iPAC vs. Palm Pilot vs. Blackberry [Archive]

BlueAndWhite

03-20-2005, 01:52 PM

Well, the term "Palm Pilot" is a bit outdated but I guess with Sony and Toshiba's departure from the "PDA" game, the name fits a little better.

Blackberry's belong in a different category altogether, so I'll start with the iPaq and Palm Pilot.

iPaq and Palm Pilot are misnomers -, iPaq is the brand name for PDAs made by HP. Palm Pilot used to be the brand name for PDA's made by Palm (they've since switched the name brand to Tungsten and Zire).

Right now, the three major players in the PDA game are Palm, HP and Dell.

Dell's PDA's (called Axims) and HP (called iPaq's - which they are now switching over to just a numerical brand name i.e. RDz100) used the Pocket PC format. Palm's PDA's use the Palm format.

The difference ? Dell and HP use Windows Mobile 200X as their OS (i.e. - everything looks like a mini windows). Palm uses their own OS. With an HP and Dell, you'lll get Pocket Word, MSN, Pocket Excel, Pocket Media Player, Pocket Outlook included with Windows. With a Palm, you'll get alternative versions of that software.

As a person who has lots of hands on experience with both Palm and Pocket PC devices - the Pocket PC versions are much more stable, easier to sync and are compatible with more software. Palm's input recognition software isn't as great as well (Palm devices are the ones that have the small dark grey region at the bottom of the screen; for text input via the stylus)

If you want a PDA- I'd stick with a Dell/HP - unless you want a QWERTY keyboard. Palm is the only company to offer a PDA witha QWERY keyboard.

So what's a PDA good for ?

Well, for one you can take notes in class in mini Word, you can carry files of all types with you, listen to MP3's, watch videos, surf the internet (most of them come with Wi-Fi), check your e-mail (as long as you have a Wi-Fi connection), schedule appointments, and a host of other things.

The Blackberry on the otherhand, I am as familiar with.

The key difference between the two, is that the Blackberry device must be connected to a wireless cellular provider in order for you to check your e-mail and surf the net. The Blackberry can also act as a cell phone. The older Blackberries used to have a QWERTY keyboard as well, however they were rather bulky and their phone features were not as great.

The newer Blackberries (not sure if they are available in Canada yet) are a great convergence device but they have a weird keyboard format (they are referred to as "smartphones"). Blackberries have their own unique OS.

There is also another device that is similar to the new Blackberries (7100 series and greater), and that is the Treo 650 +. It is another smartphone, but it contains a full sized QWERTY keyboard. It uses the Symbian OS (which is a take on the Palm OS). The Treo has been out for a year or two now, and it had the market share over the older Blackberries by a significant margin. Hence, the need for RIM to come out with the new Blackberries (7100 series)

There is a serious push towards these smartphones and the elimination of PDAs (though this is speculation on my part). There are some other great smartphones out there, including the iMate JAM, PDA2K, Siemens SX66, Sony Ericssion 9100. BenQ, and Samsung, HP are coming out with smartphones in the near future. It must be noted that certain models are of the slider feature (i.e. they look like a normal PDA, but the top half slides forward to reveal a QWERTY keyboard).

There are also "smartphones" that look more like phones than PDAs, as well. The Motorola MPX series is one example (flip phone). The tradeoff for size is that you get a smaller screen and lack of touch input (i.e. - the screen isn't sensitive to touch and you don't get a stylus pen).

So after that friggen essay, what do I reccommend ?

Well, it depends on what you want/need.

The widely available "smartphones" in Canada are the Treo and Blackberry. Sadly, these models are great at what they do (make calls, check e-mail and small net surfing capabilities) but they are limited at what they CAN do. They are also not expandble in terms of memory.*

The other smartphones that I listed are not so readily available in Canada, so you'll have to spend more money to buy them. The other models however contain more PDA like features than both the Treo and Blackberry (i.e. - they have WiFi, pocket Word and so forth).

If you are willing to spend the money to purchase a monthly plan with a wireless carrier, than I would recommend getting one of the iMate, Siemens, PDA2K.****

However, I already have a cell phone and I can't afford the monthly data plan, so I have just a normal iPaq. It works great for what I need. I'm usually on campus when I need to access the internet. The Wi-Fi allows me to check my e-mail without having to open my laptop (or on the days I don't bring my laptop to school). It is also works great for taking notes in class, checking my schedule and such. I also use it as my current MP3 player (my IPaq can support SD cards up to 2GB) and I somtimes watch videos on it. I also store course outlines, pdfs and such on it, for quick reference purposes.

So the bottom line is, if you need to be access your e-mail at ALL times AND you need a PHONE AND you can afford to purchase a monthly data plan from a wireless carrier, get a smartphone.

If you know that you'll be in an environment that has Wi-Fi (where you can check your e-mail/surf the net for free) AND you don't need a cell phone AND being able to take notes, make appointments, etc is important - get a PDA.

***The Siemens SX66, iMate, PDA2k - can work as standalone PDAs as well - so depending on the price - I'd look into getting one of these instead of a Dell/iPaq.

Hopefully my ramble helped.


	HFBoards > Non-Sports > Geek Emporium > iPAC vs. Palm Pilot vs. Blackberry PDA iPAC vs. Palm Pilot vs. Blackberry Douggy 03-20-2005, 07:25 AM I'm curious to know what people think about these things. Which do you think is the best and worst? BlueAndWhite 03-20-2005, 01:52 PM Well, the term "Palm Pilot" is a bit outdated but I guess with Sony and Toshiba's departure from the "PDA" game, the name fits a little better. Blackberry's belong in a different category altogether, so I'll start with the iPaq and Palm Pilot. iPaq and Palm Pilot are misnomers -, iPaq is the brand name for PDAs made by HP. Palm Pilot used to be the brand name for PDA's made by Palm (they've since switched the name brand to Tungsten and Zire). Right now, the three major players in the PDA game are Palm, HP and Dell. Dell's PDA's (called Axims) and HP (called iPaq's - which they are now switching over to just a numerical brand name i.e. RDz100) used the Pocket PC format. Palm's PDA's use the Palm format. The difference ? Dell and HP use Windows Mobile 200X as their OS (i.e. - everything looks like a mini windows). Palm uses their own OS. With an HP and Dell, you'lll get Pocket Word, MSN, Pocket Excel, Pocket Media Player, Pocket Outlook included with Windows. With a Palm, you'll get alternative versions of that software. As a person who has lots of hands on experience with both Palm and Pocket PC devices - the Pocket PC versions are much more stable, easier to sync and are compatible with more software. Palm's input recognition software isn't as great as well (Palm devices are the ones that have the small dark grey region at the bottom of the screen; for text input via the stylus) If you want a PDA- I'd stick with a Dell/HP - unless you want a QWERTY keyboard. Palm is the only company to offer a PDA witha QWERY keyboard. So what's a PDA good for ? Well, for one you can take notes in class in mini Word, you can carry files of all types with you, listen to MP3's, watch videos, surf the internet (most of them come with Wi-Fi), check your e-mail (as long as you have a Wi-Fi connection), schedule appointments, and a host of other things. The Blackberry on the otherhand, I am as familiar with. The key difference between the two, is that the Blackberry device must be connected to a wireless cellular provider in order for you to check your e-mail and surf the net. The Blackberry can also act as a cell phone. The older Blackberries used to have a QWERTY keyboard as well, however they were rather bulky and their phone features were not as great. The newer Blackberries (not sure if they are available in Canada yet) are a great convergence device but they have a weird keyboard format (they are referred to as "smartphones"). Blackberries have their own unique OS. There is also another device that is similar to the new Blackberries (7100 series and greater), and that is the Treo 650 +. It is another smartphone, but it contains a full sized QWERTY keyboard. It uses the Symbian OS (which is a take on the Palm OS). The Treo has been out for a year or two now, and it had the market share over the older Blackberries by a significant margin. Hence, the need for RIM to come out with the new Blackberries (7100 series) There is a serious push towards these smartphones and the elimination of PDAs (though this is speculation on my part). There are some other great smartphones out there, including the iMate JAM, PDA2K, Siemens SX66, Sony Ericssion 9100. BenQ, and Samsung, HP are coming out with smartphones in the near future. It must be noted that certain models are of the slider feature (i.e. they look like a normal PDA, but the top half slides forward to reveal a QWERTY keyboard). There are also "smartphones" that look more like phones than PDAs, as well. The Motorola MPX series is one example (flip phone). The tradeoff for size is that you get a smaller screen and lack of touch input (i.e. - the screen isn't sensitive to touch and you don't get a stylus pen). So after that friggen essay, what do I reccommend ? Well, it depends on what you want/need. The widely available "smartphones" in Canada are the Treo and Blackberry. Sadly, these models are great at what they do (make calls, check e-mail and small net surfing capabilities) but they are limited at what they CAN do. They are also not expandble in terms of memory.* The other smartphones that I listed are not so readily available in Canada, so you'll have to spend more money to buy them. The other models however contain more PDA like features than both the Treo and Blackberry (i.e. - they have WiFi, pocket Word and so forth). If you are willing to spend the money to purchase a monthly plan with a wireless carrier, than I would recommend getting one of the iMate, Siemens, PDA2K.** However, I already have a cell phone and I can't afford the monthly data plan, so I have just a normal iPaq. It works great for what I need. I'm usually on campus when I need to access the internet. The Wi-Fi allows me to check my e-mail without having to open my laptop (or on the days I don't bring my laptop to school). It is also works great for taking notes in class, checking my schedule and such. I also use it as my current MP3 player (my IPaq can support SD cards up to 2GB) and I somtimes watch videos on it. I also store course outlines, pdfs and such on it, for quick reference purposes. So the bottom line is, if you need to be access your e-mail at ALL times AND you need a PHONE AND you can afford to purchase a monthly data plan from a wireless carrier, get a smartphone. If you know that you'll be in an environment that has Wi-Fi (where you can check your e-mail/surf the net for free) AND you don't need a cell phone AND being able to take notes, make appointments, etc is important - get a PDA. *The Siemens SX66, iMate, PDA2k - can work as standalone PDAs as well - so depending on the price - I'd look into getting one of these instead of a Dell/iPaq. Hopefully my ramble helped. OurGocIsAnAwesomeGoc 03-20-2005, 07:50 PM I just purchased the Sony Clie TJ37. MP3\Movie playback, integrated digital cam, Palm OS 5.1.2, PDF viewing, WiFi enabled. I love it. koivu_11 03-24-2005, 09:24 AM get an ipaq they also have the nicest screens, easiest to see outdoors. Wags 03-31-2005, 02:01 PM Blackberries are junk...lots of problems with them from an administration perspective...Palm is becoming outdated when compared to dell/hp/etc. I am interested to see the new IPaqberry (IPaq with built in blackberry). I personally like the IPaq, as it is easy to use and active sync works most of the time. guinness 03-31-2005, 02:13 PM Dell Axim X50v 624 MHz, VGA, and a video accelerator. I have a Axim X5 which I've had for about 2 years without any problems. Runs Betaplayer really well and can run most emulators decently. Pavel 04-02-2005, 09:08 PM I've owned 2 Axims and have no complaints about either other than SD media problems in the original X5.