Sony Ericsson P990i OR dopod 838Pro

No one?

Doesn't anyone use a phone/PdA?
Jag

this is fun, i'm talking to myself .. i'm going to see the nice man in the white coat now... bye bye..

I've had my P910i for 2 years and love it. The touch screen is something I'm not willing to give up. The PDA functions are more than just gimmicks, the really are useful..... Have you read any phone buyer mags to see what the reviewers reckon?

Tony

Oh - you are talking about Phones and PDAs I thought you were talking about the delayed new Sony playstation thingy or some new exotic MPEG player.

Try a PalmOS-based smartphone. After using one for even a day, you're led inescapably to the conclusion that the others just don't have a clue. It's a very simple OS, relatively speaking, but everything works.

Just one example (may not be relevant to you):

How many of your phone's contacts have both someone's name, and the company? And how often do you just want to call the company (the name of the person means nothing to you)? Can you search your contacts by Company Name? Can you heck...

"Can you search your contacts by Company Name? Can you heck..."

I can on my P910i.

Tony

My thoughts-

Palm - my wife had one and I didn't really rate it. it only lasted about 2 years before dying - terminally, the syncing with outlook wasn't that reliable (approx once every few months, it would somehow resync itself so EVERY contact and appointment appeared twice), and also we had to buy another bit of software called Beyond Contacts to be able to reproduce Outlook properly - the bundled contacts package didn't allow you to have all the fields populated, and doesn't allow multiday appointments.

PDAs - I'm currently using a TMobile MDA vario. It works OK and the thumb keyboard works really well. For dealing with emails on the move it's almost as good as a blackberry and syncs with Outlook much better. However it's a bit sluggish and ocasionally freezes, also not having 'proper' phone buttons is occasionally a drag - you have to get out the stylus to make normal phone calls. Finally I doubt it will last beyond the year - it just doesn't seem that well made. I think O2 do a version of the same thing.

Unless you really need a big screen and keyboard, either for surfing or emails I'd go for a smaller smartphone. I had an Orange SPV c500 previously, and if you use something like DeveloperOne Fusion the contacts and diary work just as well as a PDA but in a smaller and more robust package.

Friend of mine had a P900 which had to be replace umpteen times in the first 18months.

Of course the latest versions of the Palm or P900 may be better.

Hope this helps
Phil

Jag

Are you a mac or pc user?

What do you want to use the various features for other than phoning i.e.:

- Texting
- E-mails
- Contacts
- Diary
- Internet
- Music
- Photos
- Word
- Excel
- Other

One observation on the p990 - considering it is the third generation of the p900 Sony have really screwed up somewhere in developing it and bringing it to market. It was originally scheduled for UK release in 1st quarter 2006 and we have yet to see it launched by the major networks and mobile phone shops - presumably something went badly wrong. Then again, same story with the Playstation III.

Peter

I got the P990i

Not bad. But... seems like not enough thought went into it.
I did decide that I wanted a phone with some PDA functions and not a PDA ith phone functions.

I'm quite happy with it.

I think the delay was due to the new Symbian OS.

I must admit, I have a Palm Tungsten T and it is estremely stable. Palm knew what the market wanted. Hopefully Symbian follow suit. Microsoft got it all wrong.
Jag

Jag

I was toying with the idea of getting a p990 myself but firstly the product took so blooming long coming to market and secondly work has insisted I have one of those blackberry phones.

I also have a HP2750 pda which is a fantastic wee box of tricks - decent size screen and synchronises perfectly with MS Outlook. What I particularly like is that it mirrors my current active Outlook job files i.e. I can access all e-mails sent and received from my desk top which I have dragged into sub-directories of the inbox - something the blackberry can't do. Extremely handy.

Where the HP/p990/blackberry fall down I think is with the keyboard - none of them are a patch on my old Nokia Communicator in terms of ease of inputting data due to its proper key board. It's a pity Nokia couldn't make it compatible with my Mac at home.

The p990 is still an incredible box of tricks, and I'm sure it will provide good service - maybe the addition of a bluetooth folding keyboard may be useful if you are going to be e-mailing alot. Good luck.

Peter

PS Do let us know if there are any teething problems in case I am tempted to get one in the next month or two!

Hello Peter
The p990i is a good phone. One gripe I have is that the kewboard backlight cannot be switched off. This is a majot power sucker. Battery life ain't that great (primarily due to the backlight on the keyboard) synchronisation with outlook is OK but it does not catogorise. You have to do this manually. Otherwise, it does arrange data in a nice way. It is also blackberry-able, it has a black berry mode

The DOPOD 838 Pro is running Microsoft, so, ease of use but I feel that the Symbian on the P990i is more stable. The DOPOD has quite a good keyboard. The DOPOD900 will bkow your mind!!

Jag