Ipaq

BDRBDR
edited November 2003 in Hardware
One of the vendors at work today had an Ipaq that his company had just issued to all employees to create invoices on.

He was totaly lost on it, and it's the first time I've had a chance to play with a handheld/pocket pc. I was able to walk him through the creation and printing of the invoices (it's nice to be to use my computer skillz at work), and I was intrigued by the Ipaq.

So, I've been reading through some threads here on PDA's.
What uses do they have other than as a pocket calendar, etc?

This has me interested in a pocket pc.



new toy

Comments

  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited October 2003
    Honestly? IMO, they're useful as nothing more than a gameboy substitute. I have a Tungsten T with a 256MB SD card that has every OS5 compatible game I could find on it. The screen is too small/low-res to take notes on in class, the software (WordToGo) is too crude to be useful for taking notes anyhow, it's too slow to read .pdf electronics catalogs, Acrobat for PalmOS sucks anyhow... I've got bluetooth internet access set up on it and it's too damn slow to be of any use, not to mention the fact that reformatting websites makes them essentially unreadable.

    As far as I'm concerned, handheld computers in general are totally worthless as anything but toys. I use mine for two things: Playing games in classes where I can't get away with having my laptop open, and playing .mp3s over the car stereo.

    I'd rather go to www.dynamism.com and pick up one of the micro-notebooks they have... last time I looked, they had a sony thing that was <2lbs.

    So yeah, basically, handhelds are useless for any serious work, IMO.
  • BDRBDR
    edited October 2003
    Sony thing- Sony U101 (Celeron 600MHz, 256mb DDR, 30gb, English WinXP Home Edition) 1.9 lbs
    $ 2199.00

    pocket pc - much cheaper

    I'm not looking to spend over a couple hundred dollars, but thanks Geeky1. :)
  • ShortyShorty Manchester, UK Icrontian
    edited October 2003
    Peoples opinions on these things vary considerably :D

    I personally like Pocket PC devices. I have a converged device (Sony Ericsson P800) .. which has all the functionality of handheld.. with the functionality of a cellphone :)

    For me, for the office.. trying to carry a laptop around all the time is irritating. I don't get time to sit down and just flip out the lappy and start making notes. Pocket device, no problem. Syncs to outlook perfectly.

    Id recommend looking at something like the Tungsten T or a decent Pocket PC :)
  • BDRBDR
    edited October 2003
    So with the Sony Ericsson P800, you have a wireless internet connection and a cellphone?

    That sounds like something I may be interested in.
  • ShortyShorty Manchester, UK Icrontian
    edited October 2003
    Yeah :D

    It's a great piece of kit. It's also an MP3 player, MPEG4 player, has a .5 megapixel digital camera on it, bluetooth... dum de dum...

    :D
  • JimboraeJimborae Newbury, Berks, UK New
    edited October 2003
    My Ipaq = desk/pocket ornament :),

    It often loses its settings especially when trying to connect to office network or internet using bluetooth & gprs.

    Shorty's P800 is a nifty bit of kit, I had one on trial for a little while and loved it but I'm hanging on for the new 3G phones before I upgrade again.

    LP, do you have GSM coverage in your area cos I'm not sure that they do a CDMA version?

    Regards

    Jim
  • ShortyShorty Manchester, UK Icrontian
    edited October 2003
    Jim...

    Sell me your IPAQ :D

    .. or get me a spanking deal on a P900 :D:D

    /me proposes bribery :D
  • TheBaronTheBaron Austin, TX
    edited October 2003
    if you like wireless compatibility, you could also look into sony clie's, the newer ones have 3 megapixel digital cameras too, its very nice.
  • JimboraeJimborae Newbury, Berks, UK New
    edited October 2003
    Sorry mate, I would if I could but its the company's. Btw my dad is still loving his Motorola. :)
  • ShortyShorty Manchester, UK Icrontian
    edited October 2003
    Cool :D

    P900.. when are you guys getting them :D
  • JimboraeJimborae Newbury, Berks, UK New
    edited October 2003
    Shorty, unknown mate but a. I'll find out for you on Monday
    b. ygpm
  • ShortyShorty Manchester, UK Icrontian
    edited October 2003
    Thanks mate...:D

    Sorry BDR for dragging this slightly off topic :o
  • BDRBDR
    edited October 2003
    Jimborae said


    LP, do you have GSM coverage in your area cos I'm not sure that they do a CDMA version?

    Regards

    Jim

    You'll have to explain. I know very little about wireless.
  • ShortyShorty Manchester, UK Icrontian
    edited October 2003
    Who is your cellular provider :)

    T-Mobile, AT&T, Cingular?? Someone like that? :)
  • BDRBDR
    edited October 2003
    I don't have a cell atm. I used to have one and never used it, and gave it up. But that was some years ago before they had all this neat new technology.


    Localy, we have Cingular, Verizon, Cellular (from the local phone co.), and probably one or two more.
  • ShortyShorty Manchester, UK Icrontian
    edited October 2003
    They are all GSM carriers as far as I am aware :D

    There are two main types of cellphone comms used in the US at the moment.

    One is GSM and the other is CDMA.

    GSM is the network the P800 will work on :) It also supports GPRS (general packet radio service) over GSM for decent speed net access :)
  • GHoosdumGHoosdum Icrontian
    edited October 2003
    PocketPC device all the way! As Shorty says, if you need to take notes all you have to do is flip the thing open and take 'em! Mine has also kept me organized since I got it, replacing my wad of Post-It notes in my wallet, as well as being useful as a To-Do list and Calendar. I don't have any games on it yet, but I still love it to death!

    Plus, with PocketPC 2003 OS, you get the "Transcriber" which is a neat little tool that lets you just write on the screen in plain text, cursive, or a combination, then it converts your scribbles into text and numbers. It's a bit faster for me than the on-screen keyboard, and a LOT faster than grafitti (on the PalmOS) ever was, because you don't have to write every letter in the same square.

    What model IPAQ are you using? I have the HP IPAQ 1935, and it's currently my favorite tool.
  • drasnordrasnor Starship Operator Hawthorne, CA Icrontian
    edited November 2003
    I had a chance to play with the same Clie that TheBaron did (belongs to a friend of mine named badnf0). The camera on that thing is pimp. We used it in English class when we got too lazy to hand-copy notes from ancient references to type up later because our English teacher is from the dark ages and isn't technologically literate enough to operate a light switch let alone a PC.

    Anyway, we took photos of book pages and used OCR on it when we got home to do all the work for us. It worked pretty well, but you have to crank the resolution and have a steady hand.

    -drasnor :fold:
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