PDA advice

[Forthy]

OK, lets say I was after a PDA. I'm not desperate for lots of funky features to be fair, but GPS would be a nice touch. A couple of things it must have though are a memory card slot, bluetooth, and wi-fi.

As for OS, I'm relatively easy, although I do like my windows ;)

Thoughts / ideas / suggestions / recommendations / personal experiences / things to avoid?

Any help apreciated :D

[Fat Jez]

In terms of GPS, either Palm or Windows Pocket Edition have software support. I use Tomtom 5 on my Palm Tungsten T5, but it can be used on a Pocket PC device too. The package with bluetooth GPS device costs about £150 http://www.gpsforless.co.uk/product_details.php?id=1768

The Palm Tungsten Tx supports both bluetooth and wireless and certainly has plenty of software to support it. However, as Palm are now starting to use Windows on their pocket devices (:() I'm not sure how much life may be left in PalmOS.

Cheers,
Stephen

[laffalot]

I've got the Dell Axim x50v and it works really well had it for nearly a year now and never had any issues with it. It has a slot for both CF and SD along with BT and WiFi.

I have it hooked up in the car with TomTom 5 and a bluetooth reciever, couldn't be without it now!
For my gps mounts, software etc. I used GPS for Less as linked above, excellent service and aftercare.

[slartiBardfarst]

i have a dell x51v and the tomtom bluetooth receiver. same essentially as the x50v but with the newer windows mobile 5 and more memory.
dell axim's are defiantly the device of choice though. hp's are good but way overpriced for what you get.
the 51v is the top model and has all those features your after plus a rather nice vga screen. the standard x51 is the same device, just with a qvga standard screen, however once you've used a vga screen the last thing you'll want to do is settle for a blocky qvga model.

if it's a cheaper option your after then look out on aldi's web site. every now and then they do a range of medion devices with built-in gps receivers. they are fantastic value and really good devices, but you may have to sacrifice wi-fi.

[Slamdog]

if you want cheap and cheerful then places like bigpockets have the acer n35. has an sdio card slot, built in gps, comes with navigator software and a car bracket/charger as well as a usb sync cable.

mine cost me 200 quid but the most recent price i have seen is 170 quid. It isn't the speediest pda in the world but it works well.

[TazUk]

However, as Palm are now starting to use Windows on their pocket devices (:() I'm not sure how much life may be left in PalmOS.

Not quite true, they have announced one device which will use Windows Mobile, the Treo 700W. They have stated that they will continue to support PalmOS and it's likely that a Palm power version of the Treo 700 will be released, although there's been no official announcement about it other than that there's three new products in the pipeline.

If you want a PDA with a built in GPS receiver then your limited to Windows Mobile/Pocket PC. If your happy with a separate Bluetooth GPS receiver then you've got the choice of Windows Mobile/Pocket PC, PalmOS and Symbian, although with Symbian it would be a smartphone rather than PDA. Personally I think PalmOS is better suited to hand held devices, I can do most things on my Treo 650 with one hand so need to keep taking the stylus out :)

The Treo 700W is an interesting device as Palm have been allowed by Microsoft to modify Windows Mobile to give it some of the features and usability of their PalmOS based devices.

[Forthy]

Thanks guys. Sorted now. Went for the Acer; seemed to be the best bang for buck :)