to blue tooth?

[Brian MacKenzie]

I am going to buy a cellphone/pda dealy.

all comments are made based on an individual entitle to no current sales advantage. these are real people prices that i believe is too good to pass up...

There is a $50 diference in price (futureshop has an 'activate for 3 years and get for $100 fof $150. And recieve $100 in store credit!...only till thursday....just sayin) both plans are $35/month

bell treo: $100
http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?logon=&langid=EN&sku_id=0665000FS10050680&catid=10873

blackberry: $150
http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?logon=&langid=EN&sku_id=0665000FS10058289&catid=

It seems the only real difference is the blue tooth capability of the blackberry.

Is there any forseeable 'very neat things and must have bluetooth for' things on the horizon to justify paying $50 more and having a bulkier thing to hold/talk into?

Those bluetooth ear pieces are kinda neat i guess, but at $100 more and much more of a pain to deal with than a slim corded substitute?

So far it all seems like expensive, larger, more sensitive stuff to bother with.

[johnfoss]

Just the other day my boss and one of my co-workers were lamenting the limitations of Bluetooth headsets. They both were unhappy with the sound quality or reliability of all the headsets they had tried.

On the other hand, two of my co-workers recently got Treo phone/PDAs, and seem to be pretty happy with them. I've liked the Treo ever since the first ones came out. The newer ones are only better!

Now to read the fine print. For starters, sounds like you're making a 3-year committment. That sounds like a long time for a PDA/phone. In three years, the brand-newest of any PDA/phone is going to be a bit of a dinosaur. Nathan Hoover may disagree, if he's still using his 1st-generation Treo...

[Brian MacKenzie]

Originally posted by johnfoss
That sounds like a long time for a PDA/phone. In three years, the brand-newest of any PDA/phone is going to be a bit of a dinosaur. Nathan Hoover may disagree, if he's still using his 1st-generation Treo...

I really doubt (although circumstances could always come up) that in 3 years I will be using it as more than something to check emails, schedule and phone with) and staying current during the short time i am not sitting at any of the computers :(

[habbywall]

the blackberry has walkie talkie if its nextel, and its better because the future of bluetooth can only get bigger and better! so you should definitly get a bluetooth blackberry!

[evil-nick]

Now to read the fine print. For starters, sounds like you're making a 3-year committment. That sounds like a long time for a PDA/phone. In three years, the brand-newest of any PDA/phone is going to be a bit of a dinosaur.

I too disagree. I happily used my Handspring Visor Edge for 3 and a half years, the only reason I gave it up was that I was given a Tungsten E. And while the TE does have a nice hi-rez screen, more storage, and the ability to play mp3s off an SD Card, the one thing I really, really miss about it is the lack of a good alarm. It rings for 5 seconds and then shuts off... Barely wakes me up...

As for my laptop, I've had it almost 3 years, and it still rocks. Fast, light, and does everything I want it to do.

My cellphone... oh wait, I don't have one! :D (Actually, I have 2, but they're both not on a service plan, they're just in the car if I have to dial 911 ;))

[Loosemoose]

I'd recommend the Bell Treo, because the Blackberry is, how can I put this... Shocking. I've had one sat on my desk for 6 months, and I can't do anything with. If you only want e-mail, sms and phone then its fine, but you're going to need the firmware upgrade to 4.0 (pain in the arse) to view pictures or anything. However the Bell is running Palm OS, which can be loaded with decent software and do what you like. If you choose the blackberry, you'll need this site (http://www.blackberryforums.com/), for when (not if) it pisses you off beyond all measure.

FYI, the LC Display is good in reflectance, but really crappy when the backlight is switched on, nowhere near the quality of a proper QVGA/HVGA Palm display.

There's a big FAQ on the Blackberry on those forums here (http://www.blackberryforums.com/showthread.php?t=252). This should give you all the info you need if you're leaning towards the Blackberry.

Given its more expensive (and I don't believe the bluetooth will work like normal bluetooth), I'd go for the Treo 600. Also, given whats said here (http://www.vanderwal.net/random/entrysel.php?blog=1416), you can (at a later date) use the MMC/SD card slot to add bluetooth to it. Its expensive ($100-150), but the price will come down, so if its not a priority now you can always upgrade easily later.

Hope that helps.

Loose.

[BoojiBoy]

I would look into a SmartPhone. They use a windows mobile operating system, so it's generally more compatible with stuff and easier to navigate. I dig the handwriting transcriber too. No more graffiti or itty bitty keyboard, just write how you normally do and it will convert it to type.

A 3 year agreement is a long time. I'd wouldn't depend on technology to last that long. For one thing, the battery is probably gonna bail on you after the 2 year mark.

I think the palm os is a pain.

[GILD]

i just upgraded my cellphone from a Motorola Accompli 008 (speaking of dinosaurs) to a Nokia 6680 (http://www.nokia.com/nokia/0,,70452,00.html)
i briefly looked at the Blackberry
the salesman warned me that it is an incredibly 'basic' machine and that u're basically just springing for the keyboard, and losing a lot of kewl functions into the bargain
like a camera

[evil-nick]

I fid there are more PalmOS apps then WinCE apps... And also, PalmOS is more stable...

[bugman]

I have had the Treo 600 for about 14 months. I love it. I use it for e-mail, sms, phone, camera, scheduling, keeping track of bills, quicken, occasionally looking up stuff on the web, sending pictures of my kids to the wife and recieving. I am probably only using about 15% of it's capability, but I couldn't live without it now. I had a Handspring Platinum for 3 years previously and loved it as well. The Palm platform is stable and not as buggy as windows based programs I have used in the past. Not to say it never has problems though. It has been a very reliable tool for me. If you look at this photo http://tinyurl.com/97bon It was taken with the Treo 600 Camera. Not great, but does the job. I kind of like the artsy feel you get from the fixed focus lens.

[DK]

I can't help you, but my friend has a t-mobile sidekick and he loves it.

[johnfoss]

Originally posted by GILD
the salesman warned me that it is an incredibly 'basic' machine and that u're basically just springing for the keyboard, and losing a lot of kewl functions into the bargain
like a camera Nice picture! NOT. :) But the same is true for most of todays phone and PDA cameras. Some are getting lots better, while others remain very basic.

Originally posted by evil-nick
I fid there are more PalmOS apps then WinCE apps... Be advised that WinCE and Windows Mobile are not the same thing. Windows Mobile is designed for small devices like phones, while WinCE is generally intended for slightly larger devices, with larger screens and capacities, and generally carries larger overhead.

Originally posted by DK
I can't help you, but my friend has a t-mobile sidekick and he loves it.The T-mobile Sidekicks are extremely popular with the deaf community in Sacramento. They live on those things. They're pretty handy for non-deaf as well (especially if you want to talk to deaf people). Here's a picture of my wife's sister Diana, "enjoying the view" from the Stratosphere tower in Las Vegas:
http://unicycling.smugmug.com/gallery/609402/1/28287473/Large

My wife is currently looking into switching all of her company's (Nextel/Motorola) cell phones over to T-mobile Sidekicks. If this happens, I'll have one too. However it's not a full-on PDA like the Treo.

[evil-nick]

Windows Mobile is designed for small devices like phones, while WinCE is generally intended for slightly larger devices,

Actually, Windows Mobile is based on the CE core, so it would be pretty much the same thing, just the UI is different, and the developer kits are different.

[GILD]

Originally posted by johnfoss
Nice picture! NOT. :) thanx
i like to think of it as 'pictorial-sarcasm'

[bugman]

So what did you get?

[Brian MacKenzie]

While I would like to thank everyone for the time they took in responding and educating....

I have put my money, instead, into a HiDef video camera.

You should see what my next movie is going to look like!

I did it for you guys, not for myself, for you :)

[evil-nick]

Next time you want to do something for me, a KH20" trials would be appreciated ;)