PDA vs Palm vs Phone PDA ?

[drpbroun5]

I'm convinced to take the plunge into techno world and get a hand held computer for Exbal. Since I'm practically illiterate in this technology I would greatly appreciate y'alls recommendations on which to buy. It seems to me that buying a phone PDA with Palm or Windows software might be the most usefull. The salesman at the computer store suggested a Palm based unit (phone or no phone) because he said the Windows operating system takes up too much of the memory in the PDA. I know there is a lot of experience on this forum in all this. What do y'all think? Which would you purchase? Please tell me of any problems with any particular unit - hardware and software. Help!
Paul

[royinidaho]

This is a hard one to address as individuals/needs/uses differ in tons of ways.

My opinion is that software usage of memory is not an consideration. I use a Pocket PC and have all of the microsoft office programs (exell, word, etc, 2 large GPS programs, and bunches of other stuff and memory is not a problem.

I have gone through the Palm phase only because my business use software is Pocket PC based.

I'd consider letting the cell phone be a cell phone and the PDA being the PDA. This in my opinion is just less confusing.

I could stick a 'thinger' in the Pocket PC and it would become a cell phone but I think there would be too many conflicts between LRH and business calls. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

The Palm will be less expensive than the Pocket PC, enough so that you could dedicate it to exbal and hunting.

A spare set of batteries could be kept warm in your pocket (properly individually wrapped) when the ones in the unit "freeze up".

The games on the Pocket PC are super during those long spells waiting for the game animals to come up to speed on the LRH plan of the day [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

My son uses a Palm cause he's cheap. I use an iPaq because the software I need dictates it.

When I 'finally' get around to getting exbal I'll most probaby get a Palm (less expensive) set it up with Exbal only and stash it in by butt pouch of the LRH rifle and leave it there.

When you buy, decide which you want and shop ebay and specials on the net. You'll be suprised on how many $ you can save for important things like bullets and powder.

[AJ Peacock]

An old Palm dedicated to exbal is what I chose, for the previously mentioned reasons. Also, my sister-in-law had an old Palm that she said I could have. I've seen them pretty cheap on Ebay as well. I have the M130 and it works great. Here is a link for one on Ebay for less than $100, unused in original box.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Palm-M130-handheld-P...tem140070282157

My cell phone is a cell phone only. In my way of thinking, it is an emergency item that can save a life, so its batteries are dedicated to only being a phone.

Hope this all helps,
Don

[wilecoyote76]

I picked up a pretty decent Dell Axim pocket PC in our local craigslist classifieds pretty cheap. I don't have Exbal yet but have downloaded a few games to play when I'm not on the desktop 'puter! I will probably pick up an SD card for data storage just as a backup. I think if you do some shopping around, you can run into some pretty good deals.

Hand warmers, muscles warmers, etc… Stick one onto the back side of your Pocket PC and you will find that the batteries last. Stick to the backside of a TDS Recon Pocket PC and the batteries will last for 15 hours of straight non stop usage.

[drpbroun5]

Thanks, all. I think I will use a dedicated Palm for my field work. Now to decide on the program to use?
Paul

[goodgrouper]

FWIW, I just loaded Exbal onto a student's phone/pda/gps and it worked very nice. He can call out with the phone if he gets in trouble (unless he has Cingular), run his gps to get his elevation, and then plug it into the pda to get his drops all on one unit. Pretty slick. I would go that way if I could stand to have a cell phone! [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]