One of the things that makes this so difficult is that even if you told me exactly what you wanted to use the PDA for, it doesn't help that much. Why? Because as a new PDA user, you probably have very little idea how powerful these things are, or what you'll be doing with them. Once I bought my PDA, I ended up doing so much more than what I thought I would do.
Here's a few things I do on my PDA:
- Create and edit MS Word docs, and sync back and forth from my PC (Wordsmith)
- Taking notes at meetings (Wordsmith)
- Check my yahoo email wirelessly (eudora)
- browse the web wirelessly (some pages are awkward this way, but many aren't, and there are very many portals purposely built for PDAs). (eudoraweb and avantgo)
- all my calendaring (Datebook) and addresses
- freehand note taking (Diddlebug)
- Checking maps (mapopolis), drug prescriptions and cross interactions (epharmacopia), all my passwords to everything in the world (cryptinfo), find restaurants and directions (vindigo and jungleport), calculator (RPN),
- In addition, I have highly customized by PDA desktop environment to my own liking. I can get quick access to my fave apps just be drawing a stroke on the right area of the screen. I can automatically get capital letters just by drawing them on the right area of the graffiti screen. I can automatically get a pop-up time and battery window by drawing the right stroke. etc. etc.
- and on and on...
I have other friends who can't be bothered, and just use the calendaring and address book. Which type of user will you be? I dunno. You probably don't either!
I chose Palm OS over PocketPC. It was Palm OS's stunning and innovative ease-of-use that first drew my attention to PDAs, and it still has that advantage. Also, I suspected I would want to try out lots of programs. The PocketPCs have hundreds of apps available for them, but the Palm OSes have many thousands. The real innovation is going on on Palm OS, and the apps later ported to Pocket PC.
Anyway, there are a bunch of advantage and disadvantages of the two platforms, but I won't go through them unless you care.
On the Palm OS side, the choice is Handspring, Palm, or Sony. Sony's current PDA is not a strong contender. Their new PDA looks very strong, but I don't know enough about it to consider it.
In Handspring vs. Palm, I like the Platinum as the Toyota Camry. Slightly faster chip than the older Palms and Handsprings makes it run really nice. Beyond that, the choices I would make are:
- Do I absolutely positively need to minimize on space? If so the new Palm m505, or the Handspring Visor Edge are the competitors (the old Palm V isn't competitive with those two, but is much cheaper these days, so you may still consider it). Palm m505 has color but it's somewhat pale. It also has the SD extension port, but there are not very many SD add-ons yet. The Visor edge is greyscale, but it handles Springboards, and there are very many interesting Springboards out there -- cameras, memory, mp3 players, etc.
- Do I absolutely positively need color? If so, the Palm m505 has somewhat pale color, but it's color. The Handspring Prism is relatively big, but brilliant bright color. The new Sony is supposed to have the best color of 'em all.
As far as must-have accessories ... for me, there's one that's head and shoulders above the rest: The Stowaway folding keyboard. It folds in 4 pieces, to end up not much bigger than my Platinum itself. Unfolded, it's got real keys and an surprisingly good feel considering the size.
What would I buy if I were to buy another PDA today? I'd be tempted to go with the Visor Edge, if only to preserve my investment in Springboards. But I really do wish I had color, so I'd take a good look at the new Sony. I might also take a look at the m505 -- washed-out color is probably better than no color at all, right?
Joe
) It pads the palm very well, just makes it kinda awkward to hotsync. You have to prop the cradle up on a jar or something.