Technology palmOne type pda vs pocket pc?

[jdub]

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hey all,

i am a few months from finishing my second year and i am starting to look into buying a pda.

so i wanted to know what are the relevant advantages and disadvantages to carrying a palmOne type pda vs. a pocket pc on the wards?

 

[DOctorJay]

hey all,

i am a few months from finishing my second year and i am starting to look into buying a pda.

so i wanted to know what are the relevant advantages and disadvantages to carrying a palmOne type pda vs. a pocket pc on the wards?

tons of free programs available for palm OS, not many for windows, palms are cheaper so if you lose it not as big a deal, most palms are smaller than windows based PDAs, my favorites are the Tungsten E and T3 (they just made a new T5 but i don't know about the specs of it yet).

try to find out what your program recommends and see if you can get a group buy in your class.

-J

 

[lf777]

Hi

I have a few more comments...while Pocket PCs were traditionally much more expensive, the cost-benefit ratio is currently better for the Pocket PCs, since you can get a good system with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, large color screen for about 250....

Software is evenly spread now, both platforms are really well supported. I think you should ask around, as a choice for one or the other platform is pretty much personal, as they have advantages and disadvantages...

regards,
leo

 

[DOctorJay]

Hi

I have a few more comments...while Pocket PCs were traditionally much more expensive, the cost-benefit ratio is currently better for the Pocket PCs, since you can get a good system with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, large color screen for about 250....

Software is evenly spread now, both platforms are really well supported. I think you should ask around, as a choice for one or the other platform is pretty much personal, as they have advantages and disadvantages...

regards,
leo

the above is true, i did some more looking around and heard you can get a nice Dell Axim (windows version) with wifi for like 275 or something. that sounds like a pretty good deal if your school has wifi or your hospital does. i think it's definitely going this way so if you can hold off a while longer you may be able to get an even better machine in 6 months/ 1 yr. so many choices, as long as you figure out what you're really going to use it for and match the pda to your needs i'm sure you'll be happy with whatever "brand".

-J

 

[gwyn779]

Software is evenly spread now, both platforms are really well supported. I think you should ask around, as a choice for one or the other platform is pretty much personal, as they have advantages and disadvantages...

While software choices have become more even, there's still a lot more for palm. But all the most useful stuff comes for both. I just don't like PPC because of the greater instability and higher memory/cpu requirements to accomplish the same thing. Palms are still smaller, which I really like because one of the reasons I wanted one was to reduce bulk in my pockets.

My advice for which to buy is 1) see if your hospital prefers one or the other, 2) go play with a bunch and see which you like better. Personally, I still like Palm. The wi-fi thing wasn't enough to push me the other way because it's not yet available in enough places (like most of the hospital).

 

[Crake]

There are wi-fi enabled palms too (e.g. Sony clie ux50). Windows pda's crash, palms don't. They're slower too. I'd go palm (in fact, I already have).

 

[Iamajew]

I had purchased a PDA (handspring visor) a while ago and had a LOT of difficulty wth handwriting recognition. It was slow, inaccurate, and frustrating. I'm interested in buying a palm for med school, but i wonder if there have been any improvements in the quality of the handwriting recognition software (i know graffiti 2 is standard now - how is that?). Any thoughts?

 

[mpp]

I have the Dell Axim X30 (Pocket PC) and it works great. Although if you go with straight handwriting recognition it is kind of slow and annoying. I just use the Graffiti option for entering in data. It's fast and accurate (most of the time).

The Dell Axims definitely give you more bang for the buck as you can get the fastest procssor, WiFi, and BlueTooth for under $300.

WiFi is definitely a great bonus. You'll wow the rest of your team on rounds when you can look up something in UpToDate or find the data from the latest review in JAMA regarding endocarditis treatment. Or even when you can find the capital of Latvia when something like that comes up. Not every website works with WiFi however, but UpToDate and Emedicine work great. Espn.com is not really functional on the PDA browser but if you can stand Yahoo! sports you'll be just fine.

 

[Crake]

I had purchased a PDA (handspring visor) a while ago and had a LOT of difficulty wth handwriting recognition. It was slow, inaccurate, and frustrating. I'm interested in buying a palm for med school, but i wonder if there have been any improvements in the quality of the handwriting recognition software (i know graffiti 2 is standard now - how is that?). Any thoughts?

I have a sony clie ux50 which has a keyboard built in. This sounds like it would make it big, but its actually unbelievably small; the entire unit is less than the size of a palm zire. the thumbpad/keyboard is unbelievable for text input. Too bad sony's not making these baby's anymore--look on ebay, that's where I ended up getting mine.

 

[passlineandodds]

let me preface this by saying that i think pda's on the wards are overrated with the exception of drug formularies. i think it is more important to be able to have important information in your brain and not your pocket. furthermore, if you have too look something up, you should know how to do it by searching appropriate and evidence based sources, not clicking away on your handheld.
i have an hp ipaq 4155 which weighs less than 5 oz and fits easily inside the pocket of my scrubs. it is loaded with features like wi-fi, bluetooth, pocket word, excel, outlook, and internet explorer. i am on the interview trail now for residency and it has proved to be a valuable resource. the handwriting recognition is pretty good and i can take notes with it fairly well. for $25 i downloaded a program that converts dvd's into files that can be stored on an sd card so now my pda doubles as a portable "dvd" player! in addition, i bought a belkin gps receiver for $140 on buy.com and now i never get lost in new cities when going to interviews.
the argument that palm has more software options is less viable now as there are plenty of downloads available for pocket pc's (see www.pocketpc.com). also, i had a palm before and i was not too impressed with the software that was out there. the last straw for me was when palm discontinued its wireless service for the VIIx.

 

[Fin-Nor]

http://www.freewareppc.com/

a link for all you ppc lovers...

i hated my palm. the name ppc says it all.

pocket pc vs glorified organizer. IMO of course.

 

[athena21]

so which one is better for the wards--dell axim 30 or axim 50...and then with the 50--is the one with graphics better to get?

help! the discounts end in 5 days!