[NBLUG/talk] PDA recommendations?

Bill Kendrick nbs at sonic.net
Sun Jan 29 14:58:15 PST 2006


On Sun, Jan 29, 2006 at 01:07:29PM -0800, Lincoln Peters wrote:
> First of all, I need a new PDA that will do everything that the m515 did as 
> well as the m515 did it (I used it primarily for its Address book, Calendar, 
> and To-do list functions).

I don't know the specifics of the m515, but I would imagine that pretty
much any PalmOS device would fit your needs in the PIM (personal info. mgmnt.)
departmnet.


> That seems pretty easy, considering the PDA's I 
> saw on display at Office Depot and CompUSA this morning.  But I also want to 
> be able to sync it with my Debian/Etch box, which is using Kontact v1.2 (with
> KPilot v4.6.0, KMail v1.9, KAddressBook 3.5, and KOrganizer v3.5).  If I can 
> do that, I'd also like to sync it with a Macintosh running OSX 10.4 (but I'll
> save that for a mailing list that's geared to Mac users).

There _may_ be issues with connectivity (USB vs serial, drivers, etc.),
but the last time I played with a Palm under Linux was with a Palm III and
a serial cable. :^)


> I'm also curious about multi-function devices.  If I could get a smartphone 
> (e.g. the Palm Treo) that would replace my m515 *and* my cell phone, that 
> would be one less device I'd have to carry.  But I don't want to go for a 
> multi-function device if it doesn't do at least as good a job as each of the 
> individual devices that it would replace.

Not sure what, or whether, to recommend anything here.  I've got no exeprience
with the Palm-based phones, but as anecdotal evidence, I have some friends
that really like their Treos.


> Finally, being a college student on a tight budget, I want to make sure that 
> what money I spend on a new PDA is as well-spent as possible.  The PDA should
> do everything I need, it should be reliable, and I shouldn't have to pay 
> extra for feature that I won't use.

Wow, there are features people _don't_ us? :^)
(I'm sad that KStars didn't seem to work well on my old Zaurus SL-5500. ;^) )


> So this leads me to the following questions for list members with PDA's:
> 
> 1. What kind of PDA do you use, and how satisfied are you with it?

I've got a Sharp Zaurus SL-5500.  From a PIM standpoint, it's reasonably
good.  It ended up replacing my Palm for that functionality, _plus_ it's
a Linux box in my pocket, and was way more capable than the Palm III ever
was.  (Color screen, played MP3s and videos, 3D games, web browser, SSH,
wireless, etc.)

The battery life is cruddy, though, but that was fixed in later models.


> 2. Can you sync your PDA with anything on Linux?  If so, how reliable is it?

I really never got into that, aside from backing things up.  On occasion
I've wished that I had a full PIM on my desktop and could sync it, but 99%
of the time I was happy enough having the PIM in just the device.  (Backed
up in case of loss or breakage.)

These days, I'm in the midst of switching from Sharp's official Zaurus ROM
for the SL-5500 (which is pretty old) to OpenZaurus.  I haven't had the time
to fully play with the PIM features, though.  They seem improved, compared
to Sharp's stuff, but being a bleeding-edge OSS project, I'm concerned about
stability.


> 3. What multi-function devices, if any, are worth considering?

The middle ground doesn't seem so good yet. (e.g., a cellphone that has
PIM functionality).  I haven't played closely with any, and have only seem
BREW ones (since that's the kind of phones we develop software for).
I have an LGE VX7000 and the UI is better than most BREW phones, but still
pretty lame.


> My experience with the Palm m515 has been that it worked nicely for what I 
> needed, and sync'ing with the Kontact suite works most of the time (sometimes
> KPilot crashes in the middle of a sync, to-do items on the PDA always 
> overwrite those on the PC even if the items on the PC are more recent).

Sucks that it's not perfect yet.  But in any case, it sounds like a PalmOS
device might be what you want.

Of course, IANAPDAR (i am not a PDA reviewer). ;)


-- 
-bill!                                    Tux Paint 2006 wall calendar,
bill at newbreedsoftware.com                CDROM, bumper sticker & apparel
http://www.newbreedsoftware.com/       http://www.cafepress.com/newbreedsw



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