PDA Advice

[Kwyjibo]

Okay, as it tends to be my MO around here, I'm asking for advice again.

What I am really looking for is something that I can answer emails on the road with, and maybe some light writing. I don't need a gaming platform, or a movie watcher. I really want something small and light over something expensive and powerful. I've all but given up on finding a laptop that isn't $2000. Does anyone have any advice on a good PDA for this? Something tells me I might be expecting too much out of the little PDA keyboards...

(While I'm on it...is it possible to upload certificates to PDAs? I need one to access my work email account...)


K

[freedon]

You might want to read this before thinking about a PDA
http://www.sharkyforums.com/showthread.php?t=280211

[rhettro]

A couple of thoughts... I don't think any PDA is suitable for light writting, take a notepad. Second, it is really important that you PDA is linkable to your work PC to be very useful. I used my PDA a ton at my last job, but now rarely because I'm not allowed to install my own software on my work PC, so no Outlook connectivity. What is handy is wifi so you can surf the net in certain locations and the ability to load and read spreadsheets and PDF files. Otherwise a smart phone would be better.

[vertices]

Get a Treo 700W from Verizon running Windows Mobile 5.0. I'm honestly blown away by it. I've got mine syncing directly with our Exchange server over the air to give me my entire mailbox. I'm talking contacts, calendars, Inbox, all mail folders, my task list, sent items, junk mail. Everything completely synced with Exchange. And this is directly to Exchange, no desktop software required. You also don't need to buy an expensive server like BlackBerry Enterprise Server. It works fantastic with Exhcange 2003 SP2.

The voice command works flawlessly. I've got instant access to anyone in my outlook contacts in realtime by just saying "Call so and so, mobile, or work" with no voice training.

Having IE, Pocket word and Excel, and other apps is awesome. I've only got to carry 1 device and it's everything for me. Phone, email, web browser, everything. I get about 90kbps nationwide and about 500kbps in big cities.

I honestly don't have 1 bad thing to say about this phone. I'm moving all the guys in my company over to them. Everyone can't wait to get one as I'm the only with 1 so far.

Check it out.....BTW did I say it F'in rocked?


Edit~~ Yeah you can install certs to it. I installed the certs for our servers on it so I can encrypt all of the Outlook Mobile Access and ActiveSync traffic. Hell you can VPN from it. It's even got a Terminal Services client, it's awesome.

[threedogs]

If other solutions don't fit your writing needs, you might want to take a look at Alphsmart's "Dana" - I'm considering it myself.

http://www2.alphasmart.com/products/dana-w.html

It has Palm software, Wi-Fi (802.11b) capability, MS Word, long battery life (up to 25 hrs!), and has a list price of $429.

There seem to be a lot of advantages. The problem (at least as I see it) is that any cell phone that will suit all of my needs is going to be way too big to lug around all of the time. So I may stick with a separate cell phone & use this for the rest of stuff I need to do.

[SkyDog]

What I am really looking for is something that I can answer emails on the road with...

What type of mail account do you plan on connecting to? Most PDA's can do POP3/IMAP, but some are much better than others when it comes to connecting to corporate mail systems like Microsoft Exchange or Lotus Domino.

Also, are you looking for just a PDA or a combination PDA/phone? The combo device is a lot handier for email since you don't have to drop by Starbucks or some other WiFi hotspot whenever you want to sync your mail.

Something tells me I might be expecting too much out of the little PDA keyboards...

If you're just sending short messages here and there, it's not too bad. You wouldn't want to compose a novel or anything on one, though.

(While I'm on it...is it possible to upload certificates to PDAs? I need one to access my work email account...)

You can import certificates on any recent Windows-based PDA. I'm pretty sure you can on a BlackBerry, too. I'm not sure about PalmOS.

I've got a Dell Axim that's a few years old and I needed to import a couple of certificates -- one for 802.1x authentication on our WiFi network and another to add the trusted root certificate for our public-facing Exchange server.