Follow Slashdot stories on Twitter

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror
×
Handhelds Upgrades Hardware

A Handheld for a Primary Computer? 67

Posted by Cliff from the simplifying-the-tech dept.
fromtheblueline asks: "As the last of her children leaves the house for college, my mother is planning on ditching her desktop, cable internet and landline in attempts to simplify and reduce bills. She doesn't use her PC for anything more than occasional emails and online purchases and her cell phone has pretty much made her landline obsolete. She emails me asking if there is a handheld that could replace these devices. I don't own one, don't need one (my SE616 and Powerbook is plenty), and really never bothered to research one. A quick search for anything decent reveals prices close to, or over, a low end notebook. As for access, unless she searches for open wifi points, I can't imagine mobile service being anymore competitive than a cable/DSL line coming into a house. Any recommendations, Slashdot?"
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.

A Handheld for a Primary Computer? More

A Handheld for a Primary Computer?

Comments Filter:
  • Tell her that she can ditch the utilities but keep the PC as a backup/data entry device.

    This is true no matter what device she uses.
    • I was thinking they should just keep the entire setup as is, and the kids should pitch in on the bills. That way, they will have access to the Internet when they visit mum. The kids *are* planning on seeing mum again aren't they?

  • What about a mobile instead (Score:5, Insightful)

    by boogy nightmare ( 207669 ) on Friday March 12, 2004 @06:58AM (#8541679) Homepage
    Instead of Getitng a Handheld pc why not consider a newer Mobile phone, Both the Sony p800 (older) and the newer P900 come with opera built in, they would need no wireless point as they obviously use gprs to connect to the internet, you can also set up mailboxs on the phone to connect to your email servers. To a lesser extent you might also want to consider the Nokia 6600 (what i have) as it does almost all of the above but cheaper than the p900 (but not touch screen)

    Just an idea anyhow....

    • I'm the (proud?) owner of a P800 for the last year.

      Opera over GPRS is *great*, but some sites will not look good on that small a screen no matter what you do. The handwriting recognition is very good to excellent depending on the size of letters you usually write. The built-in email client is good but nothing special, as it is built as an extension to the SMS tools, however it handles multiple receivers and attachments very good. The calendaring and addressbook tools are of high quality.

      The touch-screen i

  • Get her a laptop (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Will Sargent ( 2751 ) on Friday March 12, 2004 @07:05AM (#8541699) Homepage
    You could get her a handheld, but it really wouldn't be worth the trouble when writing an e-mail.

    If she really wants to stay mobile and wants "small and light" then get her a TR series Vaio [vaio.net]. If she's not a computer user, get her an 12 inch iBook [apple.com].

    Neither of them are cheap, but it'll be easier than doing tech support the next time she drops it...

  • Bluetooth and GSM (Score:4, Interesting)

    by KingJoshi ( 615691 ) <slashdot@joshi.tk> on Friday March 12, 2004 @07:11AM (#8541716) Homepage
    If your mother has a bluetooth enabled cell phone, then with T-Mobile at least, she can get access to the internet for $20 a month (plus costs for regular services) through the cell phone and share that access with other bluetooth enabled devices (laptops, PDAs, etc). I guess she could check email and stuff on the phone too, though smartphones are kind of expensive right now and most cell phone screens are kind of small.

    I've used my PDA to check the web and email, but repsonding on it is a serious chore. She could just enable her desktop for bluetooth with a usb device.

    I'm going on a road trip later this month and I plan to do that. Get a usb bluetooth enabler for my laptop and get the data service from T-Mobile. I guess it's partially the geek factor, but that's just cool to be able to connect to the internet almost anywhere I am. Check directions, road conditions, weather, lodging, food, etc. Plus, I still want to read slashdot :)
    • That will work fine, and if you have a IR phone (such as the Ericsson R520m) you don't even need BT, although it's a lot more convenient. This week I got an HP iPAQ H4355, and typing on the thumboard is actually quite acceptable, even for longer emails. It also makes it a lot easier to enter all those awkward internetty characters that are a pain to enter with a stylus. Plus, it's got WiFi, which is da bomb ;->.

      Incidentally, you can get T-Zones Pro for $9.99 and enjoy practically the same unlimited acce

  • Notebook (Score:2, Insightful)

    by peragrin ( 659227 )
    It's simple really, find her a small notebook, or tablet pc. If she has no probelm with the small screen, go for light weight. True a notebook is bigger than a handheld, but a tablet pc is right there. As for Net access drop down to dial-up. It won't blaze through the net but for general surfing, and email is still acceptable. Make sure it has a wi-fi card, and network card, so she can bring it anywhere and use someone elses network when she wants.
    • The write-up said she was ditching her land-line.

      Dial-up is a very poor value anyway, if in order to use it, you have to pay for a landline you wouldn't otherwise have a need for..

      Cost of land-line after the many US taxes: ~ $20/month
      Cost of average dial-up Internet service: ~ $20/month
      Total cost: $40
      Total utility: Very little, assuming you have no use for the land-line (this includes me). Sluggish speeds.

      Cost of cable Internet in most areas: $45/month
      Total utility: More, since you aren't wasting half yo

  • PocketPC okay, not great (Score:5, Interesting)

    by NanoGator ( 522640 ) on Friday March 12, 2004 @07:35AM (#8541840) Homepage Journal
    I spent a couple of weeks using a modern (like less than 6 months old) PocketPC via 802.11b. My results were mixed. I used it for browsing Slashdot and reading the occasional email. Can't say I'd want to do a lot of heavy duty stuff with it, though. It didn't really understand the concept of doing more than one thing at a time. I don't mean multitasking, it did that quite well. I could only open one email at a time, or browse one page at a time, etc. That may not matter to you but it bugged the hell out of me. (not to mention that most sites didn't render on IE readably..)

    If all she really does is type the occasional email, then a PocketPC + Bluetooth (using her phone to send the mail out...) + a keyboard for it may not be all that bad. But if she does anything more, she'll ache for her PC again.

  • Follow your own lead... "I don't own one, don't need one (my SE616 and Powerbook is plenty)..."

    Snag an old laptop off ebay and get a PCMCIA phone card to hook into that cellphone service.

  • Been there, Done that (Score:5, Insightful)

    by kalidasa ( 577403 ) * on Friday March 12, 2004 @07:59AM (#8541959) Journal
    Not worth it. Get a little laptop. I have a Tungsten C, and now I mostly use it for the same things I used my Handspring for. Better to put the money toward a 12-in. iBook - most of the Apple stores have an older G3-based one available for something on the order of $800, and the Apple web store has them for that under "special deals." They're not the latest and greatest, but they're a lot faster and more usable than a handheld.
    • If all she wants to do is surf the web and do e-mail, find an old Pismo book. They'll still run OS X just fine - I've spent quite a bit of time on a Pismo powerbook runnin 10.2.3, it wasn't any worse than a newer iBook.) It's plenty fast for surfing the web and all that, and would probably cost about as much as a handheld. Be a lot easier to use, too.
      • Pismos are 14" screens, right? Bigger than the 12" white iBook, so less portable. Also, for a complete computer newbie, I don't know whether it is worth it to pay $500 for a used computer on Ebay (that might have who knows what problems) versus a new one from a store that provides support, etc. for $300 more. And I can't say I understand what makes a Pismo easier to use than an iBook. But still a good thought.

  • Second hand or refurbished laptop (Score:1, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward
    For her uses, a second hand or refurbished laptop is the best value. Way better than any palmtop, unless she really needs to carry it around all the time. See if you can find a nice used Pismo or Wallstreet Powerbook, they do everything she needs and are better constructed than the newer iBooks.
  • I highly recommend a Sidekick from T-Mobile. It does it all: Phone, Internet, E-Mail, etc. And it's the entire 'net, not the cheesy mini-pages that the sites put up. It's at a decent price too, I believe $30/mo for unlimited data tranfer.

    • Re:Sidekick and alternatives (Score:2, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward
      I've consider the color sidekick for a while. But, I decided to tail it for now.

      http://www.t-mobile.com/products/overview.asp?p h on eid=195184&class=pda.

      It's your simple phone/browser (no javascript)/email pop3/aim/games with full querty keyboard.

      I've considered it, b/c it does html, not wap. It's being truly mobile with internet. NY prices has it 50/month:
      $19.99 60 Minutes N/A 500 Minutes
      Sidekick Unlimited
      With Sidekick Unlimited service, you'll enjoy unlimited e-mail, AOL(R) Instant Mes
      • T-Mobile (or Verizon, if you go with them) have *absolute control* over what software is on your Sidekick. If you install something they don't like, THEY can remove it without telling you and you have no way of preventing it.

        For me, this makes the Sidekick a non-option.
    • I'll have to second this. I use mine constantly, it is really nice to be able to communicate with any method, anywhere. You get AIM, SMS, email, web, etc, all unlimited use for $20 + your cell plan (I have unlimited internet + 1000 minutes for $60/month). The phone itself cost me $175 at Circuit City. You can get it cheaper at Amazon, but I usually want a warranty plan on anything with an LCD screen.

      The nice side effect is that now people use IM or email to contact me instead of calling. That way they

  • Wait for PDAs with VGA screens (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Jacco de Leeuw ( 4646 ) on Friday March 12, 2004 @09:01AM (#8542230) Homepage
    PDAs with VGA screens are expected in the next few months. These should make tasks such as browsing websites much easier. The Zaurus SL-6000 will a VGA screen. The Toshiba e800 already has one.
    • I have a c700 - the screen is beautiful - 640x480 gloriousness, bright vibrant colors.

      itty bitty little screen.

      It's fine for me, I enjoy it - but I don't expect most average users would like 640x480 in such a small screen - I'd recommend she get an older style 90 libretto or some such over a new fangled pda with a 640 screen you could hide in your hand, unless she's sure she could use it (i.e. check it out in person, try it, etc.)

      That said, the thumb keyboard is the best damned thumb keyboard I've even h
    • The Toshiba e800 already has one.

      Not really... from the Toshiba website: "...the Pocket PC e800/805 features a bright, 4.0" diagonal (240x320) or (480x640, user switchable**) color display for easy readability both indoors and outdoors.

      **Only the ClearVue application supports this mode."

      So, its only high-res for a certain application. It is unclear whether the screen is actually 640x480 pixels, or uses software to "emulate" this resolution...
      • (480x640, user switchable**) color display for easy readability both indoors and outdoors.

        Sounds like VGA resolution to me.

        **Only the ClearVue application supports this mode."

        So, its only high-res for a certain application.

        There are utilities (read: hacks) that enable the high resolution for most applications. WM2004 should fix this.

  • Cidco makes a product called the MailStation [earthlink.net]. It's a keyboard connected to a small LCD screen for people who just want email. As it's a single-purpose device, I suspect that it's relatively easy to use.
    • It also requires a phone line, which she is dropping, because she is happy with a cell phone.

      It is possible that with a modem adapter for the cell phone, she could use the MailStation over the cell phone.
    • My grandmother had one of those things, and it was junk. Not to mention the horrible service they provide if you have a problem (as most grandmothers do with computers). She dumped that in the trash, and picked up the cheapest Dell Inspiron made ($699 at the time). I have not heard of any problems that she, or my mother, can't figure out for themselves. Which is good, because all the grandkids are 2 timezones away.

  • used laptop with wireless access (Score:3, Insightful)

    by peteshaw ( 99766 ) <slashdot@peteshaw.fastmail.fm> on Friday March 12, 2004 @09:29AM (#8542376) Homepage
    Personally, I think we still aren't to the point where a mobile phone can replace a landline, but, there are two options I can think of.

    I am ignoring the possibility of using a pda for email and shopping. You'll go blind, and input is a pain in the tush.

    So log onto ebay and get an old laptop for two or three hundred. Look for the good brands, IBM, Apple, Toshiba, and plan on buying a replacement battery. Then get a good 502.11g card for it. Use the os you wish, you can probably get knoppix running really fast, although windos 98se is ubiquitous and easy to set up. (please! no flame wars!)

    If your mom really doesn't want to have a landline, in our area you can get a pcmcia Wireless modem for a couple of hundred for the card and 79/monthly. Or consider locating the nearest Starbucks, or Panera, or University or some other hotspot where she can go have a coffee and do her occasional emailing/shopping.

    best of luck!
    --Pete
    • So log onto ebay and get an old laptop for two or three hundred. Look for the good brands, IBM, Apple, Toshiba, and plan on buying a replacement battery. Then get a good 502.11g card for it. Use the os you wish, you can probably get knoppix running really fast, although windos 98se is ubiquitous and easy to set up. (please! no flame wars!)

      Better than eBay, I'd suggest RetroBox [retrobox.com]. I bought a $35 Compaq PII from them to try out Knoppix. The only problem I've had is that I can't get the sound card to work, a
  • These are phones [silicon.com] that are kinda like a blackberry, it can retrive it's own e-mails, and you can reply to a e-mail via the voice record button. They can run both Palm OS and Windows CE. Which ofcourse has a web browser. SO!

    - Surf
    - Shop
    - E-mail
    - Talk
    - No PC, No hardline, No worries.

  • A Phone (Score:3)

    by Fizzl ( 209397 ) <fizzl@@@fizzl...net> on Friday March 12, 2004 @09:45AM (#8542470) Homepage Journal
    Nokia 7700 [nokia.com], among other things, has a full blown html/xhtml browser, imap/pop3 mail, spreadsheet, word processor, camera, music/video player and radio.
    Now, what else do you need? :)

    Disclaimer: Yes, I am involved with the company. OTOH I'm not paid to pitch this ;)

  • Mobile... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Cyn ( 50070 ) <cyn.cyn@org> on Friday March 12, 2004 @10:10AM (#8542630) Homepage
    If she already has a cellphone and plan, adding data service to it can be fairly cost effective. I know for a fact that T-Mobile offers unlimited GPRS for $20 a month if you have a $30 plan or greater - otherwise it's $30 a month. That right there is cheaper than broadband (and rightly so, it is slower of course). Verizon and others have similar plans, though most of them specify its for pda use - not laptops/etc. (which, if she gets a pda - won't invalidate the usage at all) [the idea is likely just a "you won't enjoy doing too many tasks at once on this connection"]

    That said - your mother probably still wants a full keyboard/etc. to go with things - she certainly doesn't want to be writing emails with a stylus. So unless she's big on thumb typing - you shouldn't rule out anything just because it doesn't have a builtin keyboard. Clie's are fairly cost effective, and Palm has bluetooth connectivity built into palmos 5 and above - perhaps the clamshell clie with the camera/bluetooth/wifi - uw20? I don't know if that has a separate keyboard attachment though.

    Keep in mind that she'll be getting a relatively small screen with whaever she does settle on, what specific bills is she saving on by getting rid of her desktop - that she couldn't just get a dialup account instead of broadband to avoid?
    • Actually, you can get their T-Zones Pro plan for $9.99 and you also get unlimited access. Not officially full Internet access, since it uses their WAP gateway, but it turns out that they don't actually restrict access to the internet anyway. Check out this thread on Howard Forums [howardforums.com]. People have been getting unlimited internet access for ten bucks for a while now.

  • Consider the price. (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Stavr0 ( 35032 ) on Friday March 12, 2004 @10:22AM (#8542702) Homepage Journal
    In US ballpark figures (+25% for CAD, -25% for euro)
    • Basic handheld with USB host capability) 300
    • wiFi upgrade 100
    • Extra storage CF/SD 100
    • wiFi router for DSL/Cable 100
    • USB keyboard 50
    I think the low-end or second-hand laptop is the way to go.

    And the biggest argument: No printing. Someday you'll be able to hook up a USB printer to a PocketPC, but until then ....

  • Handheld devices are just not quite there yet, unless if she's extremely minimal use. She could also find a local coffeeshop that offers free internet access via their PC or you're wireless notebook if she doesn't want to pay for access regularly. Or go in with her neighbor and split a cable connection via wireless....

    -m

  • Your ISP won't like it, but setup an AP in a neighbor's House with broadband, and get her a laptop with 802.11. You might need to play around with antennas and the like to get it working, but it is the only thing I think is worth it in the long run.

  • Sub-Notebooks (Score:3, Informative)

    by stuffduff ( 681819 ) on Friday March 12, 2004 @10:47AM (#8542898) Journal
    Fujitsu has a series called the Lifebook [fujitsupc.com] ($1.5K)and a bunch of others all the way down to the ST1000 [shopping.com] ($0.32k)
  • Ok, it doesn't have to be McDonald's but if she can locate a wifi spot in a restaurant/coffee shop close by she can just get email that way.

  • Might want to look at a Libretto, used... (or) (Score:3, Interesting)

    by rusty0101 ( 565565 ) on Friday March 12, 2004 @11:39AM (#8543343) Homepage Journal
    I see three auctions on e-bay for Toshiba Libretto's at the moment, one of them for 8 50CT's that the seller is selling at $385US (each), plus $20 s/h.

    Add a standard WiFi card, and it sounds like she would be set.

    As an option, that I am not sure I would recomend, but you could "try", I happen to like my Sharp Zaurus SL-5500. I picked up a second one for $185 plus shipping (refurb) on e-bay around Christmas, I see that there are several buy it now's for between 199, and 265 available. It has a thumb keyboard, integrated e-mail, takes a standard cf type wifi adapter, upgrade the linux os and it will take the socket low power wifi adapter, and will take up even less space than the libretto. If she would rather have a fuller keyboard, you might want to search for a zaurus sl-c750, 760, or 860 (there's an 860 for $649 at the moment.)

    These (and the Libretto) also have landscape mode displays, rather than the usual portriat of most pdas.

    My primary concerns with the 5500 are the display (portrait quarter vga) and the keyboard. The display can be rotated, but not all apps like the rotated mode, web browsing should be fine though.

    e-mail clients are built into the Zaurus. I won't claim it's the best out there, but it is workable.

    -Rusty
  • Thanks for all the insight.

    I pointed my mom over to this thread, and it seems she'll be dropping the phone/PDA idea going with a laptop.
    • Get a cheap laptop, or computer.
      Get netZero, free 10 hours per month.
      Get a mobile phone with a built in modem (most vendor as giving them away for free if you just switch to their network) and get the cable for it, you really don't need the high speed 1x stuff, if you don't mind running at 19.2K baud. //
  • At risk of sounding redundant, I also suggest an iBook or small PC laptop. They're small and easy to get out of the way (could even be stored in a desk drawer when not in use) but you don't have to sacrifice having a real keyboard and you get to have a display larger than 2 or 3 inches. :)

  • Try the Alphasmart Dana (Score:2, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward
    The AlphaSmart Dana [alphasmart.com] is exactly what your mother is looking for. It's basically a simplified laptop running the full PalmOS. Instant on. Full keyboard. Has two USB ports and can print directly to USB printers. Can browse the web, and several good email clients are available for it. One model has built-in WiFi. These are neat little machines.

  • they're all designed with "hosts" in mind (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Myself ( 57572 ) on Friday March 12, 2004 @05:07PM (#8547012) Journal
    WinCE devices aren't designed to run solo, they have to have a "partnership" with a "host" to do things like install software. I had an iPaq for a week before the cradle arrived, and I was trying to install the drivers for the CF wireless card. I had the Dual-CF sleeve for it, with the ma701 in the top slot and a 64-meg flash card in the bottom slot.

    I figured I could download the driver package and load it onto the CF card at a desktop machine with a reader, then move the CF over to the ipaq, unpack it, and install it. No such luck. The driver ships as a win32 .exe file which then loads the drivers onto the portable via the sync cable. Whose assinine idea was this? (don't answer, I already know!)

    Not that I would've wanted to use an iPaq as my primary machine anyway, even with a foldup keyboard, the screen's too small and the viewing angle is terrible. However, there are a pair of WinCE devices I could imagine using as an everyday machine: The IBM Workpad z50 [pconline.com], and the Vadem Clio [pdabuyersguide.com] (a.k.a. Sharp Tripad) are both laptop-style PDAs, with a clamshell hinge and a full size keyboard. They both have real PCMCIA slots, CF slots, hardware serial ports, and VGA screens. Both of them get approximately 8 hours on a battery, and the z50 is available with a double-capacity battery which honestly, realistically does get 16 hours.

    Because of the WinCE codependency problem mentioned above, they're both unable to survive without occasional connection to a desktop for certain tasks. The easy solution is to ditch WinCE and run the hpcmips port of NetBSD, which boots on both of them. With a decent-sized CF card you can have a full development environment and not even need someone to cross-compile for you. That's definitely enough to be self-sufficient.

    Full keyboard, harware serial port, and 8 hours on a charge. That's a recipe for "portable serial console" if I ever heard one. Oh yeah, it also happens to be a full-fledged NetBSD machine. :)
    • WinCE devices aren't designed to run solo, they have to have a "partnership" with a "host" to do things like install software

      Not if you have a link to the installer as a .cab file or otherwise native PPC file. Just tonight, I installed some shareware on my PPC sitting in a Tim Hortons coffee shop. I surfed to the page I wanted in IE, clicked the link to the .cab, downloaded to main memory, and installed.

      That demands that you be able to download the native installer of course, but it certainly is a cas
  • I use a Palm T2 with my GPRS phone via Bluetooth. I check email quite happily on it. Surfing the web is a pain, but for basic use (getting a bit of information) it's usable.

    • My hardware is a bit different (Sony UX-50), but otherwise, I totally agree with you. The main beef I have is the speed of data transfer over my cell phone.

      The advantage, in this case, of the UX over the T2 is really just the very usable built in keyboard on the UX50.

      The UX also supports 802.11 for visits to wireless hotspots. That's a big win if you're cell phone provider lets you access their 802.11 hotspots. The extra resolution (320x480 vs T2's 320x320) on the UX might make web browsing a bit

      • The new Palm's can be very cheap. It's most impressive.

        And I have a foldable keyboard for mine - it sits in my jacket pocket and I used it whenever I'm on a train.

        WiFi would be nice tho.

  • I found this article [palmblvd.com] which might be of interest to you.

    ... Blue Dock, a PDA docking station that allows a PDA to function as a primary computing platform in a desktop environment, without the need for an additional workstation or laptop.

    I used a Palm V, a collapsing keyboard, a lame sprint cell phone and an annoyingly long pda-phone cable as my primary "system" for about nine months back in, um, 1999? 2000? I was traveling a lot, working as a freelance journalist, and it was a perfectly acceptabl

  • you have a powerbook and your mom can't afford a landline?

  • Not a PDA (Score:2)

    by Bud ( 1705 )

    She doesn't use her PC for anything more than occasional emails and online purchases and her cell phone has pretty much made her landline obsolete. She emails me asking if there is a handheld that could replace these devices. I don't own one, don't need one (my SE616 and Powerbook is plenty), and really never bothered to research one. A quick search for anything decent reveals prices close to, or over, a low end notebook. As for access, unless she searches for open wifi points, I can't imagine mobile servi

Slashdot Top Deals

Understanding is always the understanding of a smaller problem in relation to a bigger problem. -- P.D. Ouspensky

Close