need your help to purchase a new PDA

[varunsharma]

I want to purchase a new PDA Tell me some configuration for this.

[Bon-Z]

A PDA must have a minimum of 1,080KB of memory: 500KB for CLDC and MIDP, 540KB for the PDAP user interface libraries, 20KB reserved for the PIM API, 10KB for the Generic Connection Framework, and another 10KB for the PDAP security model.

By the way, can you be more specific what exactly you require from the PDA? Because it all depends upon your needs.

[Regina]

I own the Zire 31. It is a great starter palm with the potential to perform like on of the top-guns if you are willing to work with it and buy a few 3rd party programs. To be fair, however, most PALM OS based PDA's require 3rd party software to catapult them above the organizer/MP3 player level.

Here is a quick rundown of the 31's abilities:

• MP3 (good quality sound, able to play music while you 'palm')
  
  
• Movies (You need to buy a 3rd party player, crush the movies down in size, and then they stutter and chug. I never bothered after seeing my 1st 'Zztop' clip)
  
  
• Games (If you get UDMH and LIFEKEYS the 31 is a decent gaming machine. The #1 limitation is the 160x160 screen and the button-mapping. Once you get the right emulator though, there are more than enough games to keep you busy)
  
  
• Battery (Stay away from the games and you will be fine. MP3 battery life is excellent)
  
  
• Screen (It looks nice until you see someone with a 320x240.)

[marlyn]

HP iPAQ hw6515 (PDA Phone)

I am using this HP PDA phone and am satisfied with it therefor i suggest just have a look at the configuration of PDA Phone.

Following is the configuration of PDA Phone

• Intel PXA270 Processor 312 MHz
• Microsoft Windows Mobile 2003
• Second Edition software – Phone Edition
• Quad band GSM/GPRS/EDGE
• Bluetooth 1.2, IrDA SIR 1.2
• 3.0” Transflective TFT QVGA with
• 64K colour with LED backlight
• Built-in SXGA camera, HP Photosmart 1.3 MP,
• 1280 x 1024 resolution
• 128 MB total memory

[Swamp Thing]

I work in the wireless industry and can shed some light or point you in the right direction.

Keep in mind that PDA is just a generic term. To get technical there are three different classes of PDA's out there. Smartphone, PDA & Data device and here is the breakdown.

Smartphone - does not have a touch screen and can only view office documents. A good example of this is the Motorola Q (or you can look at it like this. Phone first then they put basic pda features later).

PDA - any device that has a touch screen and you can edit office documents.

Data - This would be the Blackberry family. Now some include blackberries in the smartphone category since they don't have a touch screen and you can't edit office documents. However, if you look at how they came about (present configuration) then you will see why they are a data device. They were a email device only. Then they added the browser & PIM organizer then they added the phone and other features. Blackberries love data and they go nuts for email. Personally RIM (Research In Motion) sold their soul to Satan when they added MP3 ability

So I would ask yourself the following question. If you had to rate from 1 to 3 the features you use the most 1 being the most important and 3 being the least important.

If phone is ranked 1 and PIM is 2 or 3 then choose a smart phone.

if PIM is rated 1 then choose the the PDA.

If email or going online is rated 1 then choose either a PDA or Blackberry. here it's a personal preference since the data capability between a pda and blackberry are almost the same but the difference is with email.

It also depends what OS do you want with the device. If you don't have MS Office and don't plan on getting it then stay away from a blackberry or a Windows Mobile device since you will be required to have MS Outlook to sync the device for your contacts, calendar, notes & tasks. But with the Palm OS you use hotsync and it comes with it's own calendar application that you can choose to install if you don't have outlook. Symbian also requires MS outlook as well.

Now in regards to email options blackberry takes the cake. You have Blackberry Webclient or you may see it listed as Blackberry Internet Service, Redirector or BES or Blackberry Enterprise Server. If you have a POP3 email account or an Outlook Web Access (OWA) account you can use the blackberry webclient. If you have an exchange account and your network admin doesn't want to deal with exchange activesync for windows devices you have the option of redirector which will "redirect" a copy of the email to your blackberry.

If security is a priority then I would choose the Blackberry since they are the only device that has not been hacked. and their OS is very stable and has outstanding memory management.

However, don't impulse buy your device. go to your carriers website and choose 4 or 5 devices that you think will serve your needs. Then go to www.phonescoop.com and here you can get user reviews and technical data on the devices and further narrow down your choices.

Then go to the store and play with a live model and ask yourself the following: Are the buttons big enough? are there buttons I am going to accidently press when putting it in my pocket or holster? is the screen bright or big enough? and play with the device. type an email or a txt message and see how you like the keyboard. Make a phone call and see if the quality is up to snuff and also check the speaker phone as well. And if you have any questions don't hesitate to ask the staff at the store but beware. Most sales reps at the store will tell you anything just to buy the device so do your research and if you still have questions call their tech support from the store to get the straight scoop.

I hope this helps