PDA's - opinions, who uses them?

[Camman]

I have recently been thinking about buying a PDA. I found the Toshiba e350 for $170 here's the specs from their site


Equipped with Intel® PXA255 processor with Intel XScale™ technology 300MHz, 3.5” TFT color reflective display (240 x 320 portrait resolution w/64K colors), 64MB SDRAM, 1-SD (Secure Digital) card slot (3.3V) and 1-USB port


a friend of mine has the e355, and it's identical except the e355 comes with some PhotoArc software or something, but the hardware is all the same. He was demonstrating Windows Media 9 for Pocket PC playing Red Vs. Blue when he showed it to me, and that really piqued my interest haha :)

The reason I'm thinking about getting one is because I really need to organize myself, I always just write down my class assignments on whatever piece of paper is in front of me and then I dont have them in a centralized location and they dont get done. I also have appointments for dentists and the like that I always forget about and I figured this could help me out. But, I dont wanna drop money on something I'm never going to use.

So my question is this, do those of you who have PDAs find it really useful and helpful in keeping schedules and appoinments, assignments, or whatnot, or is it just another expensive techno-toy that will be cool for a couple weeks and then wear out it's usefulness.

[Geeky1]

In terms of usefulness, for me, it's basically just a toy, although a 256MB CF card full of games comes in handy in math class :D

As for the Pocket PC,
I have a friend whose Father works for Palm, so he may be somewhat biased, but my experience has backed up what he's said too... And what he's said is that even with a 300MHz CPU, Windows CE or PocketPC or whatever it's called now runs damn slow compared to a Palm @ 100MHz+, which is what my experience is too. I used a Viewsonic handheld at Fry's last week, which has a 400MHz cpu. It was UNBEARABLY slow compared to my Tungsten T. A PalmOS device would be better I think...

[CB]

I have a Palm Zire. They cost about $80 now, and they are perfect for what you need. The only thing that it doesn't do is play sophisticated games. Personaly, I don't care about games on my PDA. If you don't either, grt a Zire.

[Kwitko]

I still have my Palm IIIxe with the 33MHz processor and 8MB of RAM. For my purposes it's perfect. It holds 1000s of addresses and all my scheduling info. With Zagat's NYC Restaurant Guide and several games installed I still have 25% of the memory left.

[Shorty]

I've got a combined PDA/cellphone (Sony Ericsson P800).

200mhz processor running Symbian 7 OS with UIQ2 (touch screen interface).

My PDA has contacts, calendar, jotter etc (all syncs with various PIMS). MP3/OGG player, MPEG4 player, camera... loads of stuff ....

Usefulness? VERY. I have everything to hand I need. Mobile email, all my contacts (alot since I started doing this whole website thingy ;D), music, video, camera.. the works :D

A PDA is only as useful as the person who uses it. If you dont have a need to have a ton of information with you wherever you go, don't bother. I do and it's so useful :)

//EDIT// Handwriting recognition (JOT/Graffiti2) that pwns!//

[GHoosdum]

I've got a Sony CLIE SL-10. I never use it.

Why? Because it's black and white. And I don't really like PalmOS.

I used a color PocketPC and the handwriting recognition is so incredible these days, that I said "SCREW Grafitti!"

So I'm selling my CLIE and looking around at my PocketPC options...

[Enverex]

I bought a Toshiba e740 the other week and use it to keep all my notes on, contacts, jobs, timetables, appoitments, Music, games (Age of Empires is really good) and now a GPS (good fun to play with) with WiFi and Bluetooth.

I went with PocketPC because of the wider (and cooler) range of programs available and the fact that PalmOS isnt really multitasking...

PPCOS also allows you to choose an input method such as on screen keyboard, transcriber, letter recogniser, full screen keyboard (to type with your fingers, etc) rather than just sticking you with a big block at the bottom....

First had a Psion Series 5mx which I used for notes at school, sold it for a Jornada 720 at college, then sold that to buy a laptop, but I missed having a PDA to keep stuff on so I bought this one.

NS

[danball1976]

I have a Palm m105 that someone gave me (and some CD-RW's) for a trade of my KT7-RAID mobo w/a 600MHz Duron and 512MB of PC2100 RAM before Icrontic went down.

I never use the thing, so for me, these PDA's are nice, but I have no use for them.

[Red Dawn]

Hey dan i'm lookin at the Palm m105 as a cheep solution to my failing memory, whats it like - i've read all these reviews that say its great but not 1 points out any flaws and its bound to have a few minor flaws. just lookin for some input from an owner.

[oddharmonic]

Camman said
So my question is this, do those of you who have PDAs find it really useful and helpful in keeping schedules and appoinments, assignments, or whatnot, or is it just another expensive techno-toy that will be cool for a couple weeks and then wear out it's usefulness.

I have an HP Jornada 430 (stop laughing, I can hear you) and while I only make minimal use of the calendar function to keep track of birthdays and appointments, it's made a darn good address book since I inherited it from a friend two years ago.

When I first got it my husband mocked it (he said it was a waste of processing power compared to his Palm IIIxe), but I'm still using my chunky little PDA while he didn't even know where his was until we found it while packing up the house a few weeks ago.

[maxanon]

You have to realise it will take a little longer to enter the dat than using pen and paper. But if you're taking the time and are willing to carry it around everywhere, then its great. If you find yourself needing to call a lot of people on the road then its amazing.

You need to discipline yourself and once it becomes part of your routine its a wise investment. I would go for the smallest, lightest one possible. If you're buying it for games then you're wasting your money.

[Shorty]

I had a phone and PDA combo for a while but carrying both units around was a pain in the..

Quite a few have commented on having to carry a PDA around with them. Get a smartphone (P800 or SPV). You have a cellphone and PDA in a small package :) Only one device to carry.

[lightnin]

i got a damn hp jornada with windows ce... crashes on me pretty much once a day. it sucks the big monkey. currently i am researching a way to stick linux on there. i know it can be done and it looks a ton better and actually supports windowing! palm makes an excellent product as well, and is much faster and better looking in my opnion. and i hope to god they are more stable...

[Geeky1]

lightnin, that's not a bad idea actually. especially considering that linux is (supposedly) small and fast. let us know if you manage to do it- I may have to get a pocketpc if you do (regardless of the fact that my friend's dad works for palm...)

[danball1976]

Red Dawn said
Hey dan i'm lookin at the Palm m105 as a cheep solution to my failing memory, whats it like - i've read all these reviews that say its great but not 1 points out any flaws and its bound to have a few minor flaws. just lookin for some input from an owner.

I don't know, I've never used it.

[pseudonym]

I have one. I stopped using it when it ran out of batteries, and that was that!! Never did take a liking to it, but it was only a handspring Visor

[Preacher]

I couldn't do without my Palm Vx. We're inseparable. It's old and grey(scale), but I constantly use it for Contacts, To Do Lists, Notes, Schedule, and the odd game. It does have a learning curve for the Graffiti handwriting style and using it instead of a pen and paper, but that's quickly overcome. Being able to recharge it in my cradle and backing up all my info is a great resource as well. I use PocketMirror to make it Sync totally with Outlook.

[MoTHA_NaTuRE]

all i can say is that my ipaq 2215 is da ish, i use wireless internet at school, play mp3's on the go, play snes, nes, sega, gb games on it, other ppc games, watch movies, and blah blah blah, expensive tho, oh and im still awed at how the RIAA is sueing kids, incredible