New in pocket pc, need advice

[steve99]

Hello everybody;

I am new in this pocket pc technology but I am fascinated with what I think it can do.

I work in an office an a crucial part of my work is organization and communication.

I think a pocket pc can help me but I need your advice in which one could help me better.

I basically need to be able to check my e-mail when I am out of the office and use outlook as well.

I am thinking to buy an ipaq h5550.

What do you think?

[David Prahl]

Welcome to the forums! :)

One of the most hotly debated topics in the PDA community is "which device is best?" Most people, including myself, agree that everyone has different needs, and therefore different ideal devices. First of all, keep in mind that all Pocket PCs run the same operating system, and only differ in specs and form factor (shape).

A few questions:

-How do you see yourself carrying the device? (Briefcase, belt, pocket).

-Do you need/want (same thing in these circles!) an integrated phone?

-Do you have a phone right now?

-What about 802.11b or Bluetooth? Do you know what they are, and do you need them?

-What kind of price range?

[steve99]

Hello David;

-I will probably carry the PPC in a brief case but for sure not on the belt.

-I do not need an integrated phone.

-I have a phone but I plan to buy a new phone with bluetooth in order to connect to the internet with the PPC.

-The price range is around US$ 500.

-Do PPC's need modems? and if so are there PPC with modems integrated?

[shawnc]

Steve,

I would also check cnet.com and read some of their reviews. I found them very helpful in my decision.

[steve99]

Thanks;

I spent time reading the reviews on cnet. I was thinking about the ipaq h5555 but I am worried about my knowledge about PPC and that it will be a waist of money at my level.

What do you think. It is better to start small and then buy something more performant or the h5555 will be friendly enough.

[Thinkingmandavid]

steve, howdy and welcome to the forum :)
ok, the organizational part you will be able to do with any one of the models so that part is easy.
I am thinking the 4155 would be a good choice of a model because like the 55xx series you will get bluetooth and wi fi in one package.
You will have a slightly smaller screen and 64 megs of ram.
If you do not mind that then it is a good choice without having to shell out more money.
I know at best buy I have seen at recently at 404.00 and that was for the holidays, I am not for certain the exact price right now.
The blue tooth phone is good to have for net access when away from your desk and on the road taking care of business. For this to be possible, you must have service with a cell phone carrier that sells blue tooth phones. I know that cingular is offering the sony erricson t616 after rebate for 49.99 with a one year contract at the best buy stores :wink:

sharing some information on the forums will help us help you:)

[steve99]

Thank you;

So if I understand well I do not have to purchase a modem for the PPC as long as I have bluetooth in the ppc and cell phone, right?

Another concern I have is about the accessories and which brand and PPC will give me more choices.

I know, i ask very elementary questions.....

[David Prahl]

Don't worry about the questions - you're learning faster than many of us did! :D

If you're looking for a device with the best accessories and expanbility, HP/Compaq should work well. Based on what you've said, the HP iPaq 2210/2215 seems like a good fit. It has built-in Bluetooth, two types of memory card slots, and sells for about $300.

Read a great review here:
http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=13980

A keyboard review here:
http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/articles.php?action=expand,21264

What do you think?

[Air]

I would vote for

h4155 first,
then h2210 second choice.

h5000 is just too bulky.

[steve99]

Thank you guys for all this info it is very useful.

The review on the h2210 is excellent. I have the tendency to think that the higher the number of a device is (h5000>h2000) the more performat it is. I see that that is not necessarily true.

The bottom line is that since I do not plan to carry the PPC on my belt or pocket but rather on a brief case I do not mind the bulkiness.

Taking in consideration that I do not mind bulky do you think that the h2000 / h4000 series are still a better option than the h5000.

[David Prahl]

Personally I don't think you'd need all of the features of the hp 5500 series. You can easily add memory or wireless cards to a 4150 or 2215. The only thing the 5500 series has that is unique is its fingerprinter reader. A cool geek feature, but not really necessary.

You seems to really like the 5500 series - what do you find appealing or interesting about it?

[steve99]

You said it, the geek feature is pretty cool.... :drool:

One more question.

OK, lets say I have a Blue Tooth enabled phone and a PPC with bluetooth (lets say the h4150 )

Can I send/receive e-mails through my PPC without restriction as I would do it on my desktop or do I have a restriction in the size of the e-mails I send/receive??

I really want to have access to my e-mails when I am on the run as I would when I am working with my desktop.

[David Prahl]

There are really two things to consider here:

CELLULAR PROVIDER / PLAN
Again, check with your cellular provider and see what they say about surfing the web over your phone. Some providors don't allow it, some don't care, and some encourage it. It's best to check.
Also keep in mind that a minute spent surfing the web is still a minute you'll be charged (unless you have an "unlimited" plan). Data (like e-mail) might cost more than a regular phone call.

POCKET PC INBOX
The E-mail program, called "Inbox" on Pocket PCs is NOT the desktop version of Outlook. You can recieve, send, and write e-mails like you normally would, as well as download attachments. There may be a file size restriction, but I'm not sure.
The features of "Inbox" are fairly limited. I would not want to use it to check all of my e-mail, but it works fine for downloading messages and writing a few responses. If you think you'll write a lot of mail, you might think about getting a portable keyboard. Would you like me to take a few screenshots of "Inbox" in action?

WORTH READING:
http://www.geekzone.co.nz/content.asp?contentid=449

http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=21363

[Kowalski]

5555 is a waste of money i think! dont pay for extra features you wont use go for something that suits you. consider x3. a good device

[PetiteFlower]

Whether you can send emails from your ppc using a cell phone connection is dependant on your isp, whether they allow emails to be sent from connections other then theirs. Comcast doesn't allow this I know. You should be able to get emails with no problem though.