"Hand-Held Devices... What do you like?" Topic

I was going to buy my annual re-fill for my Daytimer, and I conceded that the Daytimer itself was on its last legs and really needed to be replaced. The prices, $30-50, made me pause and wonder if it's not time to go ahead and Go Digital.

So I'd like to hear from those of you who tote around a little hand-held gadget: which ones do you use and like?

I need something that will manage my calendars and To-Do lists, keep phone and email addresses, and keep track of various other things, like reminders to do this or that on every X-Day of Y-Month, or whatever.

As a Mac guy, I'm already inclined toward the I-Phone. But I'll consider anything that's Mac-friendly.

The iPhone will work well. If your mac has bluetooth you should consider any cell phone that syncs with iSync. The following page shows supported phones.

link

Personally I prefer Series 60 devices like my Nokia N75. I'd hold off on the iPhone until v2, when they work out the bugs and add 3G.

Forest

My favourite hand-held device is the claw hammer. It comes in very handy, both for knocking nails in, and pulling them out again (which is good for dealing with those who rebel against the Roman state).

Either end can make a nasty mess of the top of someone's head, too.

I don't know anything that isn't MAC friendly as most of the newer devices are fairly neutral on the OS wars with MAC and Microsoft.

I would definitely go digital. I switched from the old day-planner to a digital phone/pda two years ago – and I haven't looked back. I'm looking to upgrade soon and the I-phone for all of the "cool – neato" factor was an option, but it wasn't quite as user-friendly for me as I had hoped. I have large hands and the whole no keyboard thing really turned me off – it's bad enough with a touch screen and a stylus half the time! I am considering the Voyager (cool & neato factor++, drawback – doesn't have some of the PDA features from other offerings), the new Verizon VX6800 which comes out soon, there are numerous versions of the Blackberry (drawback for me – no touch screen but a jog/toggle dial that I just can't get to like), and the insidious Palm offerings, all very nice, but they use the Palm OS which I swear is hated by both Mac and MS. Just my musings on this. Go by your local store, look at their offerings, try them out, and some (I know Verizon and the local All-Tel) will allow you to take them for a test drive for up to 30 days.

If you don't want a phone on it, there are plenty of PDA's out there that are very nice. I prefer the phone/pda format personally.

I'm partial to my Balckberry Worldphone but their are plenty of others that will do everything. One note though, Blackberry is not much of an MP3/music player device. The Motorola Q=series is supposed to be quite good at that. I-phones look neat and if you can get one at a good price, why not.

I enjoy the Hohner 'Marine Band' 10 hole diatonic harmonica. It's available in a number of keys.

I've owned one Palm model or another for a decade now. I've always found them to be fabulous. Instant on, lots of applications and accessories. The program which syncs the handheld with your computer is flawless.

My current model -- the TX -- has wifi capabilities, the screen can rotate between landscape and portrait mode, and I can read and write files in native Word, Excel and Powerpoint formats. I've also got a fold-up keyboard to go with it

I hate my Palm…

Any device that, when you dial a call and the phone is off, asks if you want to turn it on, but then forgets the number you were dialing and makes you dial it again is a PITA…

James

Not really answering the question (this being TMP and all…) BUT, you can still go the paper route, just print out paper copies of whatever calendar, contacts, etc. you are using.

In my Pre-PDA days, I printed out weekly Outlook Calenars to track my schedule.

The iphone has battery life issues. Blackberry is great if you want dependable e-mail. Palm is better if you want more functionality and will sync with your computer, from my experience.

Well I do this for a living so I have a lot of background. I am the Telecom manager at my company and I have provisioned literally hundreds of handheld devices. We are for the most part a Blackberry shop but I have slowly won over quite a few Windows Mobile followers. I carry the Moto Q on the Verizon network and it is great. Get the extended battery though or you will run out of power very quickly. We have a number of different devices ranging from the newest Blackberry 8800 and Curve to Palm TREO 700 w/ Win Mobile 5. Blackjacks and AT&T 8525 are good and the new Tilt is quite cool with Windows Mobile 6. If this is a personal purchase you may be limited with your price point we have a huge discount because we have 1400 lines with AT&T mobility so price is really not a major factor for us. All of these devices are going to do the basics you have outlined. You really need to get hands on with the devices and check them out. I have had a number of people ask me the same question at work and I just give them the options and show them the devices I got tired or telling people "this is a good unit" and them coming back three weeks later whining "I hate this I want something else!" One warning the new Blackberries have this little trackball and I am just waiting for our first one to come back with this flimsy POS broken! The 7200 series was absolute junk even though this is the device most Blackberry users have I have boxes of dead ones and their QC was just not there! I hope I am wrong but I dont hold my breath.

I Fear the Wurst
I need something that will manage my calendars and To-Do lists, keep phone and email addresses, and keep track of various other things, like reminders to do this or that on every X-Day of Y-Month, or whatever.

link

Well, when it comes to "Hand Held Devices… which do I like", I immediately thought of the Rabbit.

If you can-- wait until Jan 15 until getting the iPhone -- Jobs should be announcing a new and improved model then.

Another Palm user here. I've got the Palm T1, which I quite like. You can find refurbished T2/T3s for around $50-100, and they're worth every penny. They aren't phones, but as others have said: instant on, very easy to use, sharp screens and quite a few free or cheap add-on applications available.

I was given a Palm M130 that an professor wasn't using and I was almost instantly converted, to my own surprise. I'd previously been using the "scraps of paper" method. Now I even take notes on the Palm during talks.

How about good old rosary?

A 22oz framing hammer and/or an 18V DeWalt variable speed screwgun!