What should I buy? (student)

[swoosh]

Hi there!
I'm new @ the PDA world and I'm seriously thinking about buying a PDA. I'm a medicine student and it could help me a lot to 'store' some medicine handbooks in a PDA so I can quickly use the information I need.

What do you recommend? I don't want a PDA too expensive, but I would like one fast and helpful in my work/study.

Regards!

[Janak Parekh]

Well, we're a Pocket PC site, so you're likely going to get recommendations you get a Pocket PC. ;)

That said, make sure the texts you need are readily available for Pocket PCs. The medical community has taken great strides in this, but historically they've had more for Palm.

Assuming the titles you want are available for the Pocket PC, there are a number of Pocket PCs that aren't that expensive yet are reasonably fast and powerful. One such unit is the HP iPAQ 1935. Fast, compact, reasonably expandable (SD slot).

--janak

[swoosh]

What's your opinion about Asus A620 BT ?

[Kati Compton]

What's your opinion about Asus A620 BT ?
It's supposed to be one of the fastest - good for emulation.

My husband has one, and I don't know that he's had anything negative to say about it.

[Janak Parekh]

Also, do a search in the forums -- we've linked to a number of reviews on the A620(BT). I believe it's a bit more expensive, but certainly looks worthwhile.

--janak

[swoosh]

Throughout the day I've been reading a lot of reviews about asus a620 and I think it is apropiate for me. As I said I want to use it mainly for quick consult of knowledge.
Thanks for all your help guys!

[Linux_Zen]

Well, arent a lot of these medical databses/programs really big? Well, I would recommend something with a Compact Flash slot for memory (a larger, cheaper media)...like the h2215:

http://www.shopping.hp.com/cgi-bin/hpdirect/shopping/scripts/product_detail/product_detail_view.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@1821229955.1073428664@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccdiadckgglhgdgcfngcfkmdflldfjk.0&product_code=901035&cat_level=1&browse_link=true

If you're on a tighter budget, I would recomment the h1935:

http://www.shopping.hp.com/cgi-bin/hpdirect/shopping/scripts/product_detail/product_detail_view.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@1821229955.1073428664@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccdiadckgglhgdgcfngcfkmdflldfjk.0&product_code=FA164A%238ZP&cat_level=1&browse_link=true

[tanalasta]

Well, arent a lot of these medical databses/programs really big? Well, I would recommend something with a Compact Flash slot for memory (a larger, cheaper media)...like the h2215:


Almost everyone who buys a pocketpc eventually buys a storage card if they use it seriously ;) You'll find that if you intend to have many medical programs / texts on your device you'll need at least a 128MB storage card. In general most medical programs average at least 2-6MB in size which isn't all that much compared to a 128kbs MP3 file for instance.

I'm new @ the PDA world and I'm seriously thinking about buying a PDA. I'm a medicine student and it could help me a lot to 'store' some medicine handbooks in a PDA so I can quickly use the information I need.

Well welcome to the community!!! :)

Before you buy a device it would be worthwhile checking what devices your colleagues (and perhaps hospital if they have a sync/database/patient program setup) are using. I agree historically many medico's have used palms because many medical programs were only for this OS but pocketpc's have pretty much caught up. Almost all programs are now available for both devices so which one to get depends on what you personally prefer and/or what your friends or institution utilizes.

The only downside is medical programs are expensive. Usually more than the hard-copy version. There are many texts which are available and both CogniQ and especially Skyscape are well known for the quality (and $50+US price) of their medical programs. Unless you have doctor parents and lots of cash, many are out of the range of the medical student's budget (well to be honest - $50US = 5 bottles of vodka). :roll:

There are various freeware medical texts/programs around of variable legality. Sometimes your hospital subscribes to a database (e.g. micromedex) which you have free access to. ePocrates is a drug-database program free for palm. iSilo is another popular format where there are medical texts/diagnostic tools/notes available. This is also because iSilo .pdb files are cross compatible with both palm and ppc. Ask your pda owning colleagues whether they're willing to share or point you in the right direction what they can ;)

[swoosh]

Well... I've got both types of colleagues, the palm ones and the pocket owners. In my opinion pocket pc is a lot more attractive than the palm. I'm seriously thinking in buy the asus a620 with an extra cf card of 256mb. Is it a good choice?

About the university... forget about it. I live in Portugal. Facultys have not that kind of service to offer the students... maybe some day! ;)

[Kati Compton]

Well, arent a lot of these medical databses/programs really big? Well, I would recommend something with a Compact Flash slot for memory (a larger, cheaper media)...like the h2215:
The ASUS has a CF slot, but no SD slot.