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Journal btlzu2's Journal: ask crashdot: PDA Phones 14

Journal by btlzu2

Hello All!

I'm asking for some general opinions on PDA Phones and why you like them. I'm looking into a new phone for the new job and know next to nothing about them. I'd like to be able to use a wireless internet service so I can check my email from wherever (IMAP or POP without downloading the msg?) and browse the net if I need a quick google search or something. I'd prefer not having a new email address and just being able to check my company email and perhaps my personal as well.

Also, I'd like it to sync with Windoze most likely, but I do want this product to have decent backup/syncing skills.

Hmmm, a decent color screen. I've looked at Treo's which seem to be a popular one, but dat shit is 'spensive, yo! What about Blackberry? They work with Tmobile. I had great experiences with Tmobile....

Any advice? Thanks SO much!

This discussion was created by btlzu2 (99039) for Friends and Friends of Friends only, but now has been archived. No new comments can be posted.

ask crashdot: PDA Phones More

ask crashdot: PDA Phones

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  • It was designed for email, and it does that great. The caveat is that RIM worked nice and hard to integrate with the company email system (in this case, GroupWise). We have a BlackBerry Enterprise Server that talks directly to the post offices. The whole system is a lean mean email machine.

    It does web browsing OK. For some reason, there are two web browsers on it - one is a BlackBerry portal, and the other is a regular web browser. I don't know why there are two of them. On the regular web browser, www.goo

    • thank you sir! you just reminded me of a critical requirement i have, encrypted notes. outlook SUCKS for that and I need a good way to securely store passwords, account numbers, etc. thanks for reminding me. :) the treo is looking more and more tempting now, although i have numerous pocketPC apps that will go by the wayside. eh, good riddance to Windows Mobile anyway--pretty damn unstable.

      i think what's lacking for me in the crackberry is a really kick butt PIM. 32MB of RAM seems very light to me and
      • I sure would like to only carry the one device. But passwords are the problem - and KeyRing is a really good solution.

        In my case, my BB PIM is really just GroupWise - the two are so integrated that really, I'm back to using just the one (which is great). Again - this is due to the BES. I have no idea if a stand-alone BlackBerry can be an extension of your desktop email/PIM.

        One other thing I like about the Treo 650 is that it can play .mp3 files. I don't know how one would sync the thing, but my current po

  • Same caveat, we're a BES (Exchange 5.5/moving to scalyx sometime before heat death of the universe[1]) shop. Did have a random lockup one night while I was on call that caused a bit of a fuss but it just works. A bit painful to type on (I've got big hands, fat thumbs) and the speaker levels are a little low for me (earbud/mic works fine when I use it though). I wouldn't pay for it myself, but its better than lugging a mail only berry and a nextel brick like I was up until november.

    1 Speaking of which
  • Personally, I've been prety unimpressed with most of the PDA phones I've seen. I'd recommend going for a clamshell Zaurus [mobiletechreview.com] instead. It's just a PDA, but I use mine to connect to the net via the modem built into my ordinary mobile phone. Yes, it's an extra item to carry around (although being small, and weighing in at under 300g, that's not much of a burden), but it gives you a proper qwerty keyboard, an awesome screen (640x480, full colour), a proper web browser, mail client, and the ability to ssh into a ma
  • I don't know the specifics (because I'm not the IM'ing type and it costs $.10 a message now) but my friend told me about google instant messaging searches. If you send a message to, I believe, goog, write something like "steak dinner chicago" it will return a list of steakhouses. That type of thing.

    My wife has had Tmobile since '98 and is still happy with them. We have the family plan too, so any call I make to another Tmobile is free. So a couple years ago when we went to Hawai'i for our honeymoon, w

  • Most of my friends are on T-mobile specifically because they have the Sidekick PDA phones. They're all total junkies. I'm looking for something smaller and cheap, so I'll probably pass on them, but my friends love them. They're all sysadmin and computer scientist types.
  • I am an old Palm Pilot user, my first one was the first model, the Palm Professional, I've used a Palm III, a Palm V, a Palm Vx, a Palm Z22 and now my employer provided me with a Treo 650 (Sprint). I say all this for the purpose of full disclosure of my bias for Palm OS. I love the fact that I have entries that I made on the first Palm device in 1996 that are still in my Treo.

    Anyhoo, I have the Treo only because it was given to me by my employer, I admit I did not see the wisdom of combining the two devic
    • That is great news. I'm leaning strongly towards that (sorry Tet! I really need a combo.) and was worried by reviews I'm reading on the net. I think I'll be picking one up tomorrow.

      Thanks much! I meant to say a while back that I really liked your podcast interview. I'm not quite as comfortable with death as you are, but it was really fascinating. :)

      • Your company has standardized on GoodLink for remote access to MS Exchange, so make sure whatever you get is supported by http://www.good.com/ [good.com]. I'm using a Treo 600 on Sprint, and I love it.

        I used to use T-Mobile, and I found the coverage was lacking outside of cities. I was on a three month engagement at one suburban office park where I needed to walk outside and accross the parking lot several times a day to make phone calls. If you aren't stuck in a contract, I'd suggest moving to Sprint/Verizon/Cin

        • thanks! nah, i wouldn't get another windows mobile now.

          shoot, i'll not have anything if i wait until the 700p comes out, my cell phone belongs to my old company. :( i don't know if i want to travel without a phone/pda for a couple months. hmmm.

          thanks for the info! probably will go with verizon, but i'll have to think about the wait for the 700p...
  • As the european lead of mobile collabaration services at a company with 70,000 employees.

    My advise is to STAY THE FUCK AWAY FROM WINDOWS MOBILE 5.
  • my smartphone. It runs lots of cool apps and is basically a P3-era PC with a phone built in.

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