Good PDA?

[amdoc123]

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I know this is personal and depends on what one wants to use the PDA for, but..... what are your thoughts on a basic PDA that will be able to handle the software needed for intern year.

 

[atsai3]

I know this is personal and depends on what one wants to use the PDA for, but..... what are your thoughts on a basic PDA that will be able to handle the software needed for intern year.

In terms of PalmOS: If all you want is a PDA that will handle basic software, then a Palm Tungsten E or E2 will suffice. Tungsten E2 is basically the same as the Tungsten E, except it has a faster processor and longer battery life; and it has non-volatile memory so that if the battery runs out, you don't lose all of your data. The faster processor is not really a huge advantage, but the battery life and non-volatile memory are substantial improvements over the Tungsten E. Both Tungsten E & E2 are readily available at substantially discounted prices from online or E-Bay retailers. They have a nice form factor and sit around 4oz in weight which is just enough to create a slight bulge in your shirt pocket.

However, I like my Palm Tx, which is basically the same thing as the E2 except that it is slightly bigger and has Wi-Fi -- so I can check my e-mail during downtime. Downside is that it weighs more: 5.2oz, still fits in the shirt pocket but you definitely feel the heft.

Cheers
-AT.

 

[amdoc123]

Thanks atasai3.... guys I need more input...any input....

 

[DO_2007]

I use Treo 650 which is excellent + 2gb SD card, it makes my life easy. Medical softwares + phone + email + pager + GPS navigation + Calender + SMS ...etc

All you need for residency.

 

[Penquin-007]

It depends what you expect to do on your PDA.

If all you need is PIM software (agenda, Adress, etc.), Drugs software and 5min clinical consult, then Tungsten E or E2 is enough.

If you want to use UptoDate on your Palm, or read textbooks in Isilo format, then I would suggest a TX with a bigger screen. It is much nicer to read text with a widescreen PDA.

You also have to choose if you want a Palm PDA or Pocket PC.

 

[amdoc123]

Any opinions preferences between Palm and Pocket PC..... i am not a big fan of Graffiti and so the idea of a keyboard like the one on the Treo680 is appealing. Any user reviews on that?

 

[babyruth]

I have a Dell and it works fine. I put most of my programs into an SD card and slip it in and out when syncing for updates. I just carry Epocrates essential, 5MCC, and Dorlands dictionary and don't really need anything else so far. I also use a metal case because I drop mine a lot (clumsy) and that way I'm not worried about damaging it in my coat pockets, especially scraping my stethoscope etc. in and out of there.

 

[lurkerboy]

I use a treo 650 and I love the the treo line. Absolutely invest in a good case whatever you decide on.
You might want to wait a couple of weeks to see where things settle out re: palm,inc. there are rumors they might get bought out. The palm os (or whatever its called) is owned by another company now.
The treo has good battery life, but be careful with some of the other windows mobile devices like the blackjack, i've heard their battery life is absymal.

 

[DO_2007]

FYI

You can even download UpToDate to palm now, I just downloaded to my treo and loving it.

 

[amdoc123]

Thanks for the input. I will wait and see what happens with the Palm buyout. I was wondering about UpToDate. My institutional subscription now allows access only from the University. I dont see a link to download either??? What's up with that???

 

[DO_2007]

Thanks for the input. I will wait and see what happens with the Palm buyout. I was wondering about UpToDate. My institutional subscription now allows access only from the University. I dont see a link to download either??? What's up with that???

Actually, my school ordered DVD's for all of us from UpToDate, for the Palm OS and you can just download it to your PDA and you are good to go. You need a 1gb card though.

 

[Penquin-007]

Unless your school provides you a copy of UTD for Palm, you need your own subscription to have UTD at your home and to have a PPC/Palm version of the software.

 

[amdoc123]

For those who are using a phone+pda like the treo....is the size of the screen an issue while reading ebooks or using epocrates, 5 min consult, UTD etc.
BTW how much is a personal subscription of UpToDate.

 

[TommyGunn04]

Our hospital gave us all these HP iPaq devices. I used to use an older Palm when I was a student, and always found it to be speedy, lightweight, easy to use, and had an insanely long battery life (at least a month!). I'm VERY disappointed with the iPaq, to say the least. If I actually had to pay for it I think I would've returned it to the store. The battery life is only about 1-2 weeks, even if you barely use it (and with the Wi-Fi OFF). I was carrying it around just to have ePocrates and its associated ddx and medical reference packages, but found it to be too heavy and annoying to use. Now I just leave it at home, and use uptodate to look up anything I need. Although it's a $400 retail pocket PC with quite a bit of memory, a speedy processor, color screen, Wi-Fi, etc., it's actually quite slow to load programs. And when the battery dies you need to get it to a charger ASAP, because once the back-up battery dies it wipes the memory! Very annoying.

After my negative experience, I'd recommend going with a Palm device instead of a Pocket PC. There's more free medical software available for Palms anyway.

 

[amdoc123]

Our hospital gave us all these HP iPaq devices. I used to use an older Palm when I was a student, and always found it to be speedy, lightweight, easy to use, and had an insanely long battery life (at least a month!). I'm VERY disappointed with the iPaq, to say the least. If I actually had to pay for it I think I would've returned it to the store. The battery life is only about 1-2 weeks, even if you barely use it (and with the Wi-Fi OFF). I was carrying it around just to have ePocrates and its associated ddx and medical reference packages, but found it to be too heavy and annoying to use. Now I just leave it at home, and use uptodate to look up anything I need. Although it's a $400 retail pocket PC with quite a bit of memory, a speedy processor, color screen, Wi-Fi, etc., it's actually quite slow to load programs. And when the battery dies you need to get it to a charger ASAP, because once the back-up battery dies it wipes the memory! Very annoying.

After my negative experience, I'd recommend going with a Palm device instead of a Pocket PC. There's more free medical software available for Palms anyway.

Thanks TommyGunn

 

[THOG]

I think it's a good idea to look into pda/phones, which is what I have. I needed a new phone and instead of carrying around a cellphone and another separate device just for medical programs, I got a windows mobile 5 enabled phone with wifi etc. I use epocrates on it and can check my email, browse the web etc all in one device with less to carry around 😉 May not have as many programs available as a palm but I haven't checked and don't plan using more than epocrates anyway - anything else I can go on a real computer to look up.

 

[Adcadet]

Newer devices (Palm, PPC) use a NVRAM, which does not lose its data when the battery dies. My Dell Axim x51v uses the newer NVRAM and I can remove the battery and leave it out for an indefinite period of time without loosing data.

 

[amdoc123]

I think it's a good idea to look into pda/phones, which is what I have. I needed a new phone and instead of carrying around a cellphone and another separate device just for medical programs, I got a windows mobile 5 enabled phone with wifi etc. I use epocrates on it and can check my email, browse the web etc all in one device with less to carry around 😉 May not have as many programs available as a palm but I haven't checked and don't plan using more than epocrates anyway - anything else I can go on a real computer to look up.

Is the screen size of the pda/phone an issue. Someone who has used both??

 

[THOG]

Screen size has not been an issue for me. I used to have a larger palm device but with the high resolution and quality graphics on most pda/phones today I haven't had any problems. If you have generally have trouble reading small print then you can choose a device based on screen size but most young folk don't need to.

 

[Docxter]

One other thing to consider is that the future of the palm OS does not seem very promising. Palm has lost more than half of its market share and is not doing very well financially. It has been quite slow in releasing new devices compared to the past and has partnered with microsoft to release Windows Mobile (Pocket PC) devices (without the Palm OS) just in order to "stay alive" in the market. More and more new Windows mobile software titles are hitting the market and less and less new Palm software is being released. Not that is complete doomsday for Palm OS but things do not look good.

For those considering POCKET PC devices, realize that there is the Windows mobile OS and then there is the dumbed-down Windows Smartphone OS.

I used to use Palm like everyone else, but transitioned to Pocket PC two years ago. I was initially disappointed with the software choices and devices, but now I think I made the right choice and with all the new devices and software now available, it was the right decision. My wife who has used Palm for the last 7-8 years is now switching over to Windows Mobile.

 

[marly]

I saw one of my attendings using a sprint cellphone/ Pocket PC, so I went my Verizon dealer who gave me almost the same device (model 6700) which has a key board on the side with a reasonable size screen etc. The problem is I am not able to download any software into it 😕 was wondering if anyone else has similar experience.😳