# Do You Own A PDA?



## Steve Mehs (Mar 21, 2002)

In the spirit of the other thread, I have decided to start a poll on who here uses PDAs. Don L and myself have been quite vocal on what we use our iPaqs for, and John said he has an Amix. Anyone else here on DBSTalk frequently use a PDA? What platform, Palm, Pocket PC or other? What do you use it for? 

For me, it’s an HP iPaq H5550 running Windows 2003 Premium with a 400 MHz Intel XScale Processor and I use it as an MP3 player, wireless networking devices and surfing the net on wireless networks. 

How about you?


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## Richard King (Mar 25, 2002)

Sony PDA based on Palm. I have had 3 Palm devices over the years and pretty much stuck in that format for now. I just use it for the normal functions, mainly phone numbers.


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## JohnGfun (Jan 16, 2004)

I have a Dell PDA with Windows Pocket PC


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## kwajr (Apr 7, 2004)

i have a ipaq 3750 and a clie dont rem the model rather use windows


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## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

Always been a palm guy. Find the UI ellogent and great example for the most part of a well thought out UI for that device. I have a Palm T3


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## Laverne (Feb 17, 2005)

Nope, sorry. :shrug:


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## Scott Greczkowski (Mar 21, 2002)

I just picked up a Palm Treo 650 last week. I love it, its a cell phone PDA etc...

I got a 1 gig memory card for it and loaded up Spongebob on it so when we are out and the baby is being bad I turn on Spongebob and he quiets down instantly. 

Its also nice that its has broadband internet so I can sure the internet no matter where I am (And get email 24 / 7 no matter where I am at)

Plus it is Bluetooth, so if I am somewhere like and airport I can use my laptop to use the broadband from the cell phone all with no wires. 

It's a swiss army knife PDA phone.

It also takes EXCELLENT Digital Photos (and ok digital video). Take a look at the quality of the photos this thing takes.


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## DonLandis (Dec 17, 2003)

Scott- I have a friend (also named Scott) who saw my IPAQ6315 last year, got excited about PDA use and decided to go with the Treo 650. Reason was Sprint cell service vs. T-Mobile. He had some personal issues with T-Mobile. Anyway we had a chance to compare. Here is what we discovered-

The Treo beat my Ipaq in some areas-
1. Better quality camera
2. Nicer button keyboard vs. the IPAQ's clip on.
3. Palm vs, IPAQ's windows media.
4. Screen was smaller but appeared to be brighter with better contrast ratio for pictures.

IPAQ beat the Treo in the following areas:
1. Easier to use keyboard with the on screen popup.
2. Has Terminal services, Treo doesn't.
3. Has more reliable GPRS coverage.
4. Wifi services- wide spread.
5. GPS 3rd party as well as HP's own
6. Windows Media compatibility
7. Larger screen size.
8. More 3rd party software support, i.e. the MS windows mobile is currently faster growing than Palm. 

Note- When the IPAQ6315 was first introduced, it's firmware was quite buggy but the update in April fixed all that, including adding bluetooth 1.2 service which allows voice commands and instant handshaking. We both agreed that the Palm OS was superior and more mature OS with fewer bugs.


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## n8dagr8 (Aug 14, 2004)

Same as Don - iPAQ H6315


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## Bogy (Mar 23, 2002)

I am on my second Sony Clie. This one is a TJ-35. Right now I have a 512 meg MS in it. I like the Palm OS, and it does what I want for less money than the equivalent Windows PDA. I have it synchronized with my desktops at home and the office (still need to install it on my laptop), using Outlook. Calendar, address book, notes, all synchronize nicely. I also use it to carry documents like my church's bylaws, so when a question of procedure comes up at a meeting I always have it. Also use it for sermon notes and ideas, and to take notes at meeting. I also always have a couple of books and some games on it for when I have a couple of minutes. I don't know what I would do without it.


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## JM Anthony (Nov 16, 2003)

Ron Barry said:


> Always been a palm guy. Find the UI ellogent and great example for the most part of a well thought out UI for that device. . . .


Me too. Not necessarily the flashiest, but Palm covers the basics pretty well.


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## DonLandis (Dec 17, 2003)

For any who went to NAB this year, there was a Kiosk that had an IR file transfer station for both Palm and Windows PDA users. In a few minutes you could transfer the complete floor directory to your PDA. I went one step further. I downloaded the PDF floor map files to my SD card and opened them up on the IPAQ. Now, want to locate a Manufacturer? Look it up on your Floor Directory and get the Booth Number. Launch the Acrobat reader, free download, and the floor map and locate the booth number and now you can find it without hauling a small town sized Yellow page directory that they give to each show attendee.


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## SAEMike (May 29, 2004)

I had a PDA in college. I now cannot figure out what I would do with one, or where I would carry it for that matter.


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## marko (Jan 9, 2003)

I recieved a free viewsonic V35 (or 36 or 37 some such thing) as a MSDN offer(microsoft developer network). Unfortunately, although it was neat, never did really use the thing. Just can't think of what I would use it for. Kicking myself for not selling it over ebay.


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## DonLandis (Dec 17, 2003)

SAEMike said:


> I had a PDA in college. I now cannot figure out what I would do with one, or where I would carry it for that matter.


Agreed that a PDA is not for everyone, just like a laptop is not for everyone and for that matter, some people don't even need a computer. It really depends on what your life style is and what you do during a typical day. A PDA is just as it's name sake, a Personal Digital Assistant. If you use a cell phone, also have a need to check e-mail, need to reference information often, have unexpected moments of time to kill, waiting on an appointment, need to take notes, or like to read a book, listen to music on an ipod or portable CD player, watch a movie, or travel quite a bit on business, a PDA will certainly assist you on all these items. I would have had a PDA years ago but felt the devices didn't offer the connectivity I wanted and held out until I saw the IPAQ6315 introduced last summer. Today there are others like the Treo650 that will also do the tasks I had on my wishlist.

One very important point that needs to be understood for anyone considering a PDA is that these little devices are not stand alone computers. If you travel alot, they should be considered a satellite device of your laptop that may remain in your hotel room. Or a desktop out of your main office or home. To work, the PDA needs to be synced regularly with another computer.

The one thing I discovered as a change to the way I do things now, with a PDA is I rarely take notes or jot down instructions on a piece of paper I would lose or misplace. I write it down or draw a picture on the PDA and it is saved until I delete it. I was in a meeting last week where I would have had to take many pages of notes. With the PDA, I inserted a blank half G SD card and recorded the audio of the entire meeting. While doing that, I used the PDA simultaneously to write down questions I wanted to raise. About a month ago I was in a meeting where a question came up and while the others were debating the question, I went online on google and resolved the conflict with authority. The IPAQ also allows me to record a phone conversation, maybe for noting complicated travel directions to an audio file. Then while playing the file, I can enter the important part of the directions into the GPS software and turn that on and use the PDA as a GPS with its blue tooth receiver. As I spend money on a trip, I have an expense log that keeps my travel costs for my tax records, vehicle mileage, etc.

The more I use the PDA, the more I find new uses for it.

BTW- At CES I tried out a few new cellphones that have about as much power as my IPAQ PDA. The main disadvantage was they had a much smaller screen and therefore became impractical for certain uses like web page surfing and spreadsheet work. These are difficult enough due to screen size but on a cellphone, just too small, IMO.


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## ntexasdude (Jan 23, 2005)

My wife has a Toshiba (essentially the same as a HP) with Windows. I don't have one.


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## JBKing (Mar 23, 2002)

I used to have one of the early Palm models, 105 maybe? Never had much use for it, don't even know where it is now. I gave one to my daughter a few years back, because she liked mine. I don't think she uses it anymore. New models have more functionality, but surprisingly, that's one electronic 'toy' (IMO) that I just don't want to have.


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## Bogy (Mar 23, 2002)

I agree with Don that it is not something everybody needs or can find a use for.

Being able to have my address book with me at all times, with well over 500 names, with phone #s and addresses, as well as pictures of the contacts is a great tool for me. Particularly in a church with 2 services you find that people who go to one service many times don't really know the people who go to the other service. Many times in a meeting when we have discussed who could be approached for a task, or in sharing a concern, I have pulled up their picture and then people recognize who we are talking about.

The calendar is indispensable. Keeping track of appointments years down the line (and yes, I have had weddings scheduled over a year in advance, plus certain meetings) is important. Nothing worse for a pastor than to forget an appointment with a parishioner.

Being able to sync all of my calendars, on 2 or three computers, plus what I am carrying with me, simplifies my life.

I always get a hard case, usually a Rhino. Since I usually wear a sports jacket or suitcoat, at least in the cooler months, I always have a place to put it. Otherwise, it just goes in my pants pocket.


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## JohnGfun (Jan 16, 2004)

JBKing said:


> I used to have one of the early Palm models, 105 maybe? Never had much use for it, don't even know where it is now. I gave one to my daughter a few years back, because she liked mine. I don't think she uses it anymore. New models have more functionality, but surprisingly, that's one electronic 'toy' (IMO) that I just don't want to have.


Me Too...I had a Palm 100, Can't find mine either.  Things like that always seen to disappear :lol:


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## Scott Greczkowski (Mar 21, 2002)

Ok let's take these on one by one. 



DonLandis said:


> IPAQ beat the Treo in the following areas:
> 1. Easier to use keyboard with the on screen popup.


I am actually use to typing on the tiny keys of the 650 now. 



> 2. Has Terminal services, Treo doesn't.


Actually it does now, there is a freeway program which lets you connect to an XP desktop. 



> 3. Has more reliable GPRS coverage.


Could be, I am on a CDMA service.


> 4. Wifi services- wide spread.


 This is one thing the Treo 650 needs. I know there are a few working on an add on where you put a WiFi Card in the CD Card slot.


> 5. GPS 3rd party as well as HP's own


The Treo 650 supports a number of 3rd party GPS systems.


> 6. Windows Media compatibility


While it does not offer Windows Media Player there are other players (MMPlayer, TCPMS) which can play almost any file. Including Divx Movies.  I have almost every episode of Spongebob on my Treo, plus a few other full length and 50 MP3 files and still have half the space left on my 1 Gig SD Card.

I also love the fact that I can listen to live Internet Radio (including Broadband streams on my Treo) 



> 7. Larger screen size.


 Got me there. 


> 8. More 3rd party software support, i.e. the MS windows mobile is currently faster growing than Palm.


 I did a search for programs before I purchased this unit, and the Plam had want I wanted and a majority of the programs were free. The big selling point was the free SSH Telnet program which was a must for me, now no matter where I am I can diagnose and fix any issues on the 3 SatelliteGuys servers without the need of a PC.

I agree if you have one of these you still need a laptop. While I can browse the Internet with the unit, the small screen size is a paid as you neeed to scroll back and forth to read everything.

I also noticed when browsing the Internet that by using Bluetooth with my laptop the Internet is much faster then viewing the same pages on the Treo itself.

I think its great that basically no matter where I am I have a broadband connection which I can use with my laptop or without my laptop.


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## djlong (Jul 8, 2002)

Axim X5 here - have had it for about 2 years. Neatest feature is being able to write software for it using the same code I use in Visual Studio .NET.

Bought my wife an X30 for Christmas last year.


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## Capmeister (Sep 16, 2003)

I've had a Palm since the original Palm Pilot. My current one is a Tungsten T. It's mainly my planner and address book, but I sometimes play Cribbage in meetings when it looks like I'm taking notes.


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## DonLandis (Dec 17, 2003)

Scott- can you send me a link for that terminal services program? I would like to forward it to my friend, although he may have already found it.

Curious as to why you would use the Treo, bluetooth connected to your laptop to surf the web. Seems it would be just easier to use the laptop.  

I tried to use both the clipon button keyboard and the popup on screen and found I was much faster and far more accurate with the on screen. Try to use the pointer, and the buttons back and forth quickly. That was my problem. IMHO, the IPAQ's clipon button keyboard, while it works, is not worth the money I paid for it. FREE! If that's all you have, then you know no better. 

What internet radio do you listen to? I'd like to add some of those links to mine too. 

BTW- I signed up on Gotomypc.com and love it. Don't need XP Pro. I've even shown/demonstrated some video editing tricks on the IPAQ, connected to my desktop, with Vegas launched. Gotomypc has a nice pull down sticky to access right mouse click and other features that is not easily available on a PDA. 

Another use I've done with GoTOMYPC.com is I have a USB camera for security here. I can bring up the desktop screen and see the video from that camera anywhere I have internet access including the IPAQ. While in Vegas for NAB, I had dinner alone, well sort of, I called my wife on her T-Mobile phone, free call, and talked to her while having dinner. I brought up the wifi connection at the restaurant and then she sat in front of my camera back at the house and I had a phone conversation with video.


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## n8dagr8 (Aug 14, 2004)

I downloaded Pac-Man the other day and find that I am really enjoying it! Great waste of time!


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## Scott Greczkowski (Mar 21, 2002)

DonLandis said:


> Scott- can you send me a link for that terminal services program? I would like to forward it to my friend, although he may have already found it.


Sure here you go  http://smartphonetools.treobits.com/cart.php?target=product&product_id=17091&category_id=



> Curious as to why you would use the Treo, bluetooth connected to your laptop to surf the web. Seems it would be just easier to use the laptop.


Because now I can sit in my truck, or sit in the bleachers at my sons baseball game and have a broadband connection to the Internet by using the Bluetooth feature of my Treo. 



> What internet radio do you listen to? I'd like to add some of those links to mine too.


Go list of links at http://mobile.treobits.com  I use Ptunes on my Treo to listen to all of these live streams.



> BTW- I signed up on Gotomypc.com and love it. Don't need XP Pro. I've even shown/demonstrated some video editing tricks on the IPAQ, connected to my desktop, with Vegas launched. Gotomypc has a nice pull down sticky to access right mouse click and other features that is not easily available on a PDA.


I use Gotomypc as well. Although I just started using mywebex.com which is the same as gotomypc but FREE. I am actually thinking about canceling my gotomypc account now because of this.


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## CoriBright (May 30, 2002)

marko said:


> I recieved a free viewsonic V35 (or 36 or 37 some such thing) as a MSDN offer(microsoft developer network). Unfortunately, although it was neat, never did really use the thing. Just can't think of what I would use it for. Kicking myself for not selling it over ebay.


It was a Viewsonic V37, I got one too. I use it as a MP3 player and to keep a phone list handy.. those numbers that I haven't got around to putting in my cellphone.

I also have DVD2PocketPC and use it to watch movies on airplanes since the notebook battery won't last that long.


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## Bogy (Mar 23, 2002)

Capmeister said:


> I've had a Palm since the original Palm Pilot. My current one is a Tungsten T. It's mainly my planner and address book, but I sometimes play Cribbage in meetings when it looks like I'm taking notes.


I do the same thing, although I don't play cribbage. I find I actually focus better when I am playing a game during a meeting or seminar. At least thats my rationalization, and I'm sticking with it. Its nice that people can't really see what is on the screen unless they are looking pretty much directly at it.


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## Capmeister (Sep 16, 2003)

Bogy said:


> I do the same thing, although I don't play cribbage. I find I actually focus better when I am playing a game during a meeting or seminar. At least thats my rationalization, and I'm sticking with it. Its nice that people can't really see what is on the screen unless they are looking pretty much directly at it.


Bogy, aren't you a man of the cloth? Shouldn't you be communing with your god at these things, and not playing tetris, or what have you?


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## Scott Greczkowski (Mar 21, 2002)

Boy am I glad I have this PDA today.

At my office we use Comcast for our Internet connection and Comcast is not working at the moment (they are having some kind of major east coast problem) but I am still able to surf the net because I have my PDA.  (I am connected using my laptop and Bluetooth.

My boss was very happy as he needed to send someone a file and he was able to do it from my laptop. 

Yesterday I installed an Game Emulator on my PDA and now can play almost an Nintendo, Super Nintendo, Sega Genisis or Game Boy Color game on my PDA. My son was having a great time last night playing Pokemon Silver. And my wife was having lots of fun playing Super Mario Brothers and Sonic. 

I am really loving this PDA.

It's like a swiss army knife.


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## DonLandis (Dec 17, 2003)

Scott- Guys like us will max these things out!

I saw the Comcast issue this morning. Worked all night to get a TV show out and up on my website. Uploads were running at 1/30 normal speed. I have three sites and the one hosted by Comcast was actually faster so I thought it must be a trunk issue. 
So far, the connection is still working fine here in Jacksonville. Plus as of 9:30 the speed on uploads has returned to normal.

Back to your games. I tried to load the MS game dll (gd.dll) and didn't understand the process. I downloaded it but got several flavors of the file set to install so I just put it aside for now.

Have you done a BT- wifi speed test yet, vs. just the laptop wifi speed to compare? Would be nice to have you post that information.

I use:
http://www.abeltronica.com/velocimetro/pt/?idioma=uk&newlang=uk

This morning mine is running at 4300kbps, slower than last night when it was over 5000.


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## Bogy (Mar 23, 2002)

Capmeister said:


> Bogy, aren't you a man of the cloth? Shouldn't you be communing with your god at these things, and not playing tetris, or what have you?


Its either HMaki or Mahjong. 
As I said, these things actually help me focus. Part of what they have helped me do over the years is to stay awake, expecially prior to my sleep apnea being diagnosed.  Some people doodle, my wife knits, I play games on my PDA.


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## Jason Nipp (Jun 10, 2004)

Steve Mehs said:


> In the spirit of the other thread, I have decided to start a poll on who here uses PDAs. Don L and myself have been quite vocal on what we use our iPaqs for, and John said he has an Amix. Anyone else here on DBSTalk frequently use a PDA? What platform, Palm, Pocket PC or other? What do you use it for?
> 
> For me, it's an HP iPaq H5550 running Windows 2003 Premium with a 400 MHz Intel XScale Processor and I use it as an MP3 player, wireless networking devices and surfing the net on wireless networks.
> 
> How about you?


I use an iPaq as well.


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## mrao (Nov 16, 2003)

I use a Sony Ericsson P900...while its not a conventional PDA per se, it certainly performs all that I need it to and quite well...The screen size is not too bad at 308 X 220 ...wish there was a landscape mode for the Opera browser though


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## Punkitup (Feb 9, 2003)

I have a HP iPAQ H4151 running Pocket PC, and it goes with me just about everywhere using an aluminum “Rhino-skin” hard case, which is a real saving grace. It is particularly handy for tossing into the tank-bag on my motorcycle.

Peace
James – K1JMD


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## Pepper (Mar 9, 2004)

I have an iPAQ but it's not a PDA, the first iPAQs were Celeron-based PCs, the ugly silver one in the micro-tower. I guess Compaq thought the only good thing about iPAQ was its name, since they discontinued the platform and reused the name for the PDA line.

I got it at the Goodwill Store for four dollars. It is now sitting in my server farm as a development/test host.


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## BobMurdoch (Apr 24, 2002)

Scott Greczkowski said:


> I just picked up a Palm Treo 650 last week. I love it, its a cell phone PDA etc...
> 
> I got a 1 gig memory card for it and loaded up Spongebob on it so when we are out and the baby is being bad I turn on Spongebob and he quiets down instantly.
> 
> ...


YES! I'm with you on this one, Scott. I got my Treo 650 from Cingular back in February and it is the best phone I have ever owned.

One caveat if you got yours from Cingular also, check your SIM card and make sure your card does NOT end in the letter G. These cards have not been getting along well with the Treos.... Lots of spontaneous reboots, and it scrambles you voicemail access and fills in a bunch of zeroes instead of the number that calls your voicemail (this bug has affected about 25% of owners..... and you thought only the 921 could make you pull your hair out)

Here is a good website for all Treo news and updates....

http://www.treocentral.com/

Swiss army knife indeed...... PDA with POP3 EMail, Scheduling, an MP3 player (if you add a memory card), web access, bluetooth, text messaging (including the ability to be seen in AOL and IM back and forth), camera (including video clip recording capability in small doses), notepad, and a really good cell phone that sounds great (I'm told by others I call). I also added a few Palm OS games; Monopoly, Scrabble, Solitaire, and Texas Hold 'Em. The only thing I wish it would do would let me use Music Tones for the ringtones (it limits you to Polyphonic MIDI-esque music, probably due to memory issues).

My ringtones.... Led Zep's "Kashmir" for familiar numbers and the Edge's version of the "Mission Impossible" theme for unknown callers.

Pricey but worth it. Now I carry one device instead of three (phone, PDA, Blackberry). Do yourself a favor and buy a backup battery though. I am a heavy user when travelling and can drain mine in less than a day. The 650 lets you swap batteries, where the 600 did not....


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## BobMurdoch (Apr 24, 2002)

Scott, one other thing you mentioned.... you say yours had a broadband speed? I have the unlimited Media Plan on Cingular and it seems like DialUp speed at best. Is there some option setting I am missing or does it autmoatically regulate the speed? 

Sometimes I get the black triangle on the signal strength meter, and sometimes I get the green arrows which seems to be the "faster speed" but I don't sense any major speed improvement.


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