Hi Baronic,

I'm looking for a PDA phone for my father. The budget is around 2-3k

Brand Preference if any: Few frens recommended HTC, so HTC i guess

Second hand: Preferably new

QWERTY keyboard: Yes

Keypad: not sure which is better

GPS: Yes

Bluetooth: Yes

WIfi: Yes

Frequent Overseas traveller to Japan and US? or other countries: Yes

Camera Resolution minimum:

Expandable Memory: Yes

3G : Yes

HSDPA or higher: Yes

Front Camera: Yes

Gaming Type: Light gaming

Screen Resolution: VGA / QVGA

I have a few additional questions. Does today's PDA have a handwriting recognition? If yes, then how good is it?
2nd-> I went to HTC website and they have 3 categories of phone: Touch phone, PDA phone and Smart Phone.
Can u please explain the differences? Does it mean Touch phone and Smart phone don't have PDA capabilities? Thank you very much for your help!

the battery part is normal.. PDAs use more power than regular phones.. so they can nvr be compared
look at the condition of the phone.. test it out.. take ur time.. make sure everything is working.. try out the buttons, screen.. bla bla bla.. just the regular stuff..

err.. can i ask wad does ur dad do? like, he's gonna use the PDA to input alot of data and stuff? if so.. its better with a QWERTY keyboard. i think the best HTC device u can get now is the TyTn II.. its made for business.. got business card recognition software bundled too..


and to answer ur question, PDAs have handwriting recognition.. its called Transcriber.. its actually quite good.. but i still prefer using the virtual keyboard if there is no hardware option.

bout HTC's categories, Smartphones are some sort of a PDA, but it doesnt have a touch screen.. Touch devices are those with built in TouchFLO interface ( correct word to use a? ).. examples are such as the HTC Touch Diamond.. its more towards the user not using the stylus to execute stuff using the touch screen.. PDA Phones, are the normal ones.. without a built in TouchFLO interface.. but u can still put it in if u like..

hope this helps

rite thanks man !

@flyhalf, wat dadarouch said is correct. i also recommend the tytn 2, but, show your dad and let him handle a bit first, since not everyone likes the extra weight. i recommended my dad a qwerty keyboard pda as well, but in the end my old man couldnt stand the extra weight, and settled for Touch Dual.

i recommend u call SIS and see if any sets to hold and feel. they should have. also, not all HTC are Quadband for constant travelling. ask SIS which model is Quadband. Triband devices dun work well in US and Japan. EDIT: they dun work at all lol

BUDGET RANGE:

Brand Preference if any: Asus, Palm

Second hand: 1st hand

QWERTY keyboard: no

Keypad: virtual

GPS: Yes

Bluetooth: Yes

WIfi: Yes
Frequent Overseas traveller to Japan and US? or other countries: no(relates to warranty, and the type of band Pdaphone running on)

Camera Resolution minimum: 2.0

Expandable Memory: Yes

3G : No

HSDPA or higher: No

Front Camera: Yes / No

Gaming Type: Heavy Gaming (if u think u wun game, considered light gaming)

Screen Resolution: I dont give a hoot

budget range? "Second hand: 1st hand" = im assuming brand new? and "(if u think u wun game, considered light gaming)" wut u mean by this? anyways, if u want a virtual keypad and NO QWERTY, u can cross out Palm.. bcoz they all have QWERTYs.. so ur left with ASUS.. now u just need to tell us ur budget and revise some stuff as i have stated above before we can help u out..

Prefer 1st hand..Budget max can go is 1.8K..
Gaming not that important as can use notebook to game.
Now in mind i have N82, Asus P527, HP iPAQ 600(from HP malaysia, or it's 612?) Can't make up my mind now..And do u know the price for these 3 models now?
Thank you!

This post has been edited by squareballs: Jun 22 2008, 09:46 PM

thanks dadarouch and baronic for ur advices. so let me get this straight. both HTC smart phones and PDA phones don't have TouchFlo unlike the Touch Phone right? so what's the difference btwn Smart phone and PDA phone? but all 3 types have PDA functionalities correct? Sorry if i asked too much bcz i planned to get the Touch phone for myself, but what's the use if it doesnt have PDA functions, right?

Anyway, i think my dad gonna use it mostly for business purposes and works (he's a businessman).so the keyboard will greatly help. i'll take baronic advice and ask my dad if he's gonna be comfortable with the weight. maybe i'll recommend the Touch Dual to him too (hopefully the Dual have all the PDA functionalities just like the Tytn II). As u guys can see I'm really a noobie when it comes to PDA phones.

Smart phone is without touch screen and PDA phone is with touch screen. Touch Dual is a PDA phone, so it has all the PDA function except Wifi.

@squareballs: at that price, forget all the models u mentioned, go for HTC P3600i. I strongly recommend it against all the before mentioned models. Its a real powerhouse.

@Flyhalf: the TOUCHFLO is a gimmick, its just the different user interface HTC created for certain Pdaphones. Thats all. and yes, Touch Dual is a PDAphone, and it can do everything a pda can, unless u see the specs stuff like no wi-fi la.

@flyhalf

like wad the others had said.. lazy wanna type it all out again.. and im sure u lazy wanna read so much also.. lol i actually wanted to get the Touch Dual.. haha.. but if u want TouchFLO scrolling abilities.. dont have to get a Touch.. haha.. u can just install a 3rd party s/w


@Baronic

anyways... i lol-ed at "@squareballs:" ... lol..

HOw much?

around RM2.5k, 2nd hand can get for aroun 1.8k

BUDGET RANGE: 3k

Second hand: no

QWERTY keyboard: Not important

Keypad: which is better? virtual can use to play games? u recommend

GPS: Yes

Bluetooth: Yes

WIfi: Yes

Frequent Overseas traveller to Japan and US? or other countries: no

Expandable Memory: Not important (if built-in is large enough, about 4gb)

3G : Yes

HSDPA or higher: Yes

Front Camera: Yes (for video call only)

Gaming Type: Heavy Gaming

*long battery life, won't easily "hang"

This post has been edited by K_zyl: Jun 24 2008, 10:15 AM

@K_zyl, i get your requirements. Looks like heavy gaming is your main requirement. I recommend NON Touch FLo devices. Which rules out all the touch, touch cruise, even diamond. QUite honestly, diamond is nice to look at and everything, but despite being able to play COD2, a lot of other games cannot play, due to VGA incompatibility and Touch Flo lagging up the game. Also, DIamond has too few buttons for u to really enjoy gaming. I was considering to downgrade back to tytn2 for gaming, but gf dun let lol.

So here are my recommendations, HTC Tytn 2, HTC P3600i. Both match all your requirements. Both the tytn2 and P3600i have same gaming capabilities, just one has qwerty the other doesnt.

Dont expect to play COD or Quake (QUake DIamond also not strong enuf to play, it only just manages COD, to play Quake u need Dell Axim), but u can play many many other cool games like Guitar Hero 3.

WIth those two options, i think u should go for Tytn 2. More buttons better.

ive looked up on the net following my previous request. i found 3 models that suit me but there are pro and cons of each.i cant decide.plus 2 of them not in malaysia yet so have to factor in the patience of waiting.

htc diamond;
like: available now, touchflo3d interface, icon design, gps, opera,
dislike: a bit on expensive side, plastic casing, small-ish 2.8" screen (relatively), battery life

samsung omnia;
like: nice form factor, metalic body, large 3.2" widescreen, 5mp camera
dislike: sucky WQVGA res, too windows mobile, have to wait

se experia;
like: specs are all fabulous esp screen
dislike: bulky (qwerty keypad), too long have to wait

i actually would go for experia but considering that i badly need a new phone now, waiting is the hardest thing to do. the decision i have to make is either go for diamond or wait for experia. is it worth to wait? i scared i buy diamond now later when experia comes out my diamond will depreciate a lot.

it is the nature of technology to depreciate quickly and fast. so it comes down to which u prefer. we cant help u, since all of us have our own personal opinions. u have to decide which to get.

the main reason im looking to buy these types of pda phone is the gps.baronic, is diamond's gps good enough?in terms of accuracy,connectivity etc

btw, i prefer the experia.but seems that i cant wait.any idea when it's going to be in the market?

This post has been edited by icyd: Jun 24 2008, 04:27 PM

Brand Preference if any: HTC / Ipaq / O2 / SE
Second hand: no
Minimum how long ago released: latest
QWERTY keyboard: Yes / no ...?? keypad maybe!!
Keypad: Hardware....can sms in one hand
GPS: Yes ..of course!!
Bluetooth: Yes!!
WIfi: Yes!!
Frequent Overseas traveller to Japan and US? or other countries: no
Camera Resolution minimum: not necessary
Expandable Memory: Yes
3G : Yes, video call ma
HSDPA or higher: Yes...if dun have also acceptable!
Front Camera: Yes...prefer video call!
Gaming Type: can still live without game
Screen Resolution: good one la

but the most important one is GPS and wifi, always get stuck in KL and also can type using only one hand

preferable Window Mobile's

thanks in advance



This post has been edited by horseman: Jun 24 2008, 06:16 PM

a GPS phone with a numeric keypad.. Asus P526 and the P750.. thats all i can think off.. the rest are all with QWERTY keypads.. for HTC, u can get the TyTn II.. the Samsung SGH-i780 is not bad either.