[TriLUG] Maybe OT: PDAs

[William Ward]

Yeah Tanner, but its terribly hard to fit even the smaller PCs into 
one's coat pocket, granted its difficult to fit an iPaq into a shirt 
pocket.

I use my iPaq for the following:
1.  MP3s
2.  PIM with Outlook on my corporate Exchange system.
3.  Wireless e-mail via cellphone and WiFi, depending on which is 
available at the location I'm visiting.
4.  E-books onscreen.
5.  Audible audio books (not onscreen)
6.  Cheesy web browsing, limited at best but sometimes useful depending 
on the competency of the website owner.
7.  Trading contact info with my Palm-equipped friends via Infrared.

Unfortunately:
1.  The iPaq's battery life is about the same as a cellular phone, 
generally needs to see a wall wart each night.
2.  The size of the iPaq necessitates a large coat pocket or holster, 
unless you leave the expansion sleeve at home - in which case you have 
no WiFi nor compactflash expansion.  The naked iPaq fits in a pocket 
with ease.
3.  The iPaq does not sync with anything that isn't Outlook.
4.  The iPaq costs a lot of money.
5.  The iPaq accessories cost a lot of money too.
6.  You're always afraid you'll break your iPaq, because it cost a lot 
of money.
7.  You rapidly realize that while the iPaq isn't particularly useful 
despite its incredible power - because everything is expensive, and you 
may have well just bought a laptop and a backpack.  While I enjoy using 
my iPaq for the things above, I wouldn't say it adds value to my life, 
certainly not enough to justify the expense.  One day i'll grow up and 
control my impulse buying - if it weren't for that, I wouldn't be 
typing this on a shiny, new PowerBook G4 computer, it adds value to my 
life.  Now if I can just get rid of all the other stuff.

In fact, I may roll over to eBay right now.  I'd rather have the $450.  
Don't overestimate the value of PDAs.  For the most part, they're 
pointless without always-on e-mail ability.  Otherwise you may as well 
shoot for the cheapest model that supports synchronizing 
appointments/contacts with your PC based organizer of choice.


Bill