Pocket PC or Palm?

[Zevidah]

And which model do you recommend? And why? And, please, try to speak English in your responses--that compu-genius speak is lost on me.... Thanks!

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[Fin-Nor]

pocket pc
ipaq 4155

slim, powerful, easy to use.

palms are like just organizers with pages and pages of icon while pocket pc's have a "mini" pc touch to them. go try them both out, you'll see what i mean.

kinda like comparing a mac to a pc. (imo)

 

[Sessamoid]

Originally posted by bryant
pocket pc
ipaq 4155

slim, powerful, easy to use.

palms are like just organizers with pages and pages of icon while pocket pc's have a "mini" pc touch to them. go try them both out, you'll see what i mean.

kinda like comparing a mac to a pc. (imo)

obvious troll.

 

[Fin-Nor]

please tell me how this is trolling? b/c u got a palm?

did the op not ask which one is recommended and which model?

i stated my opinions, you did not. so, shut your mouth and think before you type.

 

[Kalel]

I would purchase a palm because most medical programs are currently only compatible with palms. They also tend to use less battery power as well. A few months ago, I purchased a sony clie, it was actually my second sony clie because I dropped my first one and it broke, and I have been fairly satisfied with it. I shopped around and found that sony offered the most power for your dollar. I'm not certain if this is true anymore though. I would also try to make sure that you purchase a model with as much internal memory as possible. I bought a memory card for my clie, but I never use it because it takes 3-5 seconds to load every program on it and half of my programs won't even run from it. I would make sure that you have at least 16 MB of internal memory.

 

[mfred]

Pocket PC's seem like they have more stuff (wireless, video players, internet capable, etc) than Palm, and I like the friendly windows OS (operating system). However, they are more expensive on the whole, they have a shorter battery life, and you will not find half the number of programs (especially free programs) as you will for the Palm. I got a Tungsten E from Palm and really like it. It has MP3 and a program that allows you to put powerpoints and word docs on your handheld (this feature is great in med school!).

 

[Fin-Nor]

i also own a Palm Tungsten T3 and battery does seem to drain faster in the pocket pc. maybe cuz i use it more

 

[johnnyjringo]

I swear by my Toshiba e755. 96 megs of memory, Wireless internet built in, gorgeous screen, ebooks, MP3 player....it does it all in a very easy-to-use way. And the battery lasts for days. They're about $400, which is the only bummer.
I've never had a hard time finding programs for it - all the med dictionaries (www.skyscape.com) and just about everything else comes in both Palm and Pocket PC format. At least in my (limited) experience.

Check out www.xpbargains.com for current deals on PDAs - they'll tell you who's got the best rig for the least cash.

Good luck.
--Johnny

 

[stomper627]

Originally posted by Kalel
I would purchase a palm because most medical programs are currently only compatible with palms. They also tend to use less battery power as well. A few months ago, I purchased a sony clie, it was actually my second sony clie because I dropped my first one and it broke, and I have been fairly satisfied with it. I shopped around and found that sony offered the most power for your dollar. I'm not certain if this is true anymore though. I would also try to make sure that you purchase a model with as much internal memory as possible. I bought a memory card for my clie, but I never use it because it takes 3-5 seconds to load every program on it and half of my programs won't even run from it. I would make sure that you have at least 16 MB of internal memory.

To use the memory cards correctly, get a large card (128MB +) and when you load programs onto your palm, only load the .pdb files to the card. Load the .prc files directly onto your palms internal memory. This will speed up the program, and also will eliminate the programs that cant run from a card, as all of them can run from the internal memory.
stomper

 

[dcpark74]

palm is the best choice imo

first company to come out with this product and thus has more software to support it.

also, several doctors i know swear by palm...but of course everyone has their own taste.

just a word of caution...some products like toshiba do not have microsoft compatible software such as the oh so nice convenience of documents to go which has word, excel, powerpoint, etc. very nice to have if you want to study on the go and not have to take out your binder.

 

[DireWolf]

Palm all the way (Tungsten T3). Maybe Pocket PCs in a couple years.

 

[Blade28]

Originally posted by dcpark74
palm is the best choice imo

first company to come out with this product and thus has more software to support it.

just a word of caution...some products like toshiba do not have microsoft compatible software such as the oh so nice convenience of documents to go which has word, excel, powerpoint, etc. very nice to have if you want to study on the go and not have to take out your binder.

The strictly medical programs (dictionaries, 5-Minute Clinical Consult, etc.) are generally available for both platforms. There are more FREE programs available (especially medical calculators) for the Palm, however.

Pocket PCs (such as Toshiba's Pocket PCs, one of which I possess) don't need Documents To Go because they have built-in Pocket Word, Pocket Excel, etc. (One of the advantages to having an operating system that's Microsoft-developed.) While they're obviously not as full-featured as their desktop PC counterparts, they're very compatible.

 

[Fin-Nor]

Originally posted by dcpark74
also, several doctors i know swear by palm...but of course everyone has their own taste.

doctors aren't some of the most technologically advanced ppl

 

[BubbleBobble]

Originally posted by Zevidah
And which model do you recommend? And why? And, please, try to speak English in your responses--that compu-genius speak is lost on me.... Thanks!

What would you like to use it for, and what kind of budget do you have?

 

[heldicus]

Originally posted by Blade28
There are more FREE programs available (especially medical calculators) for the Palm, however.

You can always install a distro of Linux on your PPC...you wanna talk about free software...you might not find specific medical programs, but open source rules the universe for everything else.

And I also second the notion that any medical program you would have to BUY for a palm, you can BUY for PocketPC as well.

 

[Blade28]

Originally posted by heldicus
You can always install a distro of Linux on your PPC...you wanna talk about free software...you might not find specific medical programs, but open source rules the universe for everything else.

And I also second the notion that any medical program you would have to BUY for a palm, you can BUY for PocketPC as well.

Really? From where?

 

[PTjay]

get the new Palm Tungsten E, has everything you would want/need with a nice color screen and tons of memory.

can't wait to get mine, i got my first palm (M500) for $320, the tungsten e is only $199 and blows it out of the water.

palm rules the FREE med software

 

[DOtobe]

I have a Palm Tungsten T3, and I really like it. I have found a lot of free programs for it, and it has a ton of memory (64 MB). The only thing is that the battery drains pretty fast and I have to charge it every couple days.

And it also has the pretty color screen

 

[patelakshar]

what do you think of the hitachi g1000 vs. treo 600?
http://www.sprint.com/pcsbusiness/devices/pda/hitachig1000.html

 

[ice_23]

I know I posted this before, but I might catch a few other ppl that might not have weighed in: when should I get one of these things (I am going to be an M1)?

You guys are making me want to get one soooo badly....does the scheduling really help? And the wi-fi feature of PDA's that have it (don't laugh, techies, I'm not the most technologically savvy person) only works where there is a hub, no?

-Ice

P.S. I don't mean to hijack the thread, you can keep posting about different PDA's, but it would be great if someone could answer my questions as well!

 

[BubbleBobble]

Originally posted by ice_23
I know I posted this before, but I might catch a few other ppl that might not have weighed in: when should I get one of these things (I am going to be an M1)?

You guys are making me want to get one soooo badly....does the scheduling really help? And the wi-fi feature of PDA's that have it (don't laugh, techies, I'm not the most technologically savvy person) only works where there is a hub, no?

-Ice

P.S. I don't mean to hijack the thread, you can keep posting about different PDA's, but it would be great if someone could answer my questions as well!

So, I'm a senior right now (an M0 ) and I really like the scheduling. I thought long and hard about how much money to sink into a PDA, and I came up with some conclusions:

1) Wi-Fi is really cool, but in almost instance when you would use it (for free), there will be an internet-ready computer nearby.
2) Similarly, playing MP3s is cool, but you will probably be better off getting a dedicated MP3 player, because there just isn't enough room on the PDA to store music without buying an expensive card.
3) Finally, getting a PDA wrapped up in a phone (ala the Treo 600) is neat, but I'm just the kind of person afraid of putting all his eggs in one basket. Besides, there might be places (certain hospitals, maybe), that don't allow cell phones, and you don't want to be without your PDA at that time.

In light of those conclusions, I would recommend that you buy the cheapest PDA that fulfills your needs. PDAs get much better quickly, and it's better to buy 2 PDAs a year apart for $100 each than to sink $200 into 1 PDA and hoping it will be good enough for two years.

Just my thoughts.

 

[BubbleBobble]

Originally posted by Mr Reddly
I have to agree with your conclusions. (although a port for future wifi upgrades might be a smart thing...just incase) A family member recently bought (via a reallife brick and morter store) a Clie (with a sweet color screen) for $60. I think because it was last years model and with coupons and rebates. The point is that you can get a good palm pretty cheaply if you start looking and can wait for a good sale. I also agree that in 2 years the new model will do more than what you bought 2 years earlier and will probably cost less.

Heh. I bought that same Clie for that same price, actually.

 

[BubbleBobble]

Originally posted by Mr Reddly
You're in Seattle?!? So is he! Maybe you two bought it from the same store... small world.

Whoah! This must be the place to be to get these things!