um... advice needed

[burntcopper]

all of you palm pilot/min computer owners, I'm seriously considering getting one with fold-out keyboard for November and Nanowrimo - any advice, prices, places to shop. etc?

Comments

[kitsune76.livejournal.com]

There's a thing I use called a Dana by Alphasmart - it's way chunkier than the usual Pal Pliot but it's got a built in keyboard and a long screen for good typing. It's also much tougher. The website is http://www.alphasmart.co.uk/dana/

[mingmerciless.livejournal.com]

Um. Yes, could waffle on about this for quite some time (having used, over time, Psion, Palm and Pocket PC products) but am in Singapore right now, on Uncle's PC and about to head out sightseeing. Will write more when I get back to KL. If I haven't by Sunday evening, UK time, bug me.

[mingmerciless.livejournal.com]

Right, your main options are PalmOS or PocketPC devices. Very broadly (and my opinion only so your mileage may vary), PalmOS ones have more intuitive user interfaces, better battery life, better stability and tend to be smaller and cheaper. However, PocketPCs tend to have better integration with Windows/Office applications out of the box, more memory and better multimedia capabilities.

Again very broadly, if you're looking for an electronic organiser, a Palm's probably a better bet. If you are looking for more of a handheld PC, look at PocketPCs.

[burntcopper.livejournal.com]

Think I need a PocketPC - any opinions between the Toshibas and the HP Ipac's?

[mingmerciless.livejournal.com]

Yeah, posted in your other message on the subject. They're both nice bits of kit. I chose the e740 because it was sexier and was the only one with built-in wireless LAN connectivity at the time.

[jane-somebody.livejournal.com]

I have a little Sony Vaio, one of the ones that's like a baby laptop (about the size of a video cassette) - this is excellent if you want the advantages of a 80 or 90ish% scale keyboard, decent sized screen, full word processing capabilities, and pretty much all the functions you'd get from a PC. Disadvantages: not as small or portable as a palmpilot-type affair, the normal battery-life problems of a laptop, the time taken to boot up instead of being as instantly ready as a palmpilot. It's good if you want something in between a full-sized laptop and a personal organizer, but if you already have a laptop it's probably not worth it. Feel free to email me if you want to know more.