Please help selecting PPC.

[TommyT]

Yes, I know this is a IPAQ forum but I want to get all the info I can get.

It’s time to get my first PPC but with all the choices which one do I get? Please read all.

There is no question IPAQ has been the leader in the PPC industry and that there are more accessories available for the IPAQ than for any other PPC but does that justify the additional cost?

I have narrowed the field down to the IPAQ 5455 or 3955, Toshiba e750 or the Dell Axim 5 but, let me tell you what I want to do with it first.

Besides the obvious contacts, appointments, calendar, spread sheets, and word. I want to be able to listen to MP3’s in stereo, view quality pictures, record conferences and lectures and play games easily. I’ll need WiFi (802.11b). I will also need to be able to connect a foldable keyboard and eventually want to connect a GPS.

One other consideration that I have contemplated is the memory cards. Because I will want to listen to a lot of MP3’s I imagine that I will eventually have several SD or CF cards. I don’t know if it is a good idea to constantly insert and pull out the cards fearing that it will wear the contacts inside the PPC. Therefore, I think it would be better to have an expansion piggyback pack with extra battery and CF or SDslot.

I don’t think that the Toshiba or the Dell Axim5, have piggyback expansion packs available with CF or SD slots and extra battery but I could be wrong.

The IPAQ 5455 and the Toshiba both come with integrated 802.11b the Dell Axim 5 and the IPAQ 3955 do not.

The IPAQ 5455 has small buttons, which I have read, may not be all that good for games but it supposedly it the best and brightest screen of all.

The IPAQ 3955 is the only PPC without a replaceable battery.

Support is also important.

Please help.

Thanks,
Tom

[messy]

Tom,

I bought my first PDA about 2,5 months ago, an iPAQ 3970, and I like it very much.

My brother has a Sony Clie NV ??? and he hates it.

He envies me very much in the moment.

DELL is new in the PDA market and so I don´t know what they or others have to offer concerning expansion jackets.

Compaq/HP (iPAQ) is leader in this sector I believe and there is a bunch of stuff available.

If you want built in WLAN you should go for the 5450 otherwise there are jackets available for all (or most) iPAQ´s that have this feature.

The software is the same on all PDA´s.

I believe in the end it will be a financial question that you will have to solve out for your self.

Hope this helps in "winning" a new iPAQer.

messy

[pr0vider]

Note also that prices on the 3970 series IPAQs had come down considerably since introduction and are at levels that make them a great bargain. I went with a Toshiba PDA when I first got "into" them, but eventually traded for the much heralded quality and stability of the IPAQ. I have not been sorry I switched.