky at times and hangs and has to be reset, but for the most part is has been fairly dependable once I learned to work around the quirks. I've really come to enjoy it as a PDA.
I might just buy another IPAQ 4350 from ebay, but I'm very open to other suggestions. Let em fly!
