cUnq,
<< new cell phone and or modems to use with palm7 and laptop in USA and Canada >>
Have you already purchased the Palm VII? If so, how do you like it?
Its certainly a cool device but from my point of view (and for my purposes) the VII has a lot of compromises compared to the IIIx or Vx starting with its price at +2X the IIIx, and on to limited battery life, wireless utility, lack of peripherals, size, weight, and cords.
A lot will happen in handhelds over the next 12 months so I decided that the $189 delivered price of the IIIx was a "throwaway" cost. I like the Vx with 2x the memory of the IIIx (4X the VII) and a better display but the IIIx memory can be upgraded at modest cost.
As for wireless modems I have not really shopped them but I do expect some new CDMA modems to be released over the next 6 months. The company will replace my current Dell Latitude (with V.90 card) in about 6 months and I'll shop a wireless modem at that time.
My Palm will be used for trips where I don't need to lug a laptop (don't need to use a projected PowerPoint presentation) as all other utility can be found in the Palm.
In my case the Qualcomm QCP 860 will act as the Palm modem in the US (possibly Canada, but I'm not sure about BAM CDMA roaming there although I think it exists) and a Motorola L7089 Triband Timeport GSM WorldPhone will act as the modem for travel abroad using a US (Omnipoint) subscription.
When all hardware is assembled for my "Lightweight Cordless Road Warrior Kit" I will have invested about $1,200 in hardware including the Palm, 2 phones, auxiliary batteries and charging stations, auxiliary keyboard, and Qualcomm Palm™ Connectivity Kit, and everything I travel domestically with excluding the keyboard will pack in the Qualcomm 7 1/4" x 4 3/4" x 2 1/4" connected organizer:
store.qualcomm.com
My initial reaction to the IIIx is WOW! ... how did I ever exist without a PDA. It took me about 2 hour's to get basic familiarity with the Palm, load the PC software, load the ACT! 2000 synchronization link, synchronize an ACT! database with 1500 contacts (including schedules, activities and to do's) and synchronize with my Outlook 2000 email inbox.
In a few days I have become something of a Palm computing addict even though I haven't added the phone(s) modems yet. Sheila is eyeing the IIIx covetously, and she may well inherit it quickly, because I think I might prefer the Vx with its somewhat sharper display and larger memory (told you I wanted a "throwaway cost").
A friend who travels extensively caught me doing data entry (tap, tap) at the 19th Hole yesterday afternoon and described how he downloads the Wall Street Journal, destination city weather, sports scores, local driving directions, etc., each morning, from "avantgo.com" then reads or refers to it during the day.
I'm hooked. Pretty soon I'll be as bad as "sommers" tapping out SI messages while travelling.
- Eric - |
