OT: looking for a PDA Options

[Rusty]

I'm looking for a PDA, a package for no more than 300.00. No more than 300.00 means that I don't have to go buy tons of cables, memory card, case, etc.

I only want to buy one, and keep it for a while. I'd rather not get trapped into planned obsolesence.

I'm looking for one that I can use for email, if necessary. An integrated camera isn't important to me. Ability to move data to/from Outlook is important. What features should I be looking for?

For those that have PDAs and use them, do you have a recommendation of what to get, or not get?

[campbellcj]

I recently switched from the Palm/Handspring platform to an iPaq 5455 (PocketPC). The thing rocks overall, but they are definitely still a bit "bleeding edge". I would not recommend a Windows Mobile PDA to anybody who's not fairly technical, cuz there is a ton of twiddling to do with firmware and driver updates, network config settings, and so forth. I wasted HOURS the other day f*ing around with some poorly tested/documented updates from HP.

But when it works, it is really cool. I have a Bluetooth phone and I can use the AT&T GPRS data network to get 'Net connectivity from basically anywhere in the world. The model I got also has 802.11b built-in. It uses SD cards for removable storage, has a nice 320x240 color screen, and performs your basic address/task/calendar PDA functions fine (I synch to Outlook). It can play MP3's, MPEG's and WMV's (subject to its horsepower and screen size limits). Browse the web and read email. Work with MS Word, Excel, Access and Adobe Acrobat files.

You can even use a Terminal Server client to connect to other Windows boxes...so when you're out at the track in the desert and you get one of "those calls" from a customer, you can remote control a machine hundreds of miles away.

Cost is an issue but they are coming down all the time. The model that cost my company $700 earlier this year is now more like $400 street price, and that was a top-of-the-line model. The memory cards etc. just keep getting cheaper too.

There are various hardware plug-ins too. I have a jacket that connects it to a monitor, TV or projector and could do Powerpoint presentations at a customer site right off the PDA.

I am not a big Bill Gates fan, but in my personal experience the Palm based units just can't do some of this stuff, at least not as "seamlessly".