Upgrade from a PDA?

[ChadP56]

I have the IPAQ 4350 PDA that has an integrated keyboard. It finally died on me. I use it at work all the time. It looks like they haven't made a newer version, and no longer sell this version. I need one that has the integrated keybaord. The only thing I see that has that now is a smartphone version. Can you use those without activating the phone option. The program I use the most is pocket excel. I also access a wireless internet and use internet explorer. Plus I remote access my desktop over the wireless as well. Any suggestions?

[Thinkingmandavid]

If you want to buy a phone/pda, then you will need to activate the cell phone service if you buy it from the cell phone provider. You do have the option of buying the phone/pda at ebay.com and only using the pda functions. If you decide to do this then you will need to becareful where you buy it from, and that it is new and still has the warranty.
Getting that far; you can always use the phone option for the future. That being said, remember there are some features that will not be available (such as gprs) until you activate the cell phone service.
Bluetooth and wifi will work without the cell service.

Ipaq has the 6900 series but it is a bit pricey.

[Mark Kenepp]

I have the IPAQ 4350 PDA that has an integrated keyboard. It finally died on me. I use it at work all the time. It looks like they haven't made a newer version, and no longer sell this version. I need one that has the integrated keybaord. The only thing I see that has that now is a smartphone version. Can you use those without activating the phone option. The program I use the most is pocket excel. I also access a wireless internet and use internet explorer. Plus I remote access my desktop over the wireless as well. Any suggestions?

From what you are saying, it sounds like you will want Pocket PC Phone, NOT a Smartphone. Microsoft Smartphones (Windows Mobile Standard) do not have Pocket Excel.

Of course, you may already understand this.

As far as requiring phone service to function, a Pocket PC Phone device should function just fine with out phone service, you will just miss out of the phone specific features and may have to suffer through a few error messages now and then when the you turn the device on.

As to where to get them, there are many places that you can purchase unlocked Pocket PC phones with out committing to a contract (Expansys/MobilePlanet (http://www.mobileplanet.com/t.aspx?f=19) for one). Places like Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_e/105-4023267-4497243?url=search-alias%3Delectronics&field-keywords=pocket+pc) and PriceGrabber (http://computers.pricegrabber.com/pdas/p/12/popup1) can be used to find a verity of devices and resellers (If you look through the lists for Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_e/105-4023267-4497243?url=search-alias%3Delectronics&field-keywords=pocket+pc) and PriceGrabber (http://computers.pricegrabber.com/pdas/p/12/), you will even see that your 4350 is still available).

Another route for purchasing an unlocked device is direct through the manufacturer.

Just curious, do you own a mobile phone? Maybe now might be the time to switch to a converged device?

[Nurhisham Hussein]

From what you are saying, it sounds like you will want Pocket PC Phone, NOT a Smartphone. Microsoft Smartphones (Windows Mobile Standard) do not have Pocket Excel.


To use the current phraseology:

Windows Mobile standard = previously Smartphone
Windows Mobile Professional = previously Pocket PC Phone Edition
Windows Mobile Classic = non-phone Pocket PC/Windows Mobile