Low end PDA

[Green 3]

looking through the topics, it seems for a low end PDA i want a palm based device....

The m125 looks nice, but would a m130 be better because it has a color screen?
Or are there any other low end PDAS in that price range?

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Green 3 on 2002-04-06 05:43 ]</font>

[Dissonance]

Color isn't necessarily better; personally, I find it an unecessary drain on battery life, at least for what I use a PDA for. In any case, the color screens, especially what's found on the m130, are pretty crappy anyway.

Heck, for cheaper than the m130 you can get Sony's sweet PEG-T415, which is B&W, but has a high resolution screen, and is the thinnest PDA to date.

IMHO, the m130 is a total waste. Check the T415 if you can spend that kind of money, otherwise, the m125 is a pretty good deal since Handspring's looking to exit the straight PDA market.

[R2P2]

Well shoot, Dissonance, thanks for raining on my parade. I was so set on getting an m130, and here you are calling it a "waste". Have you used one very much? I've heard lots of people saying that its screen is better than the one on the m505 (which apparently DOES suck) and close to the one on the m515, as long as you're indoors; the backlight is always on, so outdoors the screen can get a bit too lit. If you've tried an m130, did you try changing the backlight power? It's got a high and low, and the low wasn't too impressive on the display unit at Staples, but high was pretty nice.

I saw in another thread that you tried a T415 at Comdex; have you gotten your hands on another one yet? I've heard it needs pretty good lighting to for the screen to be visible, and the backlight makes it kind of a lousy bluish color; I'd probably go blind if I tried to read it on the bus, or at least get a nasty headache.

I don't really see the high-res screen being all that useful; I checked one out at Futureshop, and it seemed like most programs just scaled everything up, instead of putting more stuff on the screen. Yeah, the fonts were smoother, but so what? And the hardware buttons are just teensy. On the other hand, it is a hundred bucks cheaper than the m130.

[Dissonance]

Unfortunately, Sony keeps stonewalling me over a T415... bastards. But I've played with it a few more times, and I've checked out the M130 as well, so here are my thoughts:

The T415's screen isn't nearly as bright as that of the M130, and of course it's not color either. However, I find the higher resolution really nice for document/spreadsheet apps, moreso than I find color nice for such applications.

So yeah, it all comes down to priorities. The T415 still gets my pick over the M130 because it's cheaper, slimmer, lighter, and I'm in love with the jog dial and high resolution. The batteries probably last longer than the M130, too.

The M130 is a pretty sweet deal if color is your thing, though. It's probably a heck of a lot nicer for games, or any kind of imaging. For me, those factors aren't that important, or at least not as important as what the T415 gives me. So the M130 isn't at the top of my list, but that doesn't make it a bad choice.

Then again, this is from a guy with a Matrox G550 in his main PC, my priorities dont' necessarily reflect those of the masses.... or the sane