Looking for a good PDA under $100

[Starfalcon]

I seriously need to get better organized, so I am looking into getting a PDA. Does anyone have any recommendations for a good PDA under the magic $100.

[farfolen]

[sarcasm] HOW'S ABOUT THAT PALM ZIRE?! [/sarcasm]

[outraged]

I recently got a m105, it was 139.95 canadian, so if your talking american dollars thats around 100 dollars. Honestly i love it. I read a whole bunch of reviews on it before hand and they all seemed to complain about the screen. ITS FINE. It may be small but the font is clear and everything is easy to see. Also it has a backlight unlike the zire. Despite its lack of onboard recharable batteries (which i dont care for) id say this would be the lower end palm to get. The zire was more money, it was a no brainer for me. Id get a case though, so that might add a lil bit of cost to your purchase, but its worth it. Happy hunting.

[Dissonance]

For the life of me I can't understand the contempt people have for the Zire. I just don't get it. If you just want a basic organizer, it's great, and its hardware limitations won't bother you. The battery is nice for this, too, and something that other Palms are sorely missing at anywhere close to the Zire's price point.

If you just want to use this as an organizer, I'd go with the Zire. The 2MB memory limitation and 16MHz processor won't hinder you fo rthat, and the convenience of the battery should be nice. However, if you want to do more with your PDA than basic PIM-type stuff, you'll have to sacrifice the battery for models with expansion capabilities and more on board memory.

Sony also makes a nice low end PDA in the PEG-SL10, which has a high resolution screen, 8MB of memory, and is lighter than Palm's comparable models... you just lose the Zire's battery, but you do get a Jog dial, which is incredibly useful.

Personally, at the very low end I'd get a Zire *if* you just want organizational stuff. If you want more, skip Palm and pick up a Sony.

[etilena]

I personally own a m505... besides the flaws of the screen being too dim, I think it's a great tool.

I agree with Dissonance that if getting organized is all you need and needing it cheaply, the Zire's the way to go. It's better than the older, low end, Palm based PDAs for the fact that it has a built in rechargeable battery. Battery life is important cause I want to be able to carry my Palm around without having to worry about the battery dying on me anytime soon, or having to recharge it daily.

[primitive.notion]

Years ago, I had an Apple Newton. Everyone wanted to touch and play.

While it was cool to show off, it didn't last long. Built-in apps
were well-designed but slow. The unit itself was impractical.
Cost over $400 and had to be handled with care.

At one pound and 8" long, the Newton was having a hard time staying
in my pants. Or my coat. Yes you can buy a <a href="http://www.ripoffs.com/co58camera.htm">holster</a> but
that's more money. And people wonder what you're doing trying
to pull something out of your armpit.

Ended up selling the Newton after three months for half MSRP.
Very expensive toy.

 

Anyway, all I really need is an organizer, and I've already <a href="http://mzonline.com/python/9.html">got</a> <a href="http://www.5star-shareware.com/Business/screenshots/chameleon-clock.gif">one</a>.


Were I shopping pocket-computers, I might buy the cheapest <a href="http://www.the-gadgeteer.com/zaurus-sl-5000d-review.html" title="You can play Nethack and Scrabble on it.">Zaurus SL-5500</a>
on Ebay. Why? (1) Pocketable (2) Mini-keyboard (3) You can ssh into it and get a bash prompt.

(Wish it ran BSD instead of Linux tho.)

[outraged]

For the life of me I can't understand the contempt people have for the Zire.

I would have got the zire, cept it was more money than the m105.....I thought it was a no brainer, call me a fool.

[Starfalcon]

Thanks for all the help guys. I am just trying to get all my numbers and addresses organized so I think I will probably go with the palm. It will really beat the wad of cards and pieces of paper that is my address book now.

[BigMadDrongo]

Sorry to resurrect a thread, but I was about to ask the same question as the original poster. I get the impression the Zire would be a fairly good buy (basic organisation's all I need) - would anyone give different advice now? I'd rather not spend much more than £100. Does anyone find the Zire's lack of a backlight annoying? (I'd also like a flashy looking metal PDA rather than the Zire's iPod white, but that's not going to be a key issue in my purchasing decision )

[Alex]

I have a Zire for just basic organizing, and its been great. The battery life is better than most, and I dont find it "limiting" for my needs. I mean, Im not going to be playing any games, or listening to music, just the basics of organizing. It comes with a smaller price tag than most as well... That has to count for something.

[Starfalcon]

I ended up getting the zire, and am very happy with it. It does the job and I do not expect it to do more than keep me organized. As for the light, I do not use it in the dark, so there is no problem. It is much better than my paper system, my wallet is much smaller now.

[HowardDrake]

I got a Palm IIIxe when they were closing them out for 99 bucks. Works good for numbers and freeware games . As well as basic addresses. Although now that the Dell Pocket PC is touching 199, I'm sorely tempted to go that route. MP3 playback and color screen is tempting .

[muyuubyou]

Now the Zaurus SL-5500 is under $200 I'm really tempted to jump onto the "multimedia" side. It's a linux device anyway...



http://www.hsn.com/cnt/sf/default.aspx?sf=EC&sz=6

product link:
http://www.hsn.com/cnt/prod/default.asp ... dept=&cat=

[muyuubyou]

Holly thread resurrection, Batman!

There have been several improvements in this field, and PDAs are so xmas-friendly...

Do you guys have any updates? durability? battery? upgraded recently?

I think I'm going for a Clié next time as my old Zaurus is a battery sucker... or probably a newer Zaurus not sure...

[Hawkwing74]

Thanks for all the help guys. I am just trying to get all my numbers and addresses organized so I think I will probably go with the palm. It will really beat the wad of cards and pieces of paper that is my address book now.

What's wrong with a .txt file?

[Starfalcon]

Thanks for all the help guys. I am just trying to get all my numbers and addresses organized so I think I will probably go with the palm. It will really beat the wad of cards and pieces of paper that is my address book now.

What's wrong with a .txt file?

It is portable versus a computer file