Technology Money to spend

[bryanboling5]

I need some help. I'm a nursing student with a certain amount of money to spend each year. I can spend it on anything that can be considered a school or future work expense. Because of thriftiness on my part when buying books, I've got about $660 left for this year. I will probably have a few smaller expenses, but certainly NOT $660. There is no incentive to not spend this money. I owe the hospital 2 years of employment for getting two years of money and that doesn't get reduced if I don't spend all the money. If I don't spend the money this year, I lose it. So, I was thinking about getting a new PDA.

The problem is, I've got an older PDA and I NEVER use it. I've got ePocrates and a couple of other things on it, but still never use it. I talk to several nurses who use PDAs to look up drugs or do calculations, but honestly, I don't find myself having to look up stuff that much. I would like to be able to get online, but I also don't want to get somehting like an iPhone or a Blackberry that will cost me more per month than my existing cell phone.

I was thinking if there was something good that would allow me to get online using WiFi, and could be used like a PDA for storing document (books, reference, etc) that might be cool. Any ideas? I just read a review of the Nokia 810 Internet Tablet and it looks cool, but it is Linux and I don't know anything about Linux. I don't know if you can get applications for it or if that even matters if I can get online. Any feedback you could offer would be VERY helpful!

Thanks,
Bryan

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[pharmdch]

You might consider purchasing the iPod Touch ($299). It's essentially an iPhone without the phone. It's WiFi enabled. As far as web browsing on a mobile device is concerned, there is nothing better. Email on the iPod Touch is equally impressive. Additionally, you get everything you'd expect from a traditional PDA -- calculator, calendar, contacts, notes -- plus the multimedia features -- music, photo, video -- of an iPod.

Check it out: http://www.apple.com/ipodtouch/

There is only one caveat. If you really need medical software loaded onto the device right now, your options will be limited. You can currently access the online version of Epocrates on the iPod Touch via a WiFi connection, but it's not like having the application on your device; if you need to use it frequently and quickly, it's not a great option. That said, Apple has agreed to release the software development kit (SDK) in late February, which will enable third party developers to create iPod/iPhone native programs. Given the amount of interest I've been hearing, I'm confident that Epocrates will move as quickly as possible to release a compatible version. Other medical software will also become available in the near future. It's just a question of whether you're able to wait. It might be next February before a significant number of applications are released.

Stay away from the Nokia 810 Internet Tablet. It's overpriced for what it is, and it is not really a replacement for a PDA. There's not a lot of professional medical software available for Linux mobile devices, and there likely won't be any time in the near future. In fact, I don't know of a single drug reference available for it, though I suppose you could use it to access online references. And, like I already stated, accessing online references is a poor substitute for having native applications on the device; user experience is usually less than ideal, it's slower, and there's no guarantee that you'll have access to a WiFi network every time you need to use the program. All in all, this is a very niche device that, in my opinion, is not well suited to your needs, or the needs of any medical professional.

 

[crazy_cavalier]

Stay away from the Nokia 810 Internet Tablet. It's overpriced for what it is, and it is not really a replacement for a PDA. There's not a lot of professional medical software available for Linux mobile devices, and there likely won't be any time in the near future. In fact, I don't know of a single drug reference available for it, though I suppose you could use it to access online references. And, like I already stated, accessing online references is a poor substitute for having native applications on the device; user experience is usually less than ideal, it's slower, and there's no guarantee that you'll have access to a WiFi network every time you need to use the program. All in all, this is a very niche device that, in my opinion, is not well suited to your needs, or the needs of any medical professional.

Yeah, except for one thing... an official Palm OS emulator is out for the Nokia n810. It was released by the same vendor that distributes the actual Palm OS. The nokia n810 can act like a Palm PDA. Edit: Here is a youtube link showing the Garnet Virtual Machine in action: http://youtube.com/watch?v=pzzZ1NdNduk as you can see it functions exactly like a Palm.

IMO the nokia n810 >>>> ipod touch, but I wouldn't necessarily use either one of those two as a PDA on the wards.

 

[pharmdch]

That's interesting. I wasn't aware of the Palm OS emulator for the Nokia Internet Tablet. That does make it a somewhat more versatile option than I thought. Nevertheless, I maintain that it is not the best choice. There hasn't been a major update to the Palm OS in years. It's really beginning to show its age. I just don't feel it has as much to offer as more modern options. In my opinion, the more recent Blackberry and Windows Mobile devices trump any current Palm OS device. And for that matter, I believe the iPhone or iPod Touch does, as well.

 

[DOctorJay]

You might consider purchasing the iPod Touch ($299). It's essentially an iPhone without the phone. It's WiFi enabled. As far as web browsing on a mobile device is concerned, there is nothing better. Email on the iPod Touch is equally impressive. Additionally, you get everything you'd expect from a traditional PDA -- calculator, calendar, contacts, notes -- plus the multimedia features -- music, photo, video -- of an iPod.

Check it out: http://www.apple.com/ipodtouch/

There is only one caveat. If you really need medical software loaded onto the device right now, your options will be limited. You can currently access the online version of Epocrates on the iPod Touch via a WiFi connection, but it's not like having the application on your device; if you need to use it frequently and quickly, it's not a great option. That said, Apple has agreed to release the software development kit (SDK) in late February, which will enable third party developers to create iPod/iPhone native programs. Given the amount of interest I've been hearing, I'm confident that Epocrates will move as quickly as possible to release a compatible version. Other medical software will also become available in the near future. It's just a question of whether you're able to wait. It might be next February before a significant number of applications are released.

Stay away from the Nokia 810 Internet Tablet. It's overpriced for what it is, and it is not really a replacement for a PDA. There's not a lot of professional medical software available for Linux mobile devices, and there likely won't be any time in the near future. In fact, I don't know of a single drug reference available for it, though I suppose you could use it to access online references. And, like I already stated, accessing online references is a poor substitute for having native applications on the device; user experience is usually less than ideal, it's slower, and there's no guarantee that you'll have access to a WiFi network every time you need to use the program. All in all, this is a very niche device that, in my opinion, is not well suited to your needs, or the needs of any medical professional.

or you could save yourself $200 and get a Palm Centro with so much more usability than anything from apple. if you're in medicine it's palm os or WM. all others are inferior right NOW, big potential to change in the future, however that is yet to be seen.

 

[bryanboling5]

The big problem that I'm having is, I really don't think that I'll use it much. I have a palm now and I don't use the calendar, or any of the other built in features. I've got ePocrates and I occasionally use it, but there are drug books on all the med carts in the hospital and it's just easier to use those if I need to look something up. Now, if I was a prescriber, I could see having it more. Occasionally, there are calculations, but so far, nothing I've had to calculate is that hard that I need a special calculator. Again, maybe if I was a doc?

So, I'm in this place where if I don't spend this money, I lose it and still owe them the same amount of time, but on the other hand, my nature is not to spend a lot of $$ on something I'll harldy use (esp. when there are things that I could really use that $$ for, like a few months of car payments...an HDTV...)
Bryan

 

[TMP-SMX]

http://store.apple.com/1-800-780-50...1224004/wo/pt65WbGKoQLr25dSYGH2xqaKSa2/2.?p=0

You are welcome. $999 plus tax. Live a little.