Pocket PC Recommendations

[br4978]

I've been deeply entrenched with Palms since the late 90's, and I'm thinking of trying a Pocket PC with my next purchase (within 30 days or so), and I'd like any recommendations based on my use of my Palm for:

*GTD listing and NA integration with calendar & task list functions
*Basic PIM functions (calendar, address, tasks and memos)
*Basic project management (hierarchical outliner)
*Basic budget tracking (Quik Budget currently)
*password and other vital info storage (Splash ID)

..and the following desired functions:

*Wireless web access (primarily email, some browsing)
*Graphics/photo file storage
*Review and some editing of Word, Excel and PowerPoint docs

I've not found any online tools to help my search other than browsing manufacturer sites, and I'd like to narrow my search before heading for the hardware store. Any recommendations from the group would be very much appreciated.

- MB

 

[Jake]

I'm also looking to upgrade in the very near future. So far I've narrowed it down to a Palm LifeDrive, a Dell Axim X50v, or an HP iPAQ rx3715. I'm also thinking of waiting until October or November in case there are some new releases coming out for Xmas.

 

[Barrance]

I've found during recent years that Pocket PC's battery life is getting worse.

No doubt due to packing the PPCs with tons of features and making the screens brighter and brighter is what causes a short battery life. It's getting a bit crazy I think, and actually adds another stress to your life, having to remember to charge the thing frequently otherwise the worst could happen.

It's also inconvenient for the traveller - someone who's on the road for 8-10 hours let's say. I recently had a Dell x50 and the battery life at minimal use (with all the power saving options activated) was between 3.5-4 hours. That's bad. And the Dell isn't the only one. I've owned the mid-range PPCs such as the Mitac Mio, to the top of the range iPaqs, and all of them suffered short battery lives. Palm is starting to follow in their footsteps a little (not a lot though thankfully).

One tip, if a PPC comes with a cradle that has an extra bay for charging another battery as well as the PPC itself, then DON'T BUY IT!! The companies treat this 'feature' as a selling point, when really it's because they know that their PPC's battery life sucks, and that you'll need to have another one if you don't want to lose your work.

 

[br4978]

Hmmm...five days and no recommendations - interesting. Perhaps I should be happy with my Palm T3 after all...

- MB

 

[dal1mdm]

Rx3115

I'll weigh in...

I got an IPAQ RX3115 and its working great for me. I appreciate the ease of use that Windows provides on the PPC platform. Seems there's more one can do with it than on the palm. The wireless works good too.

Good luck!

 

[PDAJunky]

I still use the iPAQ 4150 and I do not have any of the battery problems I'm hearing some describe here. For years I've said the the Palm's would be equally as tough on batteries as the PPC one they had the "horsepower" of a PPC.

It's time we get used to batteries needing to be charged in these things.

 

[Jake]

I've had a Palm M500 since September 2001 and I still don't have "problems" with the battery life. It will go a week easily and I use it quite a bit for the calendar, contacts, notes, list, a password program and a few games now and then.

I really want to get something with a color screen and WiFi and understand this will take a toll on the battery performance. I don't think I'll be able to get anything as small as the M500 anymore either - hardly noticed it in a shirt pocket!

Has anyone tried the WiFi card for the Palm Tungsten T5? What are some of the real advantages of a PPC over a Palm OS?

 

[Elena]

I too, have the HP IPAQ RX3115. I love it! The battery works great. I can go for days without having to recharge, and it has an internal backup one too, so it keeps all the settings even if it does run out of power. The wi-fi works excellently! It uses SD memory cards which are relatively cheap now.

I would also recommend looking at ListPro software for your hierarchial (spelling ack) hierarchical outliner. The company, Ilium Software offers another product called eWallet for keeping your sensitive information handy, but I have no experience with it.

Elena

 

[KevinR]

Palm vs Pocket PC

I bought a Dell Axim X50v a couple of months ago and now I'm starting to wonder why I switched over to Pocket PC from Palm (actually the reason is just plain gadget lust). I can't find anything that the Dell can do that my old Sony NX80V can't do. I do however find many things that the Dell CAN'T do compared to the Sony. The Pocket PC's are fine as far as they go but the Palms still seem to me to be much more fully featured and with many more available programs (I miss Bonsai and Splash ID and Splash Shopper especially). I'm selling the Dell to my brother and picking up an old NX80V on ebay as a backup to the one I have.