REALLY BASIC QUESTION: Pocket PC or PDA - The difference???

[MTHall49]

I was told today that the only difference between a "PDA" and a "Pocket PC" was that the Operating System. This was said by a guy at Staples.
I have a feeling there is more to it than that.
Just seems to me, for example, there may be a number of differences between a Palm T/X and a Dell X50.

What are your thoughts?

[Darius Wey]

Sounds like Mr. Staples is misinformed.

A Pocket PC is a PDA. A Palm PDA is also a PDA.

Quite simply, a PDA is a personal digital assistant (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_digital_assistant) - a term that collectively describes handheld devices.

Now, a Pocket PC and a Palm PDA are different from each other by way of the operating system (Windows Mobile vs. Palm OS). And it gets even more confusing when I tell you that Palm released a Windows Mobile-based phone last year, the Treo 700w: so, not all Palm PDAs run Palm OS. :P

[Mark Kenepp]

PDA is an acronym for Portable Digital Assistant and is a generic term used to describe any portable electronic device that can be used as a personal information manager.

Pocket PC is actually a term used to describe a set of specific PDA's which run the Microsoft Mobile Operating system based on Windows CE.

A Palm T/X would not be considered a Pocket PC since it runs Palm OS and not a version of Microsoft's mobile operating system.

The guy at Staples was correct in that the difference has to do with the OS but he seemed to be giving the generic term PDA a more specific definition.

As for the differences between a Windows Mobile device and a Palm OS device, well, there could be too many to list. Then again, their similarities would also make up quite a long list. What is the difference between a Macintosh computer (before they switched to the Intel processor) and a Windows PC?

[Darius Wey]

What is the difference between a Macintosh computer (before they switched to the Intel processor) and a Windows PC?

Well, besides the OS, there's the RDF. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reality_distortion_field) :mrgreen:

[David_C]

The company that I work for used PDA's for collecting run information (big mistake BTW) :)

For the year that we were using them, the crews would call them Palm Pilot's when in fact they were Dell PDA's. I had the hardest time getting people to call them PDA's. In fact, I gave up :)

Short story, still short, people will call them what they want.

A Dell Axim is a PDA. A Palm III-C is a PDA.

A Pocket PC is the OS that some PDA's run :)

[Sven Johannsen]

Portable Digital Assistant is a generic term for a type of device. If you go into CompUSA and ask for a PDA the sales droid should show you things like Palms, Pocket PCs, Blackberry, Zodiacs, Zaurus, maybe even an Apple Newton, etc. (they don't carry all these). If you ask for a PPC, you are asking for a particular type of PDA, which runs a windows OS.

[isajoo]

basically if u like to play with a lot of the features in eg.windows xp...like customization and installing great functional sofware...then get a pocketpc..if u hate to alway reset ur computer and deal with the many problems with microsofts products....then get a palm pilot.
ppc=pocketpc=portable mini computer

window mobile os = lots of fun and lots of softwares available and Many more to come.

pda=personal digital assistant

palm os= simple to use but no fun to customize/use. software available but slowly dieing.

[Guest979]

So... are smartphones are subtype of PDAs? Or are they something entirely different? It's really kind of an opinion question.

[Darius Wey]

So... are smartphones are subtype of PDAs? Or are they something entirely different? It's really kind of an opinion question.

If you ask Palm that, they'll tell you it's a PDA. They seem to have gone against Microsoft's definition of Smartphone by calling all their Treo devices, Smartphones.

Would I consider a Smartphone a PDA? Nope. Someone else might have a different opinion, though.

[Mark Kenepp]

So... are smartphones are subtype of PDAs? Or are they something entirely different? It's really kind of an opinion question.

I couldn't find the link but there was an article about this over at Smartphone Thoughts (http://www.smartphonethoughts.com/)

Microsoft has caused a lot of confusion with their name Smartphone.

The term smartphone has really been around for much longer than Microsoft's Windows Mobile OS version for mobile phones.

The name Smartphone is what Microsoft calls their Windows Mobile powered cell phone operating system.

Personally, I think that the Microsoft Smartphone is not a PDA, though it does have some limited PDA functionality, whereas my old Sony Ericsson p800 is indeed a PDA.

I guess it all depends on how much one expects out of a PDA.

[Janak Parekh]

Would I consider a Smartphone a PDA? Nope. Someone else might have a different opinion, though.
Why not? A Smartphone has Calendar, Contacts, Tasks, it can contain Notes, etc. Where in the acronym PDA is there "touchscreen"?

To me, a PDA is a portable digital organizer. It can exist in many forms -- as part of a Smartphone, as part of a Pocket PC, as part of a PalmOS device, Symbian, what-have-you. In fact, I don't consider "PDA" a useful term anymore except in reference to "standalone PDAs"; it's easier, given accepted lingo in the market, to call any Pocket PC Phones and Smartphones "smartphones".

--janak

[Darius Wey]

Would I consider a Smartphone a PDA? Nope. Someone else might have a different opinion, though.
Why not? A Smartphone has Calendar, Contacts, Tasks, it can contain Notes, etc. Where in the acronym PDA is there "touchscreen"?

Right - like I said, someone might have a different opinion.

There's no "touchscreen" in the term, but I think why some (like myself) associate it with a PDA is because for the longest time, the vast majority of PDAs contained them. Sure, things have changed with the influx of smaller devices, converged devices, smartphones and what not - but that original idea and image of a PDA still exists in one's mind. Even some news articles report: "Smartphones are killing PDA sales", etc. :? ;) But as you say, it's not really a useful term anymore, and I agree, since it's open to mixed interpretations.

[isajoo]

there is a big difference in a ppc and smartphone...1st no touch screen...when was the last time i saw a pda without this. that is a big reason they call them smartphones. not smartpda. 2nd the software is written different and also hardware is not the same all the time. 3rd they have things called ppcpe for a reason...it is a really pda and a phone.

[Sven Johannsen]

there is a big difference in a ppc and smartphone...1st no touch screen...when was the last time i saw a pda without this.
Hmm, QVGA screen, 64M RAM, 64M ROM, 2G flash memory card, audio and video playback capability, 1.3MP camera still and video, is a voice recorder, BT, WiFi, does navigation (with a BT GPS), e-mail, contacts calendar, tasks, can read Office documents (Word, Excel, Powerpoint ;) ). can read repligo files, browses the internet, supports IM and RSS.
That's my SP5, BTW...but because it doesn't have a touch screen it's not a portable (or personal) digital assistant? Next you will be saying HAL isn't a computer because he (it) doesn't have a keyboard and mouse. Touchpad, touchscreen. Just different UIs. Functions are in the same genre. PDA is a pretty broad term.

[Janak Parekh]

There's no "touchscreen" in the term, but I think why some (like myself) associate it with a PDA is because for the longest time, the vast majority of PDAs contained them.
Actually, Pilots (renamed PalmPilots, renamed Palms) popularized the touchscreen in PDAs; before that, the dominant players -- Casio and Sharp -- had some touchscreen devices, but the touchscreen interface was secondary in importance to the multifunction keyboards. In addition, there were many PDAs that had no semblance of a touchscreen or a touchscreen-enabled UI. Probably the most touchscreen-enabled PDA pre-Palm was the Sharp Zaurus, which was the previous top-of-the-end unit.

So no, I don't consider a touchscreen a prerequisite for a PDA. ;)

Even some news articles report: "Smartphones are killing PDA sales", etc. :? ;) But as you say, it's not really a useful term anymore, and I agree, since it's open to mixed interpretations.
And, as you imply, neither is the term "smartphone". MS hasn't helped either... :?

--janak

[isajoo]

sp5=smartphone
not a ppc or pda...y do u really think it is called a smartphone? because...say it with me...it does not have a touchsreen...if it did then it would be a ppcpe.
other thing is, y dont they just add a touchscreen to a sp5? it would make many multiple functions into only 1-2 clicks on the screen.
off topic a bit...how many time do u have to soft reset ur smartphone? daily,weekly? hourly?

i sometimes start clicking on my lcd screen on my home pc...because it just seem to take so long to get it done by using only arrow keys and keyboard...ofcourse a mouse is actually a touchscreen style of u.i.
so the real question is...would u use a mouse (=ppc)or keyboard(=smartphone) for basic home pc functions?

[isajoo]

http://msmobiles.com /catalog/i.php/265 .html
more
http://www.pocketpcmag.com/_top/article.asp?artid=396

[Nurhisham Hussein]

sp5=smartphone
not a ppc or pda...y do u really think it is called a smartphone? because...say it with me...it does not have a touchsreen...if it did then it would be a ppcpe.


The only reason we have this type of differentiation (PPC, PPCPE, Smartphone) is because...say it with me!...Microsoft says we should.

That's their definition. It's not necessarily anybody else's.

Edit: Your link amply proves this point.

[Darius Wey]

And, as you imply, neither is the term "smartphone". MS hasn't helped either... :?

Right, and neither has Palm. :?

You're correct, though - at the end of the day, PDA is as broad a term as handheld device, mobile device, or smartphone. Each person (and company) has their own definition. Some, a little more vocal than others. Now the bigger question: have we confused MTHall49 even more? ;)

[Janak Parekh]

other thing is, y dont they just add a touchscreen to a sp5? it would make many multiple functions into only 1-2 clicks on the screen.
How long have you owned a Smartphone? After you get used to it, navigation is actually pretty efficient. Moreover, I like the no-touchscreen approach in most cases; if I'm walking down a street, it's extremely awkward to use a stylus. Except when I'm playing games, 90% of the time I'll use my Treo 700w without a stylus, and while it's one-handable, it's not quite as good as Smartphone (yet).

off topic a bit...how many time do u have to soft reset ur smartphone? daily,weekly? hourly?
About the same as my Pocket PCs in the past? My i600 would need a reboot maybe once every two weeks?

--janak

[Sven Johannsen]

Now the bigger question: have we confused MTHall49 even more? ;)
Probably. Could just go back to basics again and spell out the acronym Portable (or Personal) Digital Assistant. What that includes is in the eyes of the beholder, retailer, manufacturer. No hard and fast rules. Pocket PC (i.e. Pocket Personal Computer) aka PPC, a very specific class of device defined by Microsoft.