What PDA Would You Recommend?

kinetix asks: "I'm in the market to buy a PDA, and I've basically narrowed it down to the ever popular Palm Vx or the very cool Xircom Rex 6000. I would like to ask the /. community, what they think about these (or any other) PDAs, especially about which interface better with Linux?"

Agenda

[Anonymous Coward]

It's not shipping yet, but the Agenda [agendacomputing.com] looks sweet. it runs MIPS Linux (2.4-test), X11, and FLTK [fltk.org] for GUI. The software including GUI is entirely open source and they have cross-compilers of gcc and g++.

accountability in moderation.

[Wakko Warner]

I'd love to see the names of the moderators for any given post. That would really go a long way toward fixing this severely broken system.

- A.P.

--
* CmdrTaco is an idiot.

Re:I'd go for the Palm

[jamus]

Another advantage of flash rom is you can use a utility to save databases to flash, which is great if you need to reset your palm and don't have access to your synced information. I've been using Flash Pro [trgnet.com] to backup databases.

You'll have to watch out, because there are some Palms that don't have a flash rom, such as the Palm IIIe. This chart [palm.com] shows the palms that do and don't have flash (listed as "Upgradable").

If you ever need two-way paging needs, check out the Motorola Timeport 935 [motorola.com]. It has very similiar PIM applications like the Palm and can beam information too/from a Palm. Problem is, 3rd party application support is sparce.

Finally, see what your company will pay for. You may find out that the company either provides or has discounts setup for PDA's.

I'd go for the Palm

[emag]

... but probably a III series. I started out using PDAs shortly after a friend in college got the Pilot 1000 (or was it the 5000?). Being a geek, and fairly trusting, he let me play with it for a while, and I picked up the basics of Graffiti in about 15 minutes.

By the time I saved up enough play money to get one, the PalmPilot Personal and Professional were out, so I picked up a PPPro. That was about 3 or 4 years ago. It really helped me keep track of assignments for classes, student government, etc.

It wasn't until I got to into the working world (and grad school part time), that I really started using it for anything "serious". I found using the Memo app for taking notes in meetings and classes, especially with liberal use of the built-in shortcuts.

I upgraded with the PalmIII expansion card when it came out (I was running out of space w/ just 1 meg of memory). It worked fairly flawlessly once I stopped downloading a lot of the "crap" applications that are out there. (Unfortunately, you can't really tell the cream from the crap except by using it, usually)

About a year ago or so, after my girlfriend of the time kept repeatedly sitting on it (I kept it in a special pilot pouch made by a place which disappeared a few years ago), it ended up dying a slow, painful death. Resets at random times, the screen would periodically get scores of vertical lines, graffiti input would get erratic, and I'd have to constantly realign the digitizer.

I spent a few months without a PDA of any kind, and being late for meetings @ work, missing appointments, etc. I finally broke down and ended up getting a PalmIIIc after I'd been admiring a coworker's for a couple months.

In order to protect it, I purchased a RhinoSkin [rhinoskin.com] titanium slider case to protect it. They add just a little to the dimensions of the IIIc, and very little weight. Plus, I no longer need to worry about someone sitting on it. I also ended up getting a RhinoPack 2000 [rhinoskin.com] to carry everything in. It's able to hold my IIIc in case, my cellphone, 3-5 3.5" floppies (like tomsrtbt [toms.net], Debian rescue, etc).

The 8 megs in the IIIc (and IIIxe that others have recommended) is great, I haven't been able to fill it up yet. The color is fairly crisp. I really like the rechargable batteries and being able to charge from the cradle, since I was going through a pair of AAAs about every 2-3 weeks, and had to make a conscious effort to not leave my older PalmPilot in the cradle (there's a problem with them, where if you leave them in the cradle, the batteries drain...there's a few quick fixes out for that though, that involve modifying the cradle).

The other thing I like about Palms in general is that they use Flash ROMs, so it's fairly painless (if you have access to a Windows PC or a Mac) to upgrade the OS when Palm releases completely new ROM images. Apparently, Handspring doesn't have Flash ROMs in the Visor series, claiming that they'll just release springboard modules to upgrade the OS. That's great, except when you happen to want/need features in the new OS, but also want to use another springboard (pointed out by a coworker recently who bought one of the newer Visors).

Linux support (and unix in general, OS/2, etc) has been around for as long as I've owned Pilots/Palms, in the pilot-link package (usually available w/ most distros and on Palm software websites).

I'm still using the IIIc to basically organize my life, and take notes in meetings and classes still.
--

I recommend, in this order...

[Kris_J]

1. TRGpro -- I have one, they rock. The CF slot is brilliant, and TRGpro owners got/get a free upgrade to OS 3.5.
2. Palm IIIc -- the colour screen is really nice, and not just because of the colour. It's bulkier than a Vx, but I believe it's justified.
3. Any second hand PDA from a (reputable) pawnbrokers. Just go in there and find one you like, anything will do -- most of them can do anything you want if you know where to find the right 3rd party utils.

Don't count out the IIIc

[dmorin]

And I'll tell you why in one word : contrast. Forget the color, it's all about the black text on the white screen. Makes reading a pleasure! I can't stand to look at the green/black anymore. Plus you've got the 8Meg and the rechargeable batteries, so the only real difference is the size. And since most people start life by wrapping their V in one of those big titanium cases, even that's not much.

Oh, and the Omnisky modem. I'll give ya that.

compaq h3650.

[Zurk]

normally i wouldnt recommend compaq but the h3650 kicks ass. runs linux if you want otherwise is stuck with wince. good machine, arm cpu, lots of ram and expandable as all hell. great lcd too.

Recommendation: Palm IIIxe over Palm V

[Cyn]

Palm IIIxe - I just picked one up for christmas (well, my g/f and I went looking, and got one for each other). It's a wonderful toy - and after the $50 rebate and the $50 electronics gift at amazon - you can pick it up for $149 [8mb palm 2bit greyscale].

Very fun toy/tool.

The palm V series is just the IIIxe in a smaller, metallic case - fine if you want the glamour. Although, admittedly, there are no good slim hard cases for the Palm III's - the Palm V does have that going for it.

Re:Please, moderators

[dubl-u]

And just to follow up, somebody has now decided that my original post was a troll, which is a post "designed to attract predictable responses or flames" [tuxedo.org]. Given that I'm the only one to respond to it, does this mean that somebody thinks I fell for my own troll? Or was this just to demonstrate my point that some moderators are apparently clue-deficient?

Sigh.

Please, moderators

[dubl-u]

I wrote this message, and it is not a post worth a 4 or a 5 (it has now received 3 +1 funny, 1 +1 insightful, and 1 -1 overrated).

When I write posts that are worth a 4 or 5, they look like this informative post [slashdot.org], not this smart-ass jab at people who lose track of the real world while lost in a digital one.

Oh, and the obligatory on-topic content:

I've been using various Palm products since the first one, and I'm very pleased with them. For me, I love the ability to run the many third-party apps, which the Rex doesn't seem to have. I have been using a Palm V for about 18 months, and I love the metal casing and the smaller size; despite numerous drops to the pavement, I haven't broken it yet. My only gripe is the relatively small amount of memory, which the Vx solves.

Since you're a Slashdot user, you're probably the type who would enjoy being able to add and remove an endless stream of possibly useful utilities, tools, clever hacks, and games; for that reason I'd encourage you to look to the Palm rather than the Rex, which appears more limited.

But for god sake, make sure to use it unobtrusively. The next Palm user that I catch blocking the middle of a busy sidewalk while trying to figure out Graffiti will get his stylus imbedded in his fleshy parts.

I'd recommend

[dubl-u]

What Public Display of Affection [virtualkiss.com] would I recommend? Really, I don't know that I would; they make many people uncomfortable. And they often make you appear off in your own little world, oblivious to what is going on. But if you have to, I'd recommend the smallest, most modest one that meets your needs; save the heavy stuff for when you're in private.

Oh, and now that I think about it, I'd give the same advice for a Personal Digital Assistant,

Re:Agenda

[NetJunkie]

I saw one of these at LinuxWorld and wasn't that impressed. The Palm has a much nicer interface and app selection. If someone didn't tell you, you wouldn't know it ran Linux.

do you run linux?

[po_boy]

I've got both a Palm Pilot and a Rex Plus. (granted they aren't the same models you mention. They're pretty old)

In my experience, it's a lot easier to use a palm pilot with my linux box than it is my rex. There are better written apps to sync your data, load up the data, and stuff like that for the palm than for the rex.

In fact, although there is a piece of software that is supposed to sync my rex with my linux box, I cannot get it to wok at all. If that were to happen with my palm pilot, I'd use one of the half a dozen other pieces of software.

just something to think about, and the linux support for those new rex's may get better if more people buy them

(If you're one of those people that reverse-engineers proprietary protocols for things like the rex, then please buy one and help me out!)

AvantGo software for Linux...

[sjehay]

... available here [tomw.org].

Psion

[AlexA]

I highly recommend the Psion. It has a built-in keyboard, plenty of RAM, etc. I've used it for a couple of years now, it's great. I think it has all the features the Palm has, except better. The only disadvantages over the Palm are that it's a bit bigger, and a bit pricy. You can even hack it to run Linux, and there are programs out there for both Windows & Linux that will allow you to share files between your PC and Psion.

I currently have the Psion 5, which is succeeded by the 5mx which has 16MB of RAM. The 5mx is a nice trade-off between performance/features (7 series) and size (Revo).

Check out their web site here [psion.com].

Give the man/woman a cigar!

[Ravagin]

Well, not really, because tobacco smells nasty.

But Cyn is definitely right. The IIIxe is a really cool device (I've had mine since May), and probably the best Palm OS handheld out there. The Vx is, IMFFHO, a bit of a waste; as Cyn said, it's a IIIxe in a shiny case. Of course, I have big hands, so I'm a lot more comfortable with the IIIxe... I can't stand the V[x]'s shape.

As far as interface with Linux is concerned, I don' think there are too many problems... the IIIxe has a serial cradle, and I know of several Palm Deskop apps for Linux. I don't know if AvantGo has linux software, though...

-J

PalmVx

[fliplap]

Welp, it sounds like you want a nice small PDA, the PalmVx is great for me. The III series Palms and the Handspring Visor models are quite large when compared to the Vx. The Vx can be pretty expensive tho(i've seen it around $350). I think it is worth it for the size, speed, look and metal casing. A lot of people will say the metal casing is just for looks, but I've dropped it from waist level more than a few times and its fine, the Vx has very solid construction. The LiON battery is great because you can just drop your Palm into the cradle at night and never have to worry about dead batteries. And heck, it really does look good, and the metal casing feels great in your hand.

As far as syncing with Linux goes, all Palm models are able to do this using pilotlink [sourceforge.net] and if you'd like a GUI i recommend jpilot [linuxave.net]. IIRC the Rex 6000 used a scaled down version of WinCE, there is no way this is going to sync with linux. And the range of applications for PalmOS is much greater than that of the Rex 6000.

Linux support for new devices

[The Pim]

In my observation, it has been a truism that when a class of devices is relatively new or niche in the Linux world, the support for one such device is significantly better than support for any other, because the user and developer community "gangs up" on that device. Eg, the Wavelan in wireless LAN and bttv-based boards in TV tuner/video capture (though by now, many devices in both classes are well-supported). This can be frustrating if that device isn't the one you want, but it's probably for the best, since development and testing resources are scarce.

I tell you this because I think (but am not sure) that PDA's are still in this category. Though there is probably some support for just about any PDA, I'd bet that you'll have much better luck with a Palm-compatible than anything else. I'm not knocking the programmers working on other PDA's, but for now, they're shorthanded. Unless you want to help improve the support for other PDA's, buying one is risky.

Disclaimer: I am not terribly familiar with Linux PDA support. I am speaking on general terms but from considerable experience.

Re:Palm or Handspring...

[CEHT]

In addition, Visors by default come with the USB Sync. If you have a Windows machine with USB ports, then you are set. If you are using linux (not sure for BSD), you probably want to get the 2.2.18 kernel or 2.4-test for the USB support.

Gnome-pilot already support Visor Deluxe. (Of course I know, I own a visor deluxe, in Ice colour too =b)

If you want Serial Port Sync, you will need to buy it extra.

If I will buy a new PDA now, I will probably go for the Platium since it's twice as fast (33 instead of 16) and it's running PalmOS 3.5 while the Deleux version is running 3.0.1H (Handspring version).

============

Palm Vx!

[dreemkill]

i first got an m100, used it and abused it for about 3 months, really nice little device..but only 2 megs, small display, and slower processor (not that it matters really) i then got my current Vx, and i would have to say, this is the best palm pilot made. very small and compact, 20MHz dragonball, 8 megs ram, great clear sharp display.. however if you are looking for storage, i'd go with a TRGPro. they are the spittin image of a Palm 3, with the exception of a compact flash slot, that can take up to a 1gig ibm microdrive.

Consider a Visor

[maetenloch]

I was debating whether to get a PDA earlier this year and finally decided to get a Rex-3 since they were so cheap (~$35). The Rex isn't bad especially if you want a pda that'll fit in your front pocket. But ultimately I got frustrated with not being able to add info on the fly, and bought a Visor. So far it's been great, and the larger size hasn't been a problem. So far I haven't felt limited by the 2MB memory, but I could see how this would be annoying if I were downloading huge files. For ordinary tasks, it's sufficient. I mainly picked the Visor because it has the springboard and it's a lot cheaper than the Palms. Plus it takes AAA batteries (these last abot 4 weeks) which frees you from the charger. In the long run I think you'll be happier with a Palm-based PDA. There's more software available, and it's upgradable.

Size doesn't matter

[Deanasc]

A few folks have complained about the size of a Palm III verses a V. I carry a III arround in my jeans pocket no problem. In fact it's smaller then the Cannon digital camera I keep in the other pocket. I understand the Compaq's are pretty big compared to any Palm device.

I'm a student so it's no big deal for me to wear jeans or shorts with deep pockets every day. So I guess if you had to you could get a belt clip and be like Batman.

BTW I chose a Palm vs the other PDA's as it seemed to have the best handwriting recognition for my way of holding a pen. However I wish the whole screen could accept text instead of the lower box. The Rex's tiny onscreen keyboard would piss me off pretty quickly but maybe that's because I'm used to the grafiti.

Re:Size doesn't matter

[Deanasc]

I use grafiti because I don't want to carry arround an extra device. If I wanted a keyboard I'd buy a PSION or VIAO.

Re:Size doesn't matter

[Deanasc]

I meant when comparing the Palm III to the V. I know the Rex is tiny compared to either of them. If space is truly a premium then get the Rex but for me whatever fits a pocket is small enough.

Palm or Handspring...

[Menacer]

Well, looking at your message, it's pretty safe to assume that you want a black-and-white PDA, either for the money or the battery life, so my recommendations would be either the Palm IIIxe [palm.com] or Visor Platinum [handspring.com] or Visor Deluxe [handspring.com].

I've personally never seen the advantage of paying a lot more money for a Palm Vx, when all you get is the "sleeker" look (which isn't that grand if you have it in a leather case like I keep my Palm IIIxe in, anyway), and the LiIon battery, which I don't particularly like. I haven't spent but maybe 5-10 dollars on AAA batteries since I bought my IIIxe back in August.

Keep in mind that you'll also be paying about $200 more for your Vx, since they're listed at $399, and IIIxe's are now going for $199 thanks to a Christmas rebate [palm.com]. All in all, I like my Palm IIIxe, and I'd recommend it to anyone looking to buy a Palm.

On the other hand, I also like the looks of the Visors. The Springboard Modules [handspring.com] look like great add-ons, and the Platinum [handspring.com] runs at twice the clockspeed of normals Palms and Visors, meaning you might not get those slowdowns when playing pinball (darn it all!). You'll be paying an extra hundred dollars over the Palm IIIxe's price, but you'll still save over a Vx.

The Deluxe [handspring.com] also looks nice, with the same Springboard capabilities, with the lower price and lower clockspeed. It's still $50 more expensive than the IIIxe thanks to Palm's rebate, but I was always amazed that the Deluxe was the same cost, when it had more features (included the m100's changeable faceplate, yay :-| ).

Unfortunately, I can't answer your questions about Linux interface.. I can only give details of my experiences in the handheld world.

Overall, I can personally recommend the Palm IIIxe [palm.com], since it's been a dream to use, and it's on sale. However, if I was going and buying a new PDA right now, I, personally, would look into the Handspring [handspring.com] market.

Menacer

My recomendation..

[cmowire]

I'm leaning towards getting a compaq h3650 when my current one dies. Yes, it's not a Palm, which is what everybody else, and probably for very good reason uses. I just like having a little more PC-like capabilities in my pocket. I have a Philips Nino right now. It's old, monchrome, discontinued, and the paint is slowly flaking off, but I actually use the nice audio hardware for grabbing interesting sounds without the trouble of carying a tape recorder.

But back to why the Compaq would be nice. Why? It has an optional clip-on PCMCIA card slot. Therefore, Wireless Ethernet is possible. Therefore, there's not a lot of difference between your PDA and the PADDs on Star Trek. ;)

Of the two that you mentioned, get the Palm. But consider other options.

Re:Size doesn't matter

[nukebuddy]

Deanasc:
BTW I chose a Palm vs the other PDA's as it seemed to have the best handwriting recognition for my way of holding a pen.
Why are people using grafitti instead of the Twiddler2 [handykey.com] for Palm input?

Re:Agenda

[chrisdrum]

interesting that you need a windows machine to sync it with...