To combine or not to combine that is the question?

[Beowulf]

My PDA is nearing the end of it's life.. well it still works but I'm about due for an upgrade.

At the moment I use a separate mobile phone (Sony Ericsson K750i) and a PDA (IPAQ H5550).

I looked at all these combined smartphone devices (The HTC TyTN ,the I-mate K-Jam, or the HTC MTeoR .. for example)

Anyone have any experience of using these? I like the idea of having one device but battery life is an issue and I can't help but think by they time you've crammed phone, pda, camera, mp3 player, GPS, Torch, food processor, radio, etc into one device the battery life will be measured in seconds

Also I fing GPRS or I-mode wo be quite expensive so I normally only use WiFi when I'm out an about but can link via Bluetooth to my phone for GPRS if needs be. I think these combined devices tend to prefer using their in-built communications (I know some but not all come with WiFI)

Any suggestions?

Pete

[Lee Bartholomew]

I have an orange SPV5500 running win mobile 5.

Has Wi-Fi and everything else you would hope for. Brilliant to use too but not very robust if you drop an UPS on them . On my second one.

[pmjd]

phone, pda, camera, mp3 player, GPS, Torch, food processor, radio, etc

So what exactly do you want it to do? Just curious as I've never owned a PDA, but what functions does it have that you need to use?

Data charges on mobile next works can be pretty horrific but there does seem to be a few more contract plans that have better allowances, T-mobile web and walk looks not too bad for basic mobile internet use.

Also if you get a 3G enabled device, the data transfer is a bit quicker but it also uses more power compared to using GPRS on GSM. Some will allow you to pick one rather than flip flopping between the two.

[Lee Bartholomew]

You could always wait for the iPhone

[straycat]

You could always wait for the iPhone

And a sensible suggestion from the wooded corner - might be a bit too long coming in the UK though, and maybe a bit pricey.

I've actually just replaced my PDA (old one died) - and I've replaced it with what is, quite simply, the best PDA I've ever used - a Tapwave Zodiac 2. Downsides from your point of view: no phone, no camera, but yes to bluetooth, and wifi is possible via a card, though I've not had a need for it myself.

Oh - and the company making them went under in 2005 :cry:, so I had to get it on eBay. Probably not what you're after, but if it sounds interesting to you, PM me and I'll happily give more details.

[philsmove]

I have and Sony Erickson P990i

It should do every you need

But it’s not as good as I had hoped

Batteries run out in under a day

It “locks up” requiring the battery to be removed to reboot it

It is not intuitive

On the plus side it does sync very well with Outlook 2003
And its nice only having to carry on device

[Beowulf]

So what exactly do you want it to do?

Everything obviously

At the moment I use my PDA for a myriad of uses. It's a repository of databases of info I need to remember, It's a e-book library, I use it to surf the web and read emails (Via WiFI where available.. or bluetooth/gprs where not) It's a games console (of sorts) ,Currency converter, unit converter and Calculator (scientific obviously) , image viewer (via Compact flash cradle I can view my images from my Canon DSLR). It runs Word and Excel files, holds my shopping lists, my DVD lists, and gives me sky charts for any location at any time.

I have a Bluetooth folding keyboard for data entry. and a Compact Flash Bar code reader for organising my book/dvd collection which runs into a custom written app for dealing with loans etc

My Phone I use for phone calls (obviously) Texts, WAP access to various online sites (Railtimes, weather , etc) and for taking/sending small digital images when I'm not carrying my bulky main camera.

I have an MP3 player and a 40 gb USB HDD.

All this, and cables, power supply's, backup batteries and whatnot I carry around with me. Now you see why I'm thinking I need a single combined device

Of course, there's already overlaps. My PDA plays MP3's as does my Mobile, My MP3 player stores files, and my USB HDD has a complete backup of my MP3 player for plugging into my works laptop for listening there. My main problem is Bulk and Battery life.

[Lee Bartholomew]

You really need a spv m500 series. They come in different desgises on different networks (o2 do one as well exactly the same). Specs are

Orange SPV M500

Dimensions
108 x 58 x 18 mm
Weight
150 g
Display
TFT Touch screen
65K colours
240 x 320 pixels
Memory
64MB RAM
416 MHz processor
Battery
up to 3.5 hr talktime
up to 15 hr PDA use
up to 180 hr standby
PDA
GPRS
Pocket PC 2003
Bluetooth
1.3 MP camera
Integrated antenna
Video recorder
Voice recorder
Internet Explorer
E-mail, Word, Excel
Intel Processor
MP3/AAC player
Video/audio album
Built-in handsfree
Instant Messaging
MMC/SD slot
416 MHz Proc. Speed
WAP 2.0
Tri band
HTML browser
Voice memo
USB port
Java
SMS
MMS
Email
T9

Mines a M5500 Which runs Win Mobile Phone Edition 5 and has a Mini SD slot with 2 gig storage. I used the vid camera on this over xmas and got a 2 hour nativity play on there at a really good quality.

Getting files on/off are as easy as drag and drop. Plenty of add on programs are available at <a href="http://www.download.com/Windows-Mobile-Phone-Edition/3150-11139_4-0.html?tag=dir">www.downloads.com</A> or you can write your own as It runs windows. the ms Sync tool works really well and you can set it to auto switch over to wi-fi whenever theres a unsecure connection (or one you have a key for).

Touch screen too. And no heavy advertising and marketing campain to get people fooled into buying it

[Beowulf]

You really need a SPV m500 series.

And here was me thinking an SPV was what Captain Scarlet and Captain Blue used to chase down Mysterons !!

[tsh]

I have and Sony Erickson P990i

ditto.

I think I upset it by turning wi-fi off today (but it's trying to use it to check email every 10 mins) and the battery is down to 40%. Usually it manages a couple of days without being charged. I have 3G disabled to help with the battery life. I find it quite handy for checking email at home, don't need the PC turned on, and I use my free minutes for dial-up internet if I'm out.
Wi-Fi is a bit temperamental, it doesn't seem to connect properly in the office.
The built-in apps are total rubbish, I've seen lots of people complaining about the calender functions etc - and there doesn't seem to be a huge amount of s/w availible to buy yet. The firmware update process is also dire, has to be done on-line, and takes between 20 min and hours.

Touch screen is nice, it's portable enough, and combining mp3 + camera is another big plus. I was certain that I didn't want to buy a m$ device, and I'm also coming to the conclusion that i won't buy another Sony device either, they spend too much time animating their website/update software, and not enough time thinking about how the product is used (so 1 handed web browsing is just slightly too tricky).

Sean

[ducasi]

Beo, you definitely do want to combine your phone and PDA.

As you've currently got a Windows PDA, your best bet is probably a Windows smart phone.

If you feel like getting adventurous though, I know a few geeks around here who swear by their Treos. Some of the N-series Nokias look good too.

Happy shopping!

[CJ]

Is there a pone that takes 2 sims and, therefore, can take calls to 2 seperate numbers??

(Oh, and includes a PDA, too )

[Andreas]

If you need an all-in-one device but don't want to wait for the iphone (I will ) then the SPV M500 or better M600 is certainly a good choice - mostly because it is small. I have an M600 and M2000 at work but wouldn't carry the latter around with me due to size. The M600, on the other hand doesn't support WiFi. But having said that, both of them just rest on my desk. As a work phone I use the Sony Ericsson P900 and love it. It can do most things I'd want it to and, as opposed to the P990, battery life is great.

Still, I'd hesitate taking even this one in my pocket because it is still too large. I think you should stick to your K750, which is a great phone. You can certainly ask why you should carry around two devices when you need your pda but usually they are chunky enough for the K750 not to make much of a difference to be carried as well.

[straycat]

Beo, you definitely do want to combine your phone and PDA.

Why?

I'm not trying to be difficult - but I personally don't have any desire to combine my PDA and my phone, and I'm interested in why people do. Yes - there's the obvious one about carrying around less devices that way, but ... any others?

[Beowulf]

Why?

I'm not trying to be difficult - but I personally don't have any desire to combine my PDA and my phone, and I'm interested in why people do. Yes - there's the obvious one about carrying around less devices that way, but ... any others?

I'm with stray. I'm of the separates are better school of thought btu then That's why I posted this thread to see if things had changed. while the SPV does look like a nice unit, it's not got everything I need. I don't want to go and buy a Wifi Card for it to make it Wifi compatible for instance. That's why I switched from My Palm to Pocket PC in the first place. At the Time you couldn't get Wifi natively on a Palm OS device I tried the cards and they didn't work as well as I would like. I switched to Pocket PC with native Wifi and never looked back (well my battery life decreased by an order of magnitude but what did I expect)

I like being able to just take my phone somewhere with me. Just my phone, not my PDA (although times when I don't take it are few and far between.. it's my surrogate brain.. functioning without it is a nightmare ) But I like the option to "travel light" sometimes

[ducasi]

Why?

'Cos if you're going to carry around a PDA all the time, why not have a phone in it? The cost is going to be the same – in fact, it'll be cheaper if you're on a contract...

Personally, I don't have need of a PDA, so wouldn't buy a smart phone.

How about having a smart phone, and a normal phone, and move the SIM card to the normal phone when you want to travel light?

[ducasi]

Is there a pone that takes 2 sims and, therefore, can take calls to 2 seperate numbers??

Don't Orange contract phones have two numbers without two SIMs? Or did they stop doing that?

EDIT: They seem to still do it, though it might be an extra cost – they refer to it as "line 2". Some phones support switching back and forward between the numbers better than others. I guess Orange can advise here.

[straycat]

'Cos if you're going to carry around a PDA all the time, why not have a phone in it? The cost is going to be the same – in fact, it'll be cheaper if you're on a contract...

Personally, I don't have need of a PDA, so wouldn't buy a smart phone.

How about having a smart phone, and a normal phone, and move the SIM card to the normal phone when you want to travel light?

From my point of view: I use my phone for making calls and sending text messages. It does these things extremely well, as it's purpose-built to do so.

I use my PDA for maintaining my diary and contacts, maintaining to-do and shopping lists, reminding me to do things, reading novels, watching the occasional dance video (and I've put a couple of feature films on there now, mainly to see if I could), playing Soduku (and occasionally Day of the Tentacle), listening to music, and a few other bits'n'bobs. It does all these things very well - and far better than any phone that I've looked at.

Now - if you could put phone functionality into my PDA without affecting the rest, I'd be interested. Every smartphone I've looked at to date (iPhone excepted) tries to shoehorn PDA functionality into a phone. And doesn't do nearly such a good job of it as I'd like.

[ducasi]

Now - if you could put phone functionality into my PDA without affecting the rest, I'd be interested. Every smartphone I've looked at to date (iPhone excepted) tries to shoehorn PDA functionality into a phone. And doesn't do nearly such a good job of it as I'd like.

I had thought that these windows smart phones were just like IPAQs with an GSM module stuck on the side. I guess that's not the case then?

[Lee Bartholomew]

I had thought that these windows smart phones were just like IPAQs with an GSM module stuck on the side. I guess that's not the case then?

ows with everything on them (media player, outlook, etc etc and can support programs just like windows does. Everything you have on your desktop can be on your laptop.

I'm with stray. I'm of the separates are better school of thought btu then That's why I posted this thread to see if things had changed. while the SPV does look like a nice unit, it's not got everything I need. I don't want to go and buy a Wifi Card for it to make it Wifi compatible for instance.

The SPV's do have Wi-Fi built in. Depends on whet unit you are looking at, but I now mine def does as I use it all the time. You can have anyprog you want on it. It can even be used as a sat nav without any hardware upgrades (something the iPhone wont be able to do!).