Which Pocket Pc?

[+The Mars Bars]

Help!

 

I have read the "paperless caching" thread and apart from one model mentioned by moote I am non the wiser.

Can anyone whole heartedly recommend a particular make and model

that is currently available, I need WIFI for work.

Thinking maybe IPAQ 4700 at the moment (£316)

Also best place to buy?

 

Cheers

Dave

Edited November 14, 2005 by The Mars Bars

[+Moote]

Dell Axims now have both Bluetooth and WiFi; as for what you need get one with 128Mb of memory minimum, and never, never, never listen to the Palm boys

 

Milton (aka Moote)

[+Moote]

This Dell Axim looks a good spec, take that as a base line for your purchase. Also feel free to get in touch for advice.

 

Moote

Edited November 14, 2005 by Moote

[+Learned Gerbil]

Dell Axims do seem to have some compatability problems with some software from what I read on other forums. This looks a very good spec for the price but would (as really is the case with all PDAs) check it will run the software you want to run on it.

[+The Mars Bars]

This Dell Axim looks a good spec, take that as a base line for your purchase.  Also feel free to get in touch for advice.

 

Moote

Great, now we're getting somewhere.

 

Baseline you say, what do I need to add?

 

Why is this better than the IPAQ 4700.

It's clock speed seems slower.

What is its build quality like in comparison?

 

Cheers

Dave

[+Moote]

Dell Axims do seem to have some compatability problems with some software from what I read on other forums. This looks a very good spec for the price but would (as really is the case with all PDAs) check it will run the software you want to run on it.

I think this compatibility was mainly due to early Axim running PPC 2002 and not PPC 2003, This would now not be the case as all now come with PPC 2003

 

Milton (aka Moote)

Edited November 14, 2005 by Moote

[+Moote]

Can you sill purchase a IPAQ 4700? What is the price of one?

 

Milton

Edited November 14, 2005 by Moote

[+The Hokesters]

Why compromise - O2 XDA IIs ;-)

[+Moote]

Why compromise - O2 XDA IIs ;-)

Because that is old technology, the newer XDA is much better, we are trialing them at work at the moment T-Mobile also do the same but called MDA. Top Kit XDA Exec

Edited November 14, 2005 by Moote

[+The Hokesters]

Ah Mr Moote I thought you were talking about the Dell Axim though?

 

Yes the Exec is the next gen model but not yet readily available on all networks

 

Sentiment still stands. Why buy a PDA these days that doesn't have phone and GPRS capability?

[+Moote]

Ah Mr Moote I thought you were talking about the Dell Axim though?

 

Yes the Exec is the next gen model but not yet readily available on all networks

 

Sentiment still stands. Why buy a PDA these days that doesn't have phone and GPRS capability?

Well in all honesty I'm not and will never be a fan of integrated technology, phone breaks then no PDA, where if you have 2 devices chances of both going are lesser

[+Moote]

OK looked at and read up about the IPAQ 4700, it does look like a very nice PPC and has a good spec, If I had that I know that I would not be disappointed. It might be worth comparing it with similar PDA's and remember to shop around for a bargain.

 

As I said earlier I'm always available to give PDA advice

 

Milton (aka Moote)

[+Kitty Hawk]

I've just got the wi fi Ipaq 2410 with TomTom and a Bluetooth GPS reciever.

 

I have then got and extra SD card and added memory map to it.

 

So far so good, I need to spend a little time getting the add ons sorted to load all the caches and trig points and maybe read the instructions, but the kit ticks almost every box I could think of.

[+S&G.Davison]

I have to add a +ve vote for the Dell Axim V50 ... Bluetooth works great with a Pretec Mini GPS

 

Runs Memory Map no worries and also supports SprintDB (database SW which we use for our own cache database) ....

 

To be honest not found a single piece of Sw that does not work on it

 

We used to have IPAQ and had loads of issues with the bluetooth stability .. hopefully they have that sorted now

 

G

 

PS - Q to Kittyhawk re the TomTom ... does it do one way streets right / route you on Police Safety acess roads on Motorways - I had a TTGo 700 for a week and sent it back as it sent it back as it could not handle one way streets or Police exits ...

Edited November 14, 2005 by S&G.Davison

[+Kitty Hawk]

So far so good. although it does have it's quirks - the routes aren't always the shortest/fastest but it has, so far, always got me to the place I want to arrive at.

 

Motorways - they've ironed that one out.

 

One way streets? I drive a Volvo, it's compulsory to go the wrong way down one way streets as long as you shrug your shoulders and make it appear like you don't know the area.

[+The Mars Bars]

I am in total agreement with moote.

I want a phone to be a phone.

My ipod to play music....whats the point of an MP3 on a phone..ok you listen to music and run your battery down then can't make a phone call!

My GPSr to do its job etc.

I may be old fashioned but I buy my Electricity from Manweb

and my gas from british gas etc.etc. and it all works as it should.

Not a fan of all in ones. or over miniturisation...but thats another story.

I have a GPSmap 60cs which I use for caching and does the satnav job rather well using mapsource cityselect.

I carry around a Toshiba portege 3490ct in my car but would like something a

little more portable.

So don't really need it to be a phone or satnav

Just able to run yhat GPS sonar thingy oh and memorymap etc.

Need WIFI for work as i said.

 

Cheers

Dave

[+Renegade Knight]

Dell Axims do seem to have some compatability problems with some software from what I read on other forums. This looks a very good spec for the price but would (as really is the case with all PDAs) check it will run the software you want to run on it.

I have an X50v, best bang for the buck in new PDAs with wifi. I didn't experience any compatiblity problems when it was WM 2003 SE. However having just upgraded to WM 5.0 I'm having to go back through my applications and make sure they are compliant with the newer operating system. Some aren't.

 

In other forums though I have read the about some issues wiht Dell. I just never encountered them. The OS upgrade pain so far is less drastic than what I went through going from WM 2002 to WM 2003. All that I blame on Microsoft.

[+Moote]

OK another good buy might be the Acer n50 Might not have lots of memory but will easily cope with running MemeoryMap and GPXSonar especially if you read my PDA Guide and follow the simple steps contained within. If you got this one you could buy a big SD card (1GB)and a round for all your mates in the pub and still have change for lots of chip suppers.

 

To everyone who is seeking Version 2 of the PDA guide I promise it will be worked on soon, and I will spend a greater lenght of time on it

 

Milton (aka Mooote)

Edited November 15, 2005 by Moote

[+Sue and Bernie]

Buying a pocket PC is just like buying a normal pc, there are so many options available that it becomes a real headache.

 

I had got into paperless caching through the Palm IIIxe route. This got me into the delights of using a PDA to organise the world. The only problem was the amount of clutter that had to be wedged into pocket all the time. It was getting dangerously close to male handbag time...

 

I wanted a single smallish unit that would roll up all my gizmos in one box, phone, bt (for phone and GPS), road routing, memory map et al, wi-fi for the obvious.

 

I plumped for an Ipaq H6340 - only 64 MB of memory and a single card slot but it does have the fully unlocked, quad-band phone capability which I particularly wanted. At £250 off ebay, it was a bargain (trying to get another for Sue, prices are now higher - go figure)!

 

As some-one mentioned, bt on the Ipaq has been a real pain, I have had to work out a particular sequence of pairing and software installation to get 2x BT GPS, 2x BT earpieces and a BT keyboard all working. After a lot of trial and error, the whole kit now works a dream.

 

With the bt earpieces, you can use the phone while the unit is navigating you across the country.

 

With the bt GPS units, you can use memory-map in the field.

 

With the bt keyboard, I can text the kids back as fast as they can send 'em!

[+Learned Gerbil]

So far so good. although it does have it's quirks - the routes aren't always the shortest/fastest but it has, so far, always got me to the place I want to arrive at.

 

Motorways - they've ironed that one out.

 

One way streets? I drive a Volvo, it's compulsory to go the wrong way down one way streets as long as you shrug your shoulders and make it appear like you don't know the area.

From my experience of the Harwich one way system - Dutch number plates see to be the "Wrong Way One Way" license.

Edited November 14, 2005 by Learned Gerbil

[+Naefearjustbeer]

I have an older dell pda and find the build quality is superb, We have ipaqs at work and they seem to be flimsy in comparison with poor battery life we have had quite a few with cracked screens due to ham fisted users. I have dropped my axim and the screen is fine, It got a wee bit damp once with no ill effects if I were ever to upgrade I would seriosly look at dells offerings again. Infact we have 2 dell laptops as well very happy with them.

[nobby.nobbs]

i've got a toshiba e750 with no complaints.

 

like has been said they have something new out the week after you buy it that you'll have ewanted more. that's the way of the industry. go into somewhere you trust and have a play with some and see which you prefer. that's what it comes down to mainly, not specs as most will do pretty much the same now.

[+Moote]

I have dropped my axim and the screen is fine, It got a wee bit damp once with no ill effects if I were ever to upgrade I would seriosly look at dells offerings again.

I remember Tigger of P&T fame telling me that their IPAQ got wet whilst doing the Ridgeway Run, but when it dried out again it has worked ever since, so no problem with the IPAQ. But I'm sure she'll correct me if this is wrong!

 

Milton (aka Moote)

[+Moote]

Looks like someone has hacked my account as one of my links has been changed! I have corrected that posting and changed my Password

[SlytherinAlex]

Thinking maybe IPAQ 4700 at the moment (£316)

Also best place to buy?

You should buy my Ipaq 5555.

 

Now surplus to requirements and going cheap.

 

Alex.

[+HazelS]

All I know is that we have a dell axim (not sure if it's an x50 or a D 50) and it works so much better than out IPAQ which we klept on having to reset all the time.

 

We only upgraded because we wnted a bluetooth PCC so we could use the bluetooth GPSR with Tom tom in the car without having a million wires everywhere!!

[+Happy Humphrey]

I have an iPAQ 4700 - it's fantastic .

The screen is amazing - you can view your digital photos on it just as if they're prints. The wifi works brilliantly. Bluetooth is no problem, so you can link it to your GPRS phone. Maps look great and scroll smoothly. The battery seems to last forever (I did get an extended battery as well, but haven't used it yet). I've had no problems with it at all - I've never been forced to reset it yet (unlike my old PDA, which was good apart from this). It's slightly heavy, but seems to be built like a tank (I haven't got round to dropping it yet) so should be robust.

 

Although it's not sold by HP any more, I'd still recommend it for the VGA screen alone (I'm not sure that you can buy another PDA with such a great screen).

 

HH

Edited November 15, 2005 by Happy Humphrey

[+Happy Humphrey]

...just to add, the 4700 has a 640x480 pixel screen - accept nothing less!

 

Well in all honesty I'm not and will never be a fan of integrated technology, phone breaks then no PDA, where if you have 2 devices chances of both going are lesser

...I totally agree. Also, you can just keep a small phone with you when you might want to make phone calls, without having to worry about the PDA. Plus, you can upgrade the phone without changing the PDA as well (and vice versa). Plus, PDA's aren't very ergonomic for phone use.

 

HH

[+The Hokesters]

[sNIP] ...will never be a fan of integrated technology, phone breaks then no PDA, where if you have 2 devices chances of both going are lesser.

Why juggle two or three devices? This was the exact reason for upgrading from an iPaq and seperate mobile phone for me. But then maybe I use my phone and PDA and GPRS more than some.

 

If you get an XDA on contract with breakdown cover they are cheap to upgrade (I will be going to next model when my contract runs out in Feb) and you can sell the old model for more that the upgrade cost. Oh and not a single breakdown since Feb this year. I have recently had it changed out though.

 

I told O2 that the keyboard had gone slack. It had a bit but the main problem was that I have scratched the old one. The replacement came by courier and I had a downtime of approximately 30 seconds when I swapped the SIM card.

 

I understand this is a matter of personal preference but I wouldn't have it any other way. And if anyone messes with my TomTom Nav.5 with BT GPSr they are DEAD!

 

I would be very interested in your review of the EXEC model Moote and an explanation of why they are 'much better' than the XDA IIs. Do I need to upgrade sooner rather than later....?

 

Si

[Sheards]

I also have a 4700, having previously owned a series of Toshiba PPC's (E310, e330 and e740). The 4700 is a fantastic piece of kit, very well put together with a glorious screen. Some people don't like the touchpad, but it works for me. It is the most stable PPC I have owned and I wouldn't be without it.

 

Iain

[+Moote]

[sNIP] ...will never be a fan of integrated technology, phone breaks then no PDA, where if you have 2 devices chances of both going are lesser.

Why juggle two or three devices? This was the exact reason for upgrading from an iPaq and seperate mobile phone for me. But then maybe I use my phone and PDA and GPRS more than some.

 

If you get an XDA on contract with breakdown cover they are cheap to upgrade (I will be going to next model when my contract runs out in Feb) and you can sell the old model for more that the upgrade cost. Oh and not a single breakdown since Feb this year. I have recently had it changed out though.

 

I told O2 that the keyboard had gone slack. It had a bit but the main problem was that I have scratched the old one. The replacement came by courier and I had a downtime of approximately 30 seconds when I swapped the SIM card.

 

I understand this is a matter of personal preference but I wouldn't have it any other way. And if anyone messes with my TomTom Nav.5 with BT GPSr they are DEAD!

 

I would be very interested in your review of the EXEC model Moote and an explanation of why they are 'much better' than the XDA IIs. Do I need to upgrade sooner rather than later....?

 

Si

Reason 1, have you ever had a music centre? Rubbish arn't they. But if you get a Cambridge Audio CD player and a ARCam amp......... Get where I am going her.

 

Reason 2, replacements take time, they are not there and then. If you need that phone number and your phone is kaput then you can retrieve it from your PDA

 

There are a hell of a lot of compromises in the multi devices some are surmountable some are not. I have spent many months evaluating these devices and my conclusion is that Phone and PDA is far superior.

 

Milton (aka Moote)

[dpoet]

I am buying a Acer n50, the cheapest i have foud it is £220 at ebuyer

http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/in...oduct_uid=83272

 

There is also the Acer n35 with satnav for car, about the same price but a bit slower

[+Sue and Bernie]

[sNIP] ...will never be a fan of integrated technology, phone breaks then no PDA, where if you have 2 devices chances of both going are lesser.

Why juggle two or three devices? This was the exact reason for upgrading from an iPaq and seperate mobile phone for me. But then maybe I use my phone and PDA and GPRS more than some.

 

I am very much a fan of integrated tech stuff! Get that Freeview built into the telly, get that DVD Burner built into the VCR along with a hard drive.

 

One thing I really like about the integration in my Ipaq is that I can look up a contact, dial direct from thre and then set it as a destination for TomTom. It's the way it should be!

 

PDAs and mobile phones are steadily converging in their capabilities anyway (TomTom on a phone etc) and PDAs with phone capability. Soon we will not be able to spot the difference.

 

I was using a LG 8120 alongside a Palm IIIxe until the Ipaq took over. The 8120 was fairly clunky on the PDA side of things so the Palm did everything I wanted on the PDA side. It was tedious having to duplicate information in two electronic boxes that both had to be carted about and both had to be regularly sync-ed with Outlook. Integrating the facilities from the 2 boxes (and adding Memory-Map too) became the clear solution....

 

...and when I buy another 1GB SD card, the MP3 player will get the boot too!

[+Sue and Bernie]

[sNIP] ...will never be a fan of integrated technology, phone breaks then no PDA, where if you have 2 devices chances of both going are lesser.

Why juggle two or three devices? This was the exact reason for upgrading from an iPaq and seperate mobile phone for me. But then maybe I use my phone and PDA and GPRS more than some.

 

I am very much a fan of integrated tech stuff! Get that Freeview built into the telly, get that DVD Burner built into the VCR along with a hard drive.

 

One thing I really like about the integration in my Ipaq is that I can look up a contact, dial direct from thre and then set it as a destination for TomTom. It's the way it should be!

 

PDAs and mobile phones are steadily converging in their capabilities anyway (TomTom on a phone etc) and PDAs with phone capability. Soon we will not be able to spot the difference.

 

I was using a LG 8120 alongside a Palm IIIxe until the Ipaq took over. The 8120 was fairly clunky on the PDA side of things so the Palm did everything I wanted on the PDA side. It was tedious having to duplicate information in two electronic boxes that both had to be carted about and both had to be regularly sync-ed with Outlook. Integrating the facilities from the 2 boxes (and adding Memory-Map too) became the clear solution....

 

...and when I buy another 1GB SD card, the MP3 player will get the boot too!

[+The Hokesters]

Reason 1, have you ever had a music centre? Rubbish arn't they. But if you get a Cambridge Audio CD player and a ARCam amp......... Get where I am going her.

 

Reason 2, replacements take time, they are not there and then. If you need that phone number and your phone is kaput then you can retrieve it from your PDA

 

There are a hell of a lot of compromises in the multi devices some are surmountable some are not. I have spent many months evaluating these devices and my conclusion is that Phone and PDA is far superior.

 

Milton (aka Moote)

I disagree totally (personal pref. as I have already mentioned).

 

Otherwise why have music capabilities in mobile phones, sat/nav on mobile phones?

 

I see NO compromise on my XDA at all. In fact with the great keyboard, address book and calander that syncs with Outlook effortlessly I think it is far superior to any phone that is not trying to be a PDA as well such as the Navigator.

 

The only thing missing in mine is an integrated GPSr and a quality camera but no doubt that will be addressed in future models? Since you are in the know perhaps you can enlighten us on this?

 

I won't talk about battery power though

 

Incidentally FYI I will be replacing my Stereo System, XBox, VCR, DVD-R and tatty old Telly with a Media Centre PC and HD Flat Screen - scoff at integration I dare ya

[+The Mars Bars]

OK.

Thanks for all the advice so far.

I have narrowed it down I think to 3 possibles.

 

[A]

HP IPAQ HX4700 (4705)

624mhz

64mb SDRAM 128mb ROM

WIFI, Bluetooth

for

£321

 

or

 

Dell Axim X51

520mhz

64mb SDRAM 128mb ROM

WIFI, Bluetooth

for

£278

 

[3]

Slytherin Alex's Second hand Ipaq 5555

Don't know much about this yet.

 

What do you think?

 

Cheers

 

Dave

[dpoet]

I too have experience of combined devices breaking down.

The Acer i'm looking at will connect to my phone by bluetooth.

I also change my phone every year. My current phone nokia 6600 is due to be changed in march. There is also the problem the more you build in the more it eats the battery

[+walkergeoff and wife]

Those of us on fixed incomes can only read this thread with envy, and then go back to our Palm Vx, GPS 12, 23 year old tuner-amp, 12 year-old CD player...........

 

But we still have great fun with them all!!

[+Pharisee]

I think I must be some sort of dinasaur....

 

I do use an integrated GPS/PDA.... the Garmin iQue 3600. A Palm PDA which is superb and does everything I need. It's quite fast too; using Cachemate, it'll sort out the nearest caches from a database of 8500 records in 70 seconds. The in-car navigation is as good if not better than the TomTom products I've had a play with.

 

I use a Legend (the old monochrome one) for finding a cache.

 

I have a mobile phone but my (very cheap) contract does not include any 'multi-media' or GPRS stuff. It does have WAP access but I very rarely use it.

 

The phone camera hasn't been made yet that can compete with my Nikon 8800.

 

MP3....??? Why on earth would anyone want to walk about listening to poorly reproduced rubbish when there's so much to see and hear in our countryside ?

 

Nothing is blue-toothed of wi-fi'd

 

Great..... I love it!!!

[+bargee]

Those of us on fixed incomes can only read this thread with envy, and then go back to our Palm Vx, GPS 12, 23 year old tuner-amp, 12 year-old CD player...........

 

But we still have great fun with them all!!

Here, here.

 

any advice on so called old technology that has come down in price.

 

i am not prepared to spend 300 quid on a PDA

 

can you give any option for the first time user

 

i'm humming and haarrring over going paperless and have seen the benefits from a couple of cachers but i am bewidered by the compatibility and what programmes i can run and configuring it etc

 

i've had a look at moote's webguide and it looks very informative and has filled in the gaps, but more spoonfeeding needed please

 

Iain the bargee

[+Sue and Bernie]

I think I must be some sort of dinasaur....

 

...there are not many dinosaur that go around using a system of 24 orbiting atomic clocks to feed data into a hand sized, portable, battery-powered device to locate themselves to within feet of their position on the surface of the planet!

 

It just goes to show how fast stuff moves on! What you hold in each of your hands, the Palm and the Legend, were on the cutting edge just a few short years ago....

[+Moote]

OK.

Thanks for all the advice so far.

I have narrowed it down I think to 3 possibles.

 

[A]

HP IPAQ HX4700 (4705)

624mhz

64mb SDRAM 128mb ROM

WIFI, Bluetooth

for

£321

 

or

 

Dell Axim X51

520mhz

64mb SDRAM 128mb ROM

WIFI, Bluetooth

for

£278

 

[3]

Slytherin Alex's Second hand Ipaq 5555

Don't know much about this yet.

 

What do you think?

 

Cheers

 

Dave

I'd go for the Dell, but it does depend on how much Alex is selling his 5555 as if that is a bargin then it would be worth having.

[+Birders]

Word of caution: Whichever you buy treat it like eggs.. We dropped our excellent IPAQ 4150 a few days ago - just a foot or so on to the ground. It's busted and will cost £145 for a new screen.... so it's back to full paper caching for us!

[SlytherinAlex]

OK.

Thanks for all the advice so far.

I have narrowed it down I think to 3 possibles.

 

[A]

HP IPAQ HX4700 (4705)

624mhz

64mb SDRAM 128mb ROM

WIFI, Bluetooth

for

£321

 

or

 

Dell Axim X51

520mhz

64mb SDRAM 128mb ROM

WIFI, Bluetooth

for

£278

 

[3]

Slytherin Alex's Second hand Ipaq 5555

Don't know much about this yet.

 

What do you think?

 

Cheers

 

Dave

I'd go for Alex's Ipaq 5555

 

-

[+Moote]

Word of caution: Whichever you buy treat it like eggs.. We dropped our excellent IPAQ 4150 a few days ago - just a foot or so on to the ground. It's busted and will cost £145 for a new screen.... so it's back to full paper caching for us!

You not got this covered on your House contents insurance? You might be surprised, might be, worth reading your policy.

 

Milton (aka Moote)

[+Stuey]

I managed to throw my iPaq about 6 feet away from me on Dartmoor on Saturday (unintentionally!!!). Luckily for me, it landed in a springy gorse bush, about a foot away from a puddle! Lucky escape.... but it did remind me how delicate they are compared to my eTrex.

[+The Hokesters]

I have dropped both my old iPaq (Compaq version not HP) and my XDA on several occaisions (always trying to carry too much!) and have not experienced any damage apart from sratches. And always it has been at least three feet on to concrete or tarmac. But treating it like eggs is still good advice. I wouldn't boil it tho!

[+The Blorenges]

Mr B is "wifie-enabled"..... but my teeth are natural coloured, not blue....Will he need to up-grade me? Should I be concerned? MrsB

[+Pharisee]

Word of caution: Whichever you buy treat it like eggs..

I don't know whether it's Palms in particular or perhaps because its a Garmin but my iQue 3600 is as rugged as they come. When I'm out caching, it lives in the breast pocket of my camo jacket. I've lost count of the number of time I've leaned over to pick up a cache and the iQue has hit the ground with a thump after sliding out of my pocket. Doing 'Dips' in Hampshire, it slipped out and bounced all the way to the bottom of the railway cutting. Another time in Co. Durham, it bounced about 10 feet down some rocks and got jammed in a crevice. It was still working OK when I retrieved it. The case is a bit banged up and scratched but it's still hanging in there. Treat it like eggs I certainly don't

[+Renegade Knight]

A & B are good choices. C was a good PDA in it's day and would still work now. If it's got WM 2003 SE on it, it's a viable contender.

 

As an aside I'm going to be rolling my Dell X50v back to WM 2003 SE. Per Dell support WM 5 isn't yet compatible with their own device (why they sent me the upgrade disk is another thing.)