Pda+pmp?

[kardasan]

A friend of mine is looking for a Pocket Media Player with some PDA functionality (like notes+calendar) and touchscreen or keyboard. I thought of recomending her gp2x, but unfortunately it doesn't have any of mentioned input methods. I thought of some PocketPC but I'm not really into new models and I frankly don't know what should I look for. If it is possible then she would like to do as little conversion of videos as possible. I thought of Sharp Zaurus, but as stated here it isn't very good for playing videos. I also thought of Tapwave Zodiac but they're hard to get (anyone knows how good are they at playing video?). Other thing is that here in Poland, there aren't many possibilities...ebay.de, maybe some internet shop (that would be best)

Any suggestions?

Ow! O forgot to mention that my friend doesn't have much cash so she's looking for something beneath 300-350$

 

[Fishbong]

A Zodiac would be a good choice concerning its capabilties, its an excellent PMP with highres screen and tons of usefull PDA stuff. However i can´t really recommend it, since you can only buy them used and since they´re all quite old the battery life is rather short. I don´t think there are many Zods that can run more than 2 hours from the battery anymore. I like li-ion batteries, but if they aren´t replaceable they lose a lot of their appeal.

I have no idea about PPCs, but the more powerful Palms (LifeDrive, Tungsten T series and X) are very good for watching Videos, they support lots of codecs via TCPMP and have highres screens.

You can get a Lifedrive for about 350$.

 

[nickspoon]

LifeDrives are excellent. You could never do more with a PDA. And they even come with 4GB of space.

 

[slaanesh]

I'd highly recommend a Zodiac - you can still get them from eBay new. Battery life if used just in PDA mode is excellent. Media capabilities is also excellent. Great for movies (use TCPMP), music and pictures. Zods have great high-res screens and are extremely well built little machines. Personally, I think they are under rated machines and deserve a better following than what they have.

 

[Goity]

You can actually replace the battery with a pda one though can't you?

 

[Fishbong]

Simple answer: No

Complex answer: The battery is interchangeable, but there is noone who builds or sells them. So theoretically yes, it is possible to replace it, but only with another old battery. You cannot use a PDA or cellphone battery with the same voltage, there are electronics inside the battery that are different for each type of battery, and therefor it is very improbabe that another battery would be compatible. Of course it is possible somehow, but it would require lots of electronics knowledge. And then the battery probably wouldn´t fit.

 

[kardasan]

Thank you guys, I don't know what will she choose but I appretiate your replies ^_^

 

[slaanesh]

Simple answer: No

Complex answer: The battery is interchangeable, but there is noone who builds or sells them. So theoretically yes, it is possible to replace it, but only with another old battery.

Not quite true. You can get new batteries, again from eBay. In fact these replacements hold 40% or so more charge and are really good (I've bought one myself). They are a bit expensive (US$35-50), but I use my Zod every day so I think it's worth it.

Changing them just requires the right kind of screwdriver. Then its just a matter of carefully unplugging the old battery and putting in the new one.

I use my Zod for an entire week without charging. Usage includes typical daily PDA duties, playing MAME for an hour or two, watching the odd snippet of video (say 20 minutes of Robot Chicken or Drawn Together and 2-3 syncs using Bluetooth.

 

[moz]

good ole zodiac might have to pickup a battery from ebay,

 

[Fishbong]

Not quite true. You can get new batteries, again from eBay. In fact these replacements hold 40% or so more charge and are really good (I've bought one myself). They are a bit expensive (US$35-50), but I use my Zod every day so I think it's worth it.
I use my Zod for an entire week without charging. Usage includes typical daily PDA duties, playing MAME for an hour or two, watching the odd snippet of video (say 20 minutes of Robot Chicken or Drawn Together and 2-3 syncs using Bluetooth.

Are the batteries you´re talking about new ones or are they from the old Tapwave days? If they´re new, who produces them?

This got me interested, i need a cheap PDA and the battery issue is the only thing holding me from buying a Zod. My first one died in an accident a while ago.

EDIT: Okay, i found it. http://cgi.ebay.com/2000mAh-High-Capacity-...VQQcmdZViewItem It really seems those batteries are new ones (they´re blue instead of black). They have higher capacity too... hmm, now i´m considering getting a Zod again.

EDIT2: I just asked the seller how high shipping to germany is. He answered me 5 minutes later that its just 5$ !! Sweet!

 

[kardasan]

And I've found quite cheap Palm Tungsten t5 (around 200$) ^_^. What do you think?

(no I won't show it to you because it's Polish biding service )

 

[Fishbong]

200 bucks for a T5 ? That´s cheap!

 

[icurafu]

lifedrive is awesome as a PMP because of the HDD and the screen is ok and has very good PDA tools as it is a palm. (not so sure about intergrating with outlook)

I use a HP hx4700. It's got a 4" VGA screen protected by a flipover protector. The biggest and brightest for any PDA. I could recommend that if viewing pleasure is more important. I use a 4GB sd card to watch my korean language lessons on it most days. It's a peice of crap for games. The d-pad is worthless, but the large screen makes it good for stylus only games. xcom and scummvm.

 

[kardasan]

it's not like she's into games anyway She would only read some e-books, mangas, watch animes and use calendar

 

[Fishbong]

Well, Palms are generally better for girls, since they´re easier to operate. So i´d recommend a Lifedrive, Zodiac with new battery (cheapest) or Tungsten T4/5/X.

 

[Shikaku]

Well, Palms are generally better for girls, since they´re easier to operate.

What are you trying to say here?

 

[Fishbong]

From my personal experiences, women dislike complex technology. The more simple, the better.

 

[Shikaku]

From my personal experiences, women dislike complex technology. The more simple, the better.

My mother likes my GP32.... what does that say about your postulate?

 

[Fishbong]

It proves it. Or would you consider using a GP32 complicated?
Heck, even my little sister used it from the age of 13 (mainly to read Harry Potter Fanfictions).

 

[kardasan]

That's true. I mean for most of women I know (starting from my sister ending on my friends). But it's not only women Hard working people (no...not we) also don't like complicated technology (fe. my boss).

I'm not sayiny girls are retarded or something. They just usually don't see any reason for wasting your time on learning how to use that complicated technology.