Is it worth buying a PDA within the next few months?

[DJ Zaki]

With Handspring discontinuing all their Visor series...and Palm announcing new PDAs soon (whenever that is), should I buy a palm now or wait?

I was looking at either the Palm m500 or Palm m125. My budget is the cheapest I can get. I need something to stay organized for college, put my work schedule, just simply be a lot more productive with my time.

But since they're announcing new Palms...is it worth spending $100-$200 when they're going to be outdated in a few months???

I want to get it from www.FranklinCovey.com because I want their software that comes for free when you buy a PDA from them.

I really don't care for color much. I want at least 8MB on it, and expandibility.

[djmangen]

Well, if you want to get into the cycle of waiting for the next best thing, you'll never buy one. I suspect that something will almost always be right around the corner, especially with Sony's product release cycle.

From the way that you describe your needs, I would see no real reason to wait, except maybe in hopes that prices will drop further as new releases become imminent. The basic functionality that you are looking for is available in either the 500 or the 125. Either will do the job. You may want to set aside some money for a couple of programs and/or a folding keyboard -- this would be great for taking notes in classes and porting over to your PC.

In short, I'd recommend that you go for it. It really can be an excellent productivity tool, as long as you don't end up spending too much time on web sites such as this!

[PilotUser]

This is the same question as "should I get this computer now or wait for a faster CPU ?"

I think the only answer is "Do you need a computer now ?" ... in your case, do you need a PDA now ?

There will always be better, faster, sexier models (of PDAs that is) ;)

So ... if you get a good deal now, and you need something to help with your tasks immediately, go for it .. if not, wait until the newest Palm models come out, and hopefully can pick up a nice m515 at a discount.

My two pennies worth ... after conversion that's probably 1.29 US cents !!

[protosniper]

I think that this decision is more akin to buying a newer OS than just a simple speed upgrade. If you buy a Palm OS system now you will be missing out on further expandability in the future since even the current OS 4.1s won't be able to run OS 5 Arm-Based applications.

On the other hand, there are more than enough usable applications (with more in development) for college students that need to balance many different schedules availible on the current Dragonball OSs. 4.0 Student, ShadowPlan, Documents To Go are all good programs for students in any field. If you plan on buying a current Palm OS model, I would definitely do some further research. Palm has small units with great expansion ability but you can also get one of the newer hi-res greyscale Sony units for around $150.

You may want to check local electronics shops, online auctions, etc for the best price. Franklin makes good software but not worth spending the extra money for when there are other planning softwares that work the same if not better.

[PGS]

Originally posted by DJ Zaki
I want to get it from www.FranklinCovey.com because I want their software that comes for free when you buy a PDA from them.


Check out LifeBalance from http://www.llamagraphics.com/LB/LifeBalanceTop.html you may find this software does more for you than the FranklinCovey does. I would skim through their Advice Book to see how the software works and also check the "New to Life Balance?" forum. This is the best software I have on my Palm.

Paul

[DJ Zaki]

I decided to get a Sony Clie PEG-SJ20. $200