PDA help, if you please

  • Thread starter Thread starter TB
  • 5 comments
  • 925 views
TB

TB

Space Lord
Moderator
Messages
35,799
United States
Downtown North Dakota
Messages
Cy-Fi
My wife is currently going to school to get her Masters degree in Nursing and in looking at some of the requirements, on the list is a PDA. This is where my fellow GTP'ers come in. I've never owned, used or even so much as touched a PDA any less had to pick one out for someone. Some of the things she/I'm looking for are:

  • Must be capable of running Epocrates
  • Must be simple to use
    • My wife won't like using it if it's a pain to navigate menus and programs
  • I'd imagine most of them will, but it'd be preferable if it would sync with our Vista laptop
  • VERY preferably not a Smartphone
    • Currently our cell service is through Tracfone. We hardly ever use them, but it's nice to know they're there when they're needed. That said, getting a new phone and having to pay for service would be ridiculous for us.
I'm sure there are numerous other points I'm missing (like price, keyboard vs. touchscreen, etc.) but I'm choosing to leave those out for the time being until I get some more info to steer me in the right direction.

So... steer away.
 
Thanks for all the suggestions, guys! :p

It looks like I may have talked my wife into an iPod touch. I've come to understand that Apple typically releases the next gen during the first few weeks of September so I'm going to hold off and see what they come out with.
 
My own take (from looking at the Epocrates "Find your device" button) is that I prefer Windows Mobile phones or PDAs, which puts me in a minority. Strange, because they sync with your desktop Outlook seamlessly, and they work in a manner you're used to if you use Windows, and have 35,000 times as many apps as the other platforms. If you're a Mac person, than the iPhone is what you need, probably. I wouldn't worry about the Palm OS, but I'm ignorant of what's on the new PRE.

A non-connected PDA like an iPAQ would run the app, but getting connectivity over a LAN (wi-fi) might be difficult, depending on where it's used. You have to connect to the wi-fi LAN and get to servers from there, as opposed to web-based services over the cell system. OTOH, wi-fi is free and fast, and data plans are priced different ways, usually by how much byteness you pump through them.

I despise Blackberry phones. I hate them. I find them completely and totally useless. Except for email. They're very good at email. You want anything else you have to buy something for them. But I hate not having a touch screen, and the Blackberry that has a touch screen absolutely sucks raw eggs.

Not that I have any opinion on the matter . . . .
 
wfooshee
My own take (from looking at the Epocrates "Find your device" button) is that I prefer Windows Mobile phones or PDAs, which puts me in a minority.
Click to expand...
Initially, I also though a Windows Mobile PDA (we currently have no use for a smartphone as she has made *checks* 59 calls for a total of 1:11:20 (yes, just over one hour) in the last year (I'm not much better at 75 calls for 1:47:11 in 16 months). In looking, the Touch will do everything she needs the device to do and she'll be able to use it to watch movies while she exercises instead of our Zen (2.5" 4:3 screen vs. Touch's 3.5" 3:2).

wfooshee
A non-connected PDA like an iPAQ would run the app, but getting connectivity over a LAN (wi-fi) might be difficult, depending on where it's used. You have to connect to the wi-fi LAN and get to servers from there, as opposed to web-based services over the cell system. OTOH, wi-fi is free and fast, and data plans are priced different ways, usually by how much byteness you pump through them.
Click to expand...
Which is another plus for the standalone PDA vs. smartphone - not having to pay for a data plan. Wi-fi connection at home won't be an issue as I have wireless for the PS3, a TiVo and 2 laptops (plus various other wired connections), so adding another devices MAC won't be an issue. The hospital also has wi-fi, so connection at work isn't a problem, either. Besides, I believe it only needs to connect at most once a day to check for updates.

wfooshee
I despise Blackberry phones. I hate them. I find them completely and totally useless. Except for email. They're very good at email. You want anything else you have to buy something for them. But I hate not having a touch screen, and the Blackberry that has a touch screen absolutely sucks raw eggs.
Click to expand...
I've heard enough complaints from our IT guy at work to stay away from the Blackberry. And I've also heard the same they're-good-at-email-but-not-so-good-at-the-rest from others, as well. I shan't have one in my house anytime soon.

Thanks, wfooshee! :cheers:
 
Having an iPhone, I would think the Touch would work pretty well. I find my phone very easy to use and there is a ton of support for it with varies apps and what not. I'm pretty sure you can get just about every app on the Touch as you can for the iPhone. I know there are some that require the data network to work, but I'm guessing 95% of them are kosher to use.

Try out the touch screen keyboard though first, it's a little hard to get used to I think. Also if you do end up getting one get a slim, hard case for it and some sort of screen protector because otherwise it'll get trashed with finger prints and scratches. You could even go with an Invisible Shield, which coats the entire device in a thin film of virtually indestructible plastic.
 
I picked up a 16Gb Touch this afternoon and loaded Epocrates onto it. Works like a charm. 👍
 

Latest Posts

Back