A Handheld for a Primary Computer? 67
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?"
Not the PC! (Score:1)
This is true no matter what device she uses.
Re:Not the PC! (Score:2)
Re:Not the PC! (Score:1)
What about a mobile instead (Score:5, Insightful)
Just an idea anyhow....
Re:What about a mobile instead (Score:1)
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)
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...
Re:Get her a laptop (Score:3, Insightful)
Bluetooth and GSM (Score:4, Interesting)
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
Re:Bluetooth and GSM (Score:2)
Incidentally, you can get T-Zones Pro for $9.99 and enjoy practically the same unlimited acce
Notebook (Score:2, Insightful)
Not Dial-up (Score:2)
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)
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.
Re:PocketPC okay, not great (Score:2)
Yep.. I agree "WinCE" sucks. (not the pocketpc)
Put Opie on a PocketPC, and it's very useful.
I have it on mine.
Re:PocketPC okay, not great (Score:2)
Opera for handhelds might be better, but Web surfing just plain sucks on a 320x240 screen. Pocket IE takes forever to render long pages even on a 400Mhz Xscale CPU. A browser with landscape display and more efficient rendering engine would help, but for best results stick with the sites formatted for handheld screens like at Pocket IE Friendly [piefriendly.com], but that limits you to a tiny fraction of the web.
Reading email is no problem. Writing email with the stylus sucks.
Re:PocketPC okay, not great (Score:2)
Well, Opie offers landscape mode. (otherwise known as Rotate) I use it quite often with Konqueror. Although, I must say I prefer my normal system for we surfing. I need to remake my jffs2 filesystem to have more than 16 megs in it, since I have 64mb on the iPAQ. I haven't
Follow your own lead (Score:2, Insightful)
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)
Re:Or better yet (Score:2)
Re:Or better yet (Score:2)
Re:Or better yet (Score:2)
Second hand or refurbished laptop (Score:1, Informative)
Sidekick (Score:2)
Re:Sidekick and alternatives (Score:2, Informative)
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
Major problem, re: Sidekick (Score:2)
For me, this makes the Sidekick a non-option.
Re:Sidekick (Score:1)
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)
Re:Wait for PDAs with VGA screens (Score:2)
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
Re:Wait for PDAs with VGA screens (Score:2)
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...
Re:Wait for PDAs with VGA screens (Score:2)
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.
MailStation (Score:1)
Re:MailStation (Score:2)
It is possible that with a modem adapter for the cell phone, she could use the MailStation over the cell phone.
Re:MailStation (Score:1)
used laptop with wireless access (Score:3, Insightful)
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
Re:used laptop with wireless access (Score:2)
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
Smart Phone.. to the rescue! (Score:1)
- Surf
- Shop
- E-mail
- Talk
- No PC, No hardline, No worries.
A Phone (Score:3)
Now, what else do you need?
Disclaimer: Yes, I am involved with the company. OTOH I'm not paid to pitch this ;)
Re:A Phone (Score:1)
Mobile... (Score:3, Interesting)
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?
Re:Mobile... (Score:2)
Consider the price. (Score:3, Insightful)
And the biggest argument: No printing. Someday you'll be able to hook up a USB printer to a PocketPC, but until then ....
Small laptop (Score:1)
-m
USE the neighbors... (Score:2)
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)
Get her a laptop and have her eat at McDonald's (Score:2)
Might want to look at a Libretto, used... (or) (Score:3, Interesting)
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! (Score:1)
I pointed my mom over to this thread, and it seems she'll be dropping the phone/PDA idea going with a laptop.
Re:Thanks! (Score:1)
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.
Small laptop (Score:1)
Try the Alphasmart Dana (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Try the Alphasmart Dana (Score:1)
they're all designed with "hosts" in mind (Score:4, Interesting)
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
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.
Re:they're all designed with "hosts" in mind (Score:2)
Not if you have a link to the installer as a
That demands that you be able to download the native installer of course, but it certainly is a cas
Palm solution (Score:2)
Re:Palm (Sony) solution (Score:1)
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
Re:Palm (Sony) solution (Score:2)
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.
Re:Palm Pilot (Score:2)
PDA docking station solution (Score:1)
I found this article [palmblvd.com] which might be of interest to you.
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
reduce bills? (Score:1)
Not a PDA (Score:2)
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