Need recommendation / in Germany

[emtopp]

Hi guys -

I'm an American chick in Germany and am looking to combine my beloved iPaq Pocket PC with a cell phone (I found my way over to this forum from the Packet PC thoughts forum). I currently have the T-Mobile compact MDA and hate it, not least because it seems that it will be a giant pain to convert the language from German to English :evil:

Also, the phone part is just not enough like a phone for me. I need something that alerts me better to missed calls and feels more like a phone when you hold it. So I'm thinking I'd be better off going in the direction of a smartphone, which is a phone first and pocket PC second, isn't it?

Any recommendations as to which one(s) I should be looking at first? An absolute requirement is that it have a stylus, which is my data entry method of choice. I'm sure that limits things quite a bit! Of course being in Europe it has to be a GSM tri band. And it's gotta be able to have the OS language switched to English (I could always get an American one too from eBay.com and have someone bring it to me here, so it doesn't necessarily have to be sold here, just work here).

I am not a giant geek (although my DH is) so I only have very basic needs - phone, contacts, appointments, tasks and lists, basic MS Outlook stuff. If it doesn't have the latest whatever, that's fine by me. My computer is a Mac, but Ihave Pocket Mac software, so I'm not worried. (Anyone know different?)

I use a pre-paid SIM card that I can use in any network, so that isn't an issue. Am willing of course to check out non-Microsoft (e.g. Symbian) phones..

Thanks in advance :D

[Mike Temporale]

So I'm thinking I'd be better off going in the direction of a smartphone, which is a phone first and pocket PC second, isn't it?

Any recommendations as to which one(s) I should be looking at first? An absolute requirement is that it have a stylus, which is my data entry method of choice. I'm sure that limits things quite a bit!

Ya, Smartphones are a phone first and Data second. However, you're going to have a hard time finding a true smartphone that has a stylus. First off, there are no Microsoft based Smartphones with a stylus. They are all Pocket PC Phone Editions - which you are already familiar with. Outside of the Microsoft arena, there is the treo and a SE P900 or something that have a stylus. However, once they have a stylus they tend to be more of a data first device. You'll have the same limitations as your current PPC-PE device.

It might not be what you want to hear, but if you want a true phone feel, anything with a stylus won't do it for you. I hope this has been somewhat helpful. 8)

[emtopp]

You're kidding, not one has a stylus?? I was so hopeful after seeing one on the SE910 8O

But thanks for letting me know...

[Mike Temporale]

You'll find a stylus on the SE910's, Treo's and what not. But those are more PDA than phone. The phone is really a secondary element on those. IMHO.