Is a PDA worth it?

[PRECISION LC]

Is a PDA worth it? What do you use it for, and what and how much are programs for it that you use?

[chariot]

I have a Handspring PDA and love it. The 2001 season was my first with it and life was much easier. I thought that the Handspring was better than the palm pilot because you can add memory and it has a port for other modules (cell phone, digital camera, mp3 player...) Check them out at www.handspring.com They now have refurbished ones at a good price.

[SprinklerGuy]

JUST bought a cassiopea e-200. Have not used it yet but I plan to take it with me when I leave the office. Less bulky than the laptop yet it has the same contact manager and scheduling software as the laptop......easily synched with each other....Ihope

[diginahole]

I got a palm for Christmas, and I love it. I only use it as a date book but it beats the daytimers hands down. The only thing that I wish was that it was rechargable so I could just drop it in the cradle every night like the cell phone. Mine got left in the truck one night and the batteries drained from the cold. I lost all my data and hadn't sync'ed it in a couple of weeks. I am glad that it happened in February and not May, it could have been a tougher lesson than it turned out to be.

[Mykster]

Also had a Handspring and loved it, until I dropped it and the display chattered. So I haven't used one since. But then I saw a little keyboard for these things that folded up. So now I'm considering buying a new one and adding the keyboard.

[Mike Hughes]

Mykster,

When you do get a new one, invest in one of those cases that the pda stays permanently mounted in...........that way, if you drop it, it lessens the likelihood that it will break.

[HBFOXJr]

I'm told that the actual Palm people are good about replacement, maybe even one free. Fast turn around.

I asked a bunch of friends and relatives about these recently and all had Palms, no other brand. Palm also licenses the Palm OS technology to others and there fore alwasy is at the head of the class.

[SprinklerGuy]

the palm operating system is great except in order to synch it with the microsoft products, it can be a pain in the ass.

[TOSLC]

I own a Palm IIIc which is color. It has rechargable batteries. I love it! It helps with everything from personal life to business life, and everything in between. My wife and I liked it so well we bought her one, then gave it to an employee, and bought her a new color one also. By the way my brother-in-law has a handspring and he said the support sucks. Also I have tons of info in my palm pilot and have never needed any more space.

[ProMo]

i use a em500 casio my son dropped it as i was backing the stang out of the garage and it still works great i wrote an excel prog to keep track of job data it adds the time and services of each stop i make i just enter time in time out and check of what i did and set up an end page to give me a yearly total great for comparing jobs

[Premo Services]

Originally posted by diginahole
I got a palm for Christmas, and I love it. I only use it as a date book but it beats the daytimers hands down. The only thing that I wish was that it was rechargable so I could just drop it in the cradle every night like the cell phone. Mine got left in the truck one night and the batteries drained from the cold. I lost all my data and hadn't sync'ed it in a couple of weeks. I am glad that it happened in February and not May, it could have been a tougher lesson than it turned out to be.

I have the palm and had some problems with the hot sync operations and had to delete the program and reinstall it. I was worried about all the info on the palm but you go in the palm desktop, and you click hot synk-options and set it to update all the info from computer or from the palm on next hot synk. I set it to update all from the palm, it worked out perfect!!!:D All the info went into the desktop and worked.
I like mine because of no more little notes or looking for reminders of extra jobs to do. I just set an alarm, and it reminds me. I have a mileage program from hands high software at www.handshigh.com and it works great. I am using quickbooks pro and this year, have added the qbexpress with module for the palm. I think this will be a great tool also!!!! All in all it was a good investment for me.

[AielLandscaping]

i have a palm iiic and i think it completely sucks!! even with the keyboard for it, it's not practical. yes it can hold your contacts and schedule and all that fun stuff, but when you have it outside you can't read the display...

[Acme Bunny]

I have a Palm 105 with memory upgrade to 8m. It never leaves my side. It has plenty of power to keep all of my records and syncs nicely with MS Outlook.

Once you have a PDA you wonder how you lived without it. I do suggest you get a carrying case. I have one from Palm that hooks to my belt. I bought the case so I would not destroy the Palm like I did my Casio. The Casio was very thin and fit nicely in my back pocket when I did not feel like carring it. I sat on it one day and broke the sceen. ouch!!!! Lucky for me my wife had recievced the Palm as a Seminar gift and was not interested in using it.

[RMDoyon]

I bought the PalmVx the day it came out and have been a diehard fan since.
The best part is having ALL of my Outlook contacts in there.

BUT, since starting my lawn business I have found it to be a cumbersome accessory to use especially when looking for a phone number in the truck.

Therefore, when my cell phone dies, which it looks like its gonna do soon, I'll be buying a Palm-powered phone and have the power of Outlook in my hand.

Roger

[proline32]

I love the pda.... does a great job with scheduling a year in advance, I can down load billing info too.

[ProMo]

just programmed a mulch calcl on excell works great has several inputs circles triangles my cost and final cost now im adding color to make it look fancy

[GarPA]

have a Handspring Visor...just got a beltclip case at office depot...very convenient...I dont use it to the max...use it mostly for contact info and scheduing...I'm still not convinced its as functional as my daytimer for recording job details and other notes...entering data into these pdas is still a major PITA...and if you can't recharge yours, make sure to back up data occasionally