Mac comaptible PDA's ?

[JoeDu]

I've finally reached a point where I can hold out no longer. a PDA has become a necessity. So I was tooling around Office Depot testing out the PDAs, palm pilots, et al. They're all PC-based, of course  

So, I need to ask the experts. What's the best deal out there? And, are they mac-compatible?!?

[giantmike]

From my experience, the ones running PalmOS are good, while the ones running a version of Windows are crap

All the Palm OS ones (as long as they hook up via USB) should be Mac compatible. I know for a fact all the ones straight form Palm are, haven't really tried any sony clies.

Hope this short message helps a little.

[pendragon]

Joe, I am hardly an expert and really know very little about such things, but yes, many are Mac compatible. I have an older Handspring Visor that I have used for 1.5 years and I am quite pleased with it-never a bit of problem. It syncs with my DT and while I don't use Entourage, it works with that, and, I believe, .Mac accounts as well. Also, there are hundreds (??) of PDA programs that were created solely for our beloved Mac. To see the breadth and depth of the sw available, go to VersionTracker and then click on the Palm OS tab and then browse/search away.

HTH

Harv

[JoeDu]

Thanks guys.... mucho appreciated.

More questions though.... curious about current models available and deals, how much memory I really need (can 8mb possibly be enough?) etc. For instance, dealmac.com listed the palm m125 for $69 after rebate. It's a refurb, and it's 8mb. But, will I seriously be looking at an upgrade when I realize I can't do ______?

Any thoughts?

[Greg Dunn]

As they always say, you have to look at what you're going to be doing with it.  My wife & I  owned a small business, and used a Palm M100, the basic model.  We kept track of our weekly orders on it, had all of our  salesman's contacts on it, and had memory to spare.  Running the business would have been considerably more difficult without it.  The only problem was that the M100 apparently is not USB capable, and now that we no longer have a Mac with a serial port, we can't hot sync it.  I think that all the other models have a USB hookup.  Just a suggestion, but the M125 sounds like a pretty good deal.  You can do a lot with just the basic Palm programs that come with the PDA.

[kelly]

MacWorld seems to have a lot of PDA Reviews.

http://www.macworld.com/2003/05/reviews/pa...andhelddevices/

Just do a search.

http://www.macworld.com/reviews/

More on TechTV.

http://www.techtv.com/news/computing/story...3402198,00.html

[sunset]

Gregg Dunn:  Keyspan has a 'serial to USB' adapter.  I have one because my cradle is serial, which yours must be also.  When I bought mine a couple of years ago it was about $70+.  Have no idea what they would be now but at least it's a solution for you.  I perform HotSyncs on a G4 with my Palm and have no problems...

[zodraz]

The Sony Cleo (sp?) is Palm OS but has no Mac sync/conduit! Jerks  

However, I've seen ads by a 3rd party company that sells one.

I've got an ancient Palm III that I've been using for years. Got an external keyboard and write emails on the train to work using Eudora Mail for Palm (freeware). I also rigged a Palm sync/serial port adapter that lets me connect to the internet directly via an external modem! I also use Eudora web to - yes - surf the web. It's text only, but it's pretty fast. I use it to download reading material for the train ride home.

Oh, my Palm has 2 MBs of RAM. If I only had 4MBs I'd rule the world!

Good Luck

     

[kelly]

PDA Deals.

http://dealmac.com/sections/handhelds.html