Thursday, January 22, 2009

Dear Tech Consultants

Among the stolen, was my beloved, mildly ancient Palm Zire 71. A personal digial assistant that remembered everything I am supposed to know, but was not a phone. Which was fine with me.

They don't make them like that any more.

It has only been two days without Palm and I am going nuts. I reach for it time and again, to check something or to write something down. It reminded me to get my oil changed and when to service my car. I had my grocery list on it and tried to organize my gift buying. I had my scriptures on it. All the hymns and some of the childrens songs. Some good games - a boggle like game, solitaire, Scrabble, and a few others. Scads and oodles of memos of information. My overly long To Do list. A great clock application. and calculators that could figure time between dates. It reminded me which password I used where. Boy, did I use it!

In short, I want to replace it. But, like I said, they don't make them like that anymore.

Now they are all phone combos. That baffles me. I often would be on the phone and writing on my Palm. How, I asked, do I do that when they are one in the same. A guy in the hall at work explained to me, "Bluetooth. Speaker Phone." oh, that works.

So what do I look for? Guy in the hall was talking about some wonderful Sprint thing about to come out. But I am with Verizon. Most of my family is with Verizon. In-calling is a good thing.

Does anyone have recommendations about a good Verizon phone PDA that won't cost my mortgage payment?

Or do I just do a desperate leap into the unknown?

7 comments:

  1. Have you passed or are approaching your renewal with Verizon? Every two years (which is when your plan renews), you often can get new phones at discounted prices. Including PDAs. I considered getting one last time, the problem though, is that you have to have a plan that includes the internet (more money each month) and I didn't want to pay that. I don't know if you can buy the PDA phones without getting the internet (using it like you used your Palm, to store info and stuff but not get on-line). It might be worth looking into. Good luck!

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  2. My new every 2 is up in May. Near the end. I am wrestling with myself. It seems so long!

    Of course, I cannot do anything until I get my new credit card. Maybe, after surviving that long (a week or probably 2?), I will feel more able to wait.

    But if I can survive until May, do I really need a PDA? Ok, a PDA is not a NEED, but you know what I mean.

    At least it gives me a little time to do some research without the danger of jumping in on an emotional impulse buy.

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  3. The iPod Touch sort of fills in for a PDA for me. I think there are other devices that are also designed primarily for internet access that may work as a PDA as well.

    Palm is loosing market share in the smartphone industry to RIM's Blackberry series and the iPhone. You may want to take this into account when considering new hardware - next time you need to replace your device it may be even harder to stay with Palm.

    One think to watch out for with smart phones is data plans. Internet access over cell networks can get expensive. Many phones require data plans that cost at least $20 per month on top of your voice plan. Having internet access everywhere would be convenient, but it may not be worth the cost. (Palms are more likely to not require data plans as they were originally designed as stand-alone devices with no network access.)

    Another option would be to search for a used Palm on eBay instead of buying new hardware. Hopefully you'll be able to find a model that uses the same sync software to make it easy to get your data onto your new device.

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  4. Just a tip of what NOT to get - don't get the new Blackberry Storm. I wanted it, but friends have said they need to work out the kinks. My next phone, hopefully late Spring/early Summer, will be a Blackberry... I'd love an iPhone but I <3 Verizon too much. Maybe if Apple ever lets anyone besides the evil AT&T (wait did I say evil??) have it... anyway, go in the VZW store and play around with a few, that'll help you know what you want. And check online for your new every 2.. they actually let you do it like 2-3 months before your 2 years is up, so if you signed up in May you may be eligible sooner. :)

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  5. I have no technical advice whatsoever, being mostly ignorant and fairly indifferent in that area, but I wanted to send along my commiserations for the stolen purse and all the headache that entails. Also the car. I just got caught up on your latest posts.

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  6. OK... OK... Ok...

    I know I am chiming in late here, but better late than never.. (I hope it's not too late).

    I am a HUGE Palm fan. I have had a Sony Clie SJ-20 since 2003, and started looking into a replacment.

    I found that (like you said) no one really makes a Plam anymore... There are a couple out there...

    But I already had everything in my desktop..

    I searched ebay and craigslist, and found a gently used PALM TX (still current model - normallly 299.99) for $70.00!!

    It has WiFi and I can check email, my feedreader, etc.. from anywhere that has WIFI... Plus it's color, and has a bunch of newer features...

    I LOVE IT!!!!!!

    Best of luck!

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