[UFO Chicago] phone + PDA combos

[Larry Garfield]

Robert B. Moses wrote:
> My boss just purchased, tried out and promptly returned a Samsung 
> SPH-i500 Palm/PCS phone (from Sprint).  It was quite a horror story 
> involving trying to hot-sync and getting fatal errors (on the palm) and 
> on the desktop (win2k), and finally the phone simply not working at all. 
> Verdict: too much time wasted already so back to the store it goes!
> 
> What this has made me wonder is, what is the state of PDA/Phone combo 
> devices?  The i500 looked like it had real potential, nice size, 
> features, etc. I have to this point avoided PDAs because I want to keep 
> the number of gadgets hanging on my belt to a minimum (Batman factor). I 
> would consider "band-wagon-on-jumping" if there was a rock solid combo, 
> but this is an area I know nothing about. What experiences do you all 
> have (Larry, I know you are the PDA fiend)?  Have you used PDA/Phones or 
> have you had better luck with separate devices? Any opinions on what is 
> better for gear heads versus simple non-techie folk?
> 
> discuss.

A fiend, am I?  *maniacle laughter*

I've used three hybrid devices to date, the Treo 270 (GSM/GPRS), Treo 
300 (CDMA/Sprint PCS), and the Samsung i300 (CDMA/Sprint PCS).  I've 
also used the Palm Tungsten W (GSM/GPRS), which is intended more as a 
wireless handheld/data device but works for voice as well.

For a phone-centric combo, my current favorite is the Treo 270/300. 
(Same device, different radio systems for different networks.) 
Especially in Chicago, the Treo 270 on T-Mobile was excellent for me. 
It's a bit large for a phone and a bit small for a handheld, but that's 
what you get for going with a combo device.  If you're interested in 
mostly a data-oriented device, the Tungsten W supports voice only via a 
hands-free set (included), but is otherwise a good unit.  See my reviews 
online for more. :-)

http://palmos.infosyncworld.com/

You may also want to take a look at the forthcoming Treo 600. 
(http://www.infosyncworld.com/news/n/3711.html)  It's not out yet, and 
at this rate may ship under the Palm brandname after their merger (or 
whatever the brandname is they go with for the merged company), but it 
looks sweet, has all the latest toys, and Handspring is known for 
well-thought-out devices.

For me, though, I much prefer a split-device setup.  I just recently 
jumped on the mobile phone bandwagon, since it turned out to be cheaper 
than getting a landline (or at least about the same price), and I've got 
one word for you: Bluetooth.  My main handheld is a Palm Tungsten T (on 
loan from the company, I love my job) with Bluetooth, and for a phone I 
got the SonyEricsson T68i, also with Bluetooth.  I have the Palm on my 
belt in a belt clip case, and the phone, which is quite small, in the 
lower pocket of my Dockers Mobile Pants(tm).  (The pants command me!) 
Quite a nice setup, and I don't look excessively geeky.

Bluetooth-linked devices are the future for the US market, as according 
to studies most users in the States don't want smartphones 
(http://www.infosyncworld.com/news/n/3867.html).  Bluetooth is still 
under-utilized IMHO, but it should get better as more companies support 
it in their phones and more figure out how to get a good synergy (Ah! 
It's that evil word!) between the two devices.  For more on that, see a 
column I have yet to write but plan to soon. :-)

One other note: If you get a BT phone, DON'T get the T68i. :-)  The 
radio on it is a POS.  I've used 6 phones in the last year on 3 
different carriers, all in Chicago, and this is by far the weakest radio 
I've ever used.  Being an internal antenna is probably part of it, but I 
used another internal antenna phone earlier in the exact same area and 
it was much stronger.  I've heard from some people that it's the 
Ericsson half, and from others that it's the Sony half.  I don't know 
which it is, but I'm hoping that Motorola and Nokia get better BT phones 
by the time I'm ready to get a new handset.  (Nokia has a nice featured 
one, but it has a really bizarre button layout.)

http://mobilephones.infosyncworld.com/

And just to make this message somewhat Linux-oriented, I'm pretty sure 
you can get BT working on the Sharp Zaurus line too, but I've never 
tried.  You need a BT CF card.

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-- 
Larry Garfield			AIM: LOLG42
larry at garfieldtech.com		ICQ: 6817012

"If nature has made any one thing less susceptible than all others of 
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