Pager-like Handheld for Textual Input? 27
Mike Hizgaard asks: "My good old RIM 950 has suddenly died on me. This tiny, 'thumb-typing' machine was my favorite text-entry device ever, especially because I could keep it in my pocket for more than one week without recharging/replacing the battery, and then upload all my notes into a computer using an RS232 connection. Now I am looking for a replacement, and would like to get something that uses either USB, IR or Bluetooth (since my laptop doesn't have a serial port), while retaining the tiny dimensions and thumb-typing as an input method. What are my options? (I never really made use of the email functionality, which was touted as the 950's main purpose.)" Please note that USB->Serial converters do exist, so if there are any serial devices that might also work, they are still valid options. Are there any decent RIM 950 replacements out there?
There's always Ebay (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:There's always Ebay (Score:2)
Rim 950 (Score:3, Informative)
Nokia 9300 (Score:3, Interesting)
I recently bought a new Nokia 9300 [nokia.co.uk] with a mobile contract in the UK. I had the 9110 [nokia.co.uk] and the 9210 [nokia.co.uk] communicators in the past and I love the format.
The thumb keyboard is very good, and it can easily cope with SMS, emails, documents, etc. I also have a version of PuTTY installed to ssh to servers.
Okay, so the battery life isn't anywhere near as long as your old RIM950, but then almost nothing does these days. You certainly won't need a PDA if you have a 9300, it does everything in a very nice format, and at last a reasonable size that can be carried around everywhere. The 9500 [nokia.co.uk] is identical, but has a camera and wi-fi, but for me the additional bulk is far too much to pay for the limited additional functionality that I would rarely use.
In fact, I welcome the lack of a camera on the 9300, as a contractor I need to be aware that in future I may receive work at locations that object to you bringing a camera onsite, which would cause all worlds of pain with any camera phone...
-- Pete.
Re:Nokia 9300 (Score:3, Interesting)
Blackberry 7100 (Score:1)
7100 v. 600 on Battery Life (Score:3, Informative)
SX66/PDA2k/etc (Score:3, Informative)
I liked the interface of PalmOS 3-4 better, but there's something I didn't like about PalmOS5 and the Treo 650 that I'm not remembering, so I went with this one instead.
The capabilities of this thing are amazing: one device and I have my phone, PDA, MP3 player, portable Internet browser, IR remote control, 802.11b scanner... The battery lasts longer than you'd think, and it's interchangeable so you can always have 1 in the charger and switch them out when it gets low, aside from constantly charging whenever it's in the cradle.
The only downside is that it's $500+. Every once in a while you can find one on eBay for $400 or so.
Re:SX66/PDA2k/etc (Score:2)
It sounds just about perfect for me--specifically the lack of a camera. I'm glad it lives up to the hype--but how do you mean 802.11b scanner? We're not talking kismet here, right, just open access points?
Re:SX66/PDA2k/etc (Score:2)
I haven't heard much about the new version coming out (PocketPC 2005 or perhaps they gave it a new name, there was an article here a while back about the announcement), but I wou
Serial - IR Converters (Score:1)
Text Pagers... (Score:2)
if you don't mind larger... (Score:1, Interesting)
Motorola's 2-way pagers (Score:3, Informative)
Tungsten C (Score:3, Interesting)
Nokia 6820 (Score:1)
Zipit (Score:2, Informative)
Nokia 6820 (Score:3, Informative)
Someone mentioned the Nokia 9300, but that's a little too large for my tastes...
R
Treo 650 (Score:3, Informative)
i wonder if... (Score:1)
both advertise and market as RIM/RIM.
Sony Clie UX40/50 (Score:2)
Cheers yo!
BillyBob
buy 40 of them (Score:1)