Will a PPC phone work for all this?

[Kluch]

I've been looking at the different Pocket PC phones for use in providing users support for our own in house software as well as monitor servers and such and be able to fix them in time of emergency.

All my things that I am looking to do with it involve being in "emergency" situations for the most part. I would like to...

1) Be able to remote desktop in to a server to reboot it or restart a service
2) Able to recive email wherever I am (Good Link)
3) Possibly look at event logs use AIM to communicate

AFAIK a Pocket PC can do all these pretty well and I can't think of any device that's going to let me do this.... I just want to know if this is a realistic goal (#1) of a pocket pc over GRPS. I know it would be pretty slow but when I am in another city and can reboot a server or add a user to the system it would be a lifesaver.

We use T-Mobile as our service provider and we have several of the 6315's but I have heard nothing but bad things about them and might be looking for something a bit more reliable. The PDA2K is the ony other phone I've seen and while a VGA screen would be great I don't think there is a phone right now that does that. I'm just wondering is there a pretty repuatble place you can get the PDA2K from (Cause my company would be purchasing it) what type of warranty does it carry? I just know that it's one of my companys requirements that we get it from a reputable vendor who will stand behind it if it breaks....

Also can anyone point me to some great reviews for it? I've come across a few but the more the better.

Finally, Is there a device or different phone which would be better for what I want to do? I know there are a couple of cool phones around the corner but I don't think I can wait for them to come out. I know the new HP one is right around the corner but the 240 x 240 screen makes it even worse for remote desktop =/

Thanks for any insight!

[surur]

I cant comment on your specific request, but for good remote viewing a VGA screen is VERY useful. Don't discount using BT or a cable to do what you want.

Surur

[Kowalski]

welcome to ppct boards,
i want to set up a configuration so that i can access my server anywhere i go, so we are in the same boat. after lots of searching and finaly i came to the conclusion that this would be very hard to achive with a pda.
then i bought an ultralight notebook(asus s5) to remotely connect my server.
fortuantely this was 6 months ago and things have changed. here is the setup that will achive the goal:

hx4700
stowaway BT keyboard
a BT enabled cell phone

let me explain the parameters. firstly some think that pda2k combines all these components, but i dont think so. the keyboard is cramped and i think onscreen keyboard is better than the built in one. also the screen is QVGA.

VGA screen is very has a vital function if you want to use remote connection. also the screen is a larger physically, this is an advantage too.
i bought a stowaway keyboard and i can say that a full sized keyboard is very important too. if you think a number row is important for you, then there is another alternative: HP BT keyboard. you can chooese which is important for you, a number row or a keyboard as small as possible.

i am looking forward to hear your comments.

[Kluch]

Completely agree that the VGA screen would be better. However having a setup like the one you mentioned above leaves one open hole for me, the fact that I have to connect everytime I want to check email and that. Part of what I want to do is be able to respond to support requests as I recieve them, it's much harder to do when I have to set up my phone/pda to connect to check mail. It also doesn't help with getting server alerts and that type of thing, although I could have those SMS to the phone itself...

[MitchellO]

You could wait for the HTC Universal with its VGA screen, Wifi, BT and phone.

[Jon Westfall]

Completely agree that the VGA screen would be better. However having a setup like the one you mentioned above leaves one open hole for me, the fact that I have to connect everytime I want to check email and that. Part of what I want to do is be able to respond to support requests as I recieve them, it's much harder to do when I have to set up my phone/pda to connect to check mail. It also doesn't help with getting server alerts and that type of thing, although I could have those SMS to the phone itself...

T-Mobile allows you to setup mailboxes and then receive alerts based on parameters you set. If you had a BT enabled cell phone setup like Kowalski suggested, you could simply have T-Mo send you an SMS alert every time new mail comes in to a specific address. You'll get the sender's name and subject line, so you can determine if you need to setup and download the message, or if it can wait till later.

Just a suggestion if you want the VGA but don't want to miss emails.

[surur]

or possibly the combination of a PDA and WM smartphones?

Surur

[mw22]

Hi

I have one and I think its great

I hardly use the keyboard preferring the on-screen text writing myself.

But other than the drawback of a 240-320 QVGA screen there is not another fone to beat it

I use a 1GB SD card with 768MB of databases under handdbase + listpro - works great.

I also use the Truefax for faxing capabilities and the Styletap(.com) program to run my palm Documents to Go program which then gives me FULL WORD, FULL EXCEL, AND POWERPOINT for free from my Palm T3.

I bought a second battery from (www.lionbattery.com) a 2200mah and that works for +- 2 days on a heavy heavy cell fone load (accountant)

If you can wait I would recommend that you wait for the HTC (pda2k is also an HTC made device) Universal as although the screen is a twist and turn to make it look like a pda (that could be a weak spot for failure) it has all the pda2k has + VGA screen (128 MB ram, 90MB storage available to user, 520Mhz CPU arm etc)
The only problem is that it is WM 5.0 and that has apparently lost its wi-fi syncing ability and who knows what else

So that is another problem is the uncertainty of WM 5.0

Chears

mw22
[email protected]

[A_C]

Hmm, if you must have a phone built in, than i guess the Xda 2i would be a nice option (or the tmobile equivilent..)

As far as i know, the 2i is 520mhz, not the fastest on the market, but not too slow either, i personally find my 400mhz xscale fast enough...

As for remote access, at the moment i use "Terminal Services" that comes preinstalled, but the flaw of Terminal Service is that you need to be on the same network in order to use it, so its probably useless to you...But there should be other remote software...

As for your email, set up the client to use GPRS, so anywhere you get a mobile phone signal you'll be able to access your emails...

To be honest, i think you should look into the Sony U50, a friend had it, perfect for what you want, however its very expensive...The specs are Celeron 900mhz, 256 mb ram, 20gb hdd, winxp Pro, wifi, external dvd/dock....

[tekhound]

Kluch....

I have a PDA2K with T-Mobile and Good email and it works great. I am wondering how you would access your servers from outside your office. Do you have a firewall with a VPN client for the PPC, or are you planning on dialing in via RAS?

I remember back a few months ago I was reading about a piece of software that installs a small client on the server, in which it allows a PPC to do some of the things that you were talking about. If I find the link, I will send it to you.

By the way, I have a stowaway style foldable keyboard for my PDA2K. I tried the bluetooth, but I like this one better (it clicks to the bottom) and you can be charging it at the same time. I get my PDA2Ks from www.SimonCells.com and most of my accessories from www.expansys-usa.com. Expansys does carry the PDA2K, but SimonCells has them for $50.00 less and their service is great. I currently have 8 PDA2K PPC phones on t-mobile and good and have not had ANY problems. I-mate just opened a new facility in Houston, TX recently, so you don't have to ship it overseas to get fixed.

[ketchup]

You want this:

http://www.iadminmobile.com/

I have used it and it works as advertised! No need to Remote Desktop into a server.