04-20-2006, 01:00 PM
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Contributing Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 8,228
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Converged, Non-Converged, or In Between?
With the recent rumor that Dell may be getting out of the PDA business, it sort of got me thinking. That news in 2004 would have been deeply disturbing to me, but today, it doesn't faze me in the least. Not because I don't like Dell devices, but in my opinion, the stand-alone PDA, wirelessly enabled or not, is a dying breed. If the device doesn't have some form of cellular/voice capability, it is destined for a niche market. So I was wondering, what are you using? Converged? If so, which device.
Non-converged? If so, why - is it the money, your carrier doesn't have anything interesting, or some other reason? Personally, I am converged - the HTC Wizard/K-Jam device is my daily driver. Voice is good, the bluetooth headset makes it worthwhile, but the killer aspect of it is the always on data connection. Even at GPRS speeds - I've yet to see EDGE kick in while in Nashville, Newark, Atlanta or Orlando - email is quite usable and web browsing isn't too painful, and the monthly rate is right.
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04-20-2006, 01:06 PM
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Mystic
Join Date: Nov 2006
Posts: 1,887
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Non-converged, not because I don't like converged, but because the $$$ and features didn't add up.
I really like the iMate Jam form factor and would've jumped if the price were more reasonable and the features more competitive with standalones. As is, the combo of Windows Mobile persistent storage and VGA screen plus WiFi *and* a good sale price landed me on Dell's doorstep for this generation of device.
Simply put, the converged pricing and feature trade-off didn't beat a two-device solution for my usage pattern.
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04-20-2006, 01:22 PM
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Sage
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 634
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I've been reluctant to go converged for three reasons:
1. Battery Life - I never turn off my phone. I want it on all the time. I don't keep my Axim X51v on all the time because I don't want to drain the battery. Extra batteries are expensive. This is the major sticking point for me when it comes to the whole converged vs. non-converged device argument. I know that I would be reluctant to keep a converged device on all the time.
2. Large, VGA screen - I want a large, VGA screen. I don't want a square screen. I like a lot of real estate to fill with application icons and today screen applications like SBSH Weather. In addition, I made the jump from QVGA to VGA earlier this year and I can confidently say that I will never go back. The difference is just too great.
3. Lots of Flash ROM and RAM - I have 35 non-native applications installed on my Axim and I like it that way. I want plenty of storage capacity to keep those applications installed on the device itself rather than a storage card--I want to preserve my 2GB capactiy SD card for media files. I also want sufficient RAM to keep all those applications running smoothly. I should add that a fast processor is also critical to the mix.
So, unless a converged device comes along that has unbelievable battery life, a fast processor, a large, VGA screen and a ton of ROM and RAM, I will stick with my WiFi and Bluetooth-enabled non-converged device.
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04-20-2006, 01:23 PM
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Sage
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 676
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A converged device just doesn't do it for me. In my PDA I want a 4" VGA screen and dual slots for watching 640x480 videos and reading eBooks. In my phone I want something that is small, light, durable, reliable, and simple to use. The two things just don't add up to a converged device. I've tried an eTen M600, but aside from the fact that it is QVGA and has no CF slot, it's just not a very good phone (compared to the performance of a phone phone).
Anyway, I'm happy with my standalone PDA and not so smart phone.
__________________
64 GB iPad 2 WiFi, Apple TV 2, 32 GB iPhone 4
Early 2011 MacBook Pro 13" (dual boot with Windows 7), Early 2009 Mac Mini
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04-20-2006, 01:27 PM
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Pupil
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 17
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Non converged
How do you get a large screen w/o being a brick as a phone? The converged devices are overpriced usually. It is really nice to be able to carry a thin low profile phone when desired and not needing the large screen....
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04-20-2006, 01:44 PM
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Pupil
Join Date: Mar 2003
Posts: 48
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I said it already in another thread. I don't have good cell service where I live and I don't want to pay the big bucks for something I can't use. I find it annoying that I would *have* to buy a phone in my PDA when I can't use a phone.
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04-20-2006, 01:47 PM
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Pupil
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 47
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I am (at the moment) the sole vote for "Converged...but not real happy with it." I still like the IDEA of convergence. I still think it's a worthwhile goal, but at least with my current device (Torq P120), I have to give up a lot of a stand-alone phone's ease of use for the additionl functionality of the PDA. Perhaps the WM Treo is a better converged device for me, but I just couldn't imagine using a 240x240 screen for a lot of the PDA stuff I do on a daily basis. As the breed improves, I'm sure someone will find a way to combine the ease of use of a stand-alone phone with the functionality of a full-fledged PDA.
Of course, my current opinion about convergence may presently be tainted, since I can't even use my Torq at the moment. It's being sent off for warranty work, and from what I've read at eten-users.net, I may not see it again for a while.
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04-20-2006, 01:52 PM
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Thinker
Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 482
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I have my phone, and I have my pocket pc. It's okay if there are some devices that have both, but I want my pocket pc the way it is. Most converged devices have cameras on them as ewll, which means you can't take them anywhere. Isn't that the purpose of pocket pc's?? It really irks me that hp is dropping all their pocket pc's for converged, and that dell is following. We also lost Toshiba! What's going on!?!?! j OI:S LFKH FLKSH FLKUSDFHLKSDH you stupid companies stop flooding the market with converged hybrid p.o.c.'s!!!!!!!!! :evil:
I guess I'm just gonna have to live with my 2215 then, until the hx4700 stops being a million dollars or I bite the dust and get a second hand e800, or dare I say it, get a Dell product... But why are those my only options?
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04-20-2006, 01:56 PM
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Oracle
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 866
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One of the best phones that I ever owned was the XDA II Mini. I didn't realise that until I sold it for a KJAM then the SP5. The Mini was small, light,
excellent screen, good phone reception, excellent performance, and the only thing it was missing was WiFi.
I sold the KJAM 2 months after buying it because it was simply too thick. I couldn't comfortably carry it as a phone as it needed a case, and with a
case it was even worse. I bought it because I wanted the builtin WiFi and keyboard. The device was great, but I found the size prohibitive. I would be constantly worrying about it when carrying it around, as for more than half of that 2mths I went caseless.
I bought the SP5 because I though it would be able to do me as a PDA and phone whilst being very small and light.
Wrong again. It sucks as a PDA. Its ok for viewing my calender and contacts, and viewing email from my Gmail account in Pocket IE, but its the
editing thats the problem. Sending an SMS is ok, but for anything else its just a pain. Thats why I bought the Axim X50v to act as the entry
system. Everything goes into the Axim, gets synced to the PC, gets synced to the smartphone. But it just doesn't work for me. Ever since the XDA
II Mini I have loved the convenience of having all of that functionality in one device, and at the moment I don't have that.
Thats why I am in wait of the iPAQ hw6915. Good size, quite trim with the flipcover, WiFi, thumboard, WM5, and decent ROM/RAM.
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04-20-2006, 01:57 PM
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Oracle
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 866
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by piperpilot
I've been reluctant to go converged for three reasons:
1. Battery Life - I never turn off my phone. I want it on all the time. I don't keep my Axim X51v on all the time because I don't want to drain the battery. Extra batteries are expensive. This is the major sticking point for me when it comes to the whole converged vs. non-converged device argument. I know that I would be reluctant to keep a converged device on all the time.
2. Large, VGA screen - I want a large, VGA screen. I don't want a square screen. I like a lot of real estate to fill with application icons and today screen applications like SBSH Weather. In addition, I made the jump from QVGA to VGA earlier this year and I can confidently say that I will never go back. The difference is just too great.
3. Lots of Flash ROM and RAM - I have 35 non-native applications installed on my Axim and I like it that way. I want plenty of storage capacity to keep those applications installed on the device itself rather than a storage card--I want to preserve my 2GB capactiy SD card for media files. I also want sufficient RAM to keep all those applications running smoothly. I should add that a fast processor is also critical to the mix.
So, unless a converged device comes along that has unbelievable battery life, a fast processor, a large, VGA screen and a ton of ROM and RAM, I will stick with my WiFi and Bluetooth-enabled non-converged device.
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Well it kinda sounds like your describing the HTC Universal actually.
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