Color PDA vs. B&W

[phillybabe]

---

Members do not see this ad.

I'm having a hard time deciding between Sony Clie SJ30 & SJ20. My budjet is low and these seem to be the best for the money (under $300). I dont think I will be using the PDAs for anything more than the usual med school stuff. The only diff between the two is SJ30 is color and SJ20 is B&W (and $100 less). I was wondering if color PDA is useful for third and fourth years. I'd appreciate any opinions from current 3rd and 4th years.

 

[BenHoganFan]

I am trying to determine if color is worth using also. I was looking at the Pocketradiologist titles but most images are black and white. The deciding factor seems to be the resolution (ie 320x320) versus the color/black and white issue.

Check out www.pricescan.com or www.dealtime.com you may find a better price than your local store.

 

[southerndoc]

Color is nice, but it sucks up your battery life.

Most programs do not take advantage of color though... so most of the time you're stuck with a "modified B&W" for your program.

 

[Chris_P]

There are a few programs that have colour pics included - the OHCM is one. . Its likely that most new references will make use of colour - derm and opthalmology references etc but at the mo there's not much out there.

I've heard that Sony are bringing out a new SJ10/20 replacement (SJ33) that will be colour to be their 'entry-level' handheld so could be worth waiting. Check out the gossip on www.cliesource.com

Battery life is certainly something to take into account if your going to be using you PDA for long periods (eg on the wards).

My advice would be - if you're on a limited budget stick to a cheap and cheerful SJ20 or even SJ10. There's not really enough colour medical texts out there to justify getting a colour screen yet.

 

[QHamp]

One of the guys at our local Circuit City warned me that color PDAs, because of their higher resolution, tend to burn out more quickly than the black and whites. I ended up buying a B&W Handspring Platinum off of Ebay for about $100.

 

[paean]

I use a B&W, and the only program I've ever wanted that I couldn't use was a dermatome map. Not worth the price difference as far as I'm concerned. Mostly, you will be using it for text based references, so color isn't necessary.