PDA newbie questions

[eric_wan]

I'm tired of lugging my laptop for onsite configs, and am wanting to find a PDA that can do these things:
1. connect via modem
2. connect via ethernet (10bt is fine)

I was hoping to get 1 CF card that goes both, kindof like a PCMCIA dual-mode card, but I can't find one.

I'd also like to be able to do SSH2 as well, plus the generic web/mail surfing, dhcp support etc.

Beyond that is bells/whistles, I won't likely use it for much word/excel, or multimedia/mp3 stuff. I am curious on this point though----I saw someone post saying they had a 128mb CF card with MP3's on it, but they had to move the mp3's to the internal RAM before they'd play...that seems goofy to me, but ?--is that a common issue with these things?

Also, I don't really have a brand preference----just choose this group since there seems to be alot of use, and popularity of the Ipaq. I don't neccessarily need a Pocketpc OS either.

Thanks, Eric.

[Nitestrike]

I had a 128MB CF Card and now have a 256MB CF Card that I play music off of, so you shouldn't have any problems there.

[eric_wan]

Thanks for that info!---I assume you use an Ipaq?


I was also thinking about this----do these things accept full size PCMCIA cards? If they can/could, then I won't need a CF card-based 10bt/modem card.

Thanks again, Eric.

[GadgetFreak]

With IPAQs you can get a PC Card Expansion Pack plus that has a removable battery and takes full size PC cards. I use it one for WiFi with an Orinico card and use a 3 COM modem in it as well. One issue to consider is if the card needs/has drivers. You can also put a CF card into an adaptor and use in this expansion pack plus so it is pretty flexible. I have played mp3s off SD cards, CF cards and IBM microdrives, never had to copy to the IPAQ itself to get them to work.

[stevemw]

If you get a 3800 or 3900 series iPAQ you can used the built-in SD slot for storage. I am using a 512MB SD card in my 3970 and I finally have enough storage for my day-to-day use. Of course I'll need the 1GB SD long before it becomes available at a reasonable price!

[eric_wan]

Thank you guys!!---very good info. As I own some PCMCIA cards already, I'll likely look at that adapter you mention to reuse these cards.

Very cool on the 'copy to local storage' question----makes sense, but just enough of an oddity that I wanted to confirm!


1 last one, then I think I'm shopping!!

I have some CF Type I cards----used for my digital camera, and I see that some of these units take CF cards, and the SD/MMC cards-----I'd LOVE to reuse some of the CF TypeI cards. Will a CF Type2 slot accept Type1 cards? any issues there?

an aside----what's the deal with SD (I understand it is 'secure'---does that mean encrypted?) and MMC? I thought CF was a pretty good standard and they're not expensive. Is this a forced upgrade kindof thing? not a huge deal, just curious if we're seeing a forced march from format A to format B! is one of these a clear winner?

Thanks again!!
Eric.

[Nitestrike]

Yes the Type2 CF slots can accept Type1 cards. I do the same sort of thing with my digital camera and the iPAQs that my wife and I use.

[scsssusan]

Originally posted by Nitestrike
Yes the Type2 CF slots can accept Type1 cards. I do the same sort of thing with my digital camera and the iPAQs that my wife and I use. :confused:


Hello Nitestrike,
Above mentioned SD card & CF cards. Are they the storage cards to be slotted to PDAs????