PDA Reviews

If you own a 15-20 year old car, you will like this thing. Like an old car, the DV1 is quirky, but because I am more focused on cost (and I have never used a more expensive PDA or owned a new car), I am willing to put up with the shortcomings. It is only an organizer, you can not add software, but that is all I need. My DV1 has never died the big death (though you can see others have), but I can tell it is cheaply made (poor fitting parts). I have had some troubles with syncing with Outlook. I have leared, you have to pay attention to the settings on both DVsync and Companion Link, and still I am not sure why it does what it does. But on the whole I feel ok about syncing now. Outlook is the main reason I got this thing (I am finally using Outlook's calender in a shared setting). And the DV1 is ok for Outlook (maybe only Outlook), it transfers todo items, calender and contacts from (only) your main or root contacts folder. I have tried Royal's PIM for a different organizer, and I prefer Outlook. The DV1's form factor is pretty good, it is small enough to carry comfortably in a coat pocket, but just large enough to be easy to use. I never use the detachable keyboard, and while I see where it might make some data entry tasks easier, it makes others harder, so I feel no great desire to learn how to use it. If you need to take your Outlook information with you and even add a bit to it from the field, but you don't want to pay for anything else, this could be a good organizer for you.

go to radio shack and get this for only 49 american dollars

This is a very good pda. I actually got it at circuit city, not on amazon.com, but still they are the same product. anyways this is a really good pda. it doesn't have internet and software connections, so if your looking for a pda with that you should look for something else. otherwise, this is a good product for if you want to be organized. for instance it has a phone book, even with the tabs so you can skip to a certain letter. Also it has a to do list, and you can check them off once you have done it. also it has a memo area where you can just write down quick memos. Also it has a planner where it gives you the whole month view. Another thing i like about this is that it lets you view what you have written. you don't even have to click on it. it shows you the first line that you have written, on the bottom of the screen. Also it has an area where you can set up things like when you want the week to start, sound on or off, when the auto shut off should kick in, and the format that you want the date set in. Also it has an erea where it shows you your memory usage. Overall this product is great for those of you that want to get organized. I would really recomend buying it. it is good fro those of you just starting to get into the PDA "thing" . BUY IT BUY IT BUY IT!!!!! c u l8er

I just received this battery from amazon (4/20/04) and discovered that it is part of a Toshiba recall because the battery does not stay connected and data can be lost. I called Toshiba and they are sending a free replacement. They advised me not to use the battery. So I paid over $100 for a battery that I cannot use! I bought this battery from Amazon rather than eBay because I didn't want to receive a battery that is under this recall. If you received this battery and the serial number does not end in "A", you can call Toshiba at 1-800-949-7993 to get the battery replaced. This recall was made 7/03, so Amazon really dropped the ball. I'm very disappointed. (...)

The extra battery is a necessity. The main battery the unit comes with makes you nervous to use it because it is always discharging quickly. It's such a great unit, you might as well make another investment so you can actually use it in peace. The cradle was designed to be able to hold the extra battery, and the extra battery comes with an additional carry sleeve like the one that came with the original unit, only larger to accommodate the thicker unit. When you compare the main battery and extended battery, it's a huge difference. Got Power?

I am a member of a serch and rescue team in Iceland and I often take my E-755 with me when I fly. The cold here saps battery power and the stock battery wasn't cutting it. I love the new expanded battery and it still fits in my Covertec case!.

this refers to using this product with sprintpcs samsung 8500 phone.

I keep getting "no carrier detected" with this thing, and the phone does not show any message, on its screeen. The phone is samsung 8500.

The palm pc that I have connects with no problem at all with the normal modem, to the same ISP, same number.

Do you need to enable data on the phone through sprint? Do you need to pay for the wireless web from sprint to get this to work

I've written very few 'negitive' reviews but unfortunately this is one. I bought this to connect my 'Handspring Visor' to my 'Sprint PCS Samsung 3500'. Not only am I dissappointed that I could not get it to work, but after many attempts to get assistance from Socket, I gave up. So, my advice... from the previous reviews, I'm guessing that this thing works great for some people. But, if your not sure what your doing and you may need help from the company, don't count on getting it...

A wonderful tool for road warriors and IT support personnel if used within its limitations. Understanding those limitations will make the difference between your liking or hating this card, and will also set your expectations for what you should use this card for.

Limitations: this is a relatively low-speed communications device that is constrained by digital phone network capabilities and not the engineering behind the device itself. I use Verizon and have gotten reasonably good results in both speed and communications reliability when using this with a laptop. What is "reasonably good results"? I view it as communication speed in the 14.4-19.6kpbs range, which is much slower than we are used to for web browsing and downloading dozens of e-mail messages, some with massive attachments. If you are expecting the same speed as you get from your laptop modem, home DSL or office LAN you will be sorely disappointed. If you want a solution to getting last minute e-mail before getting on a plane and are using a web-based e-mail system (like Microsoft Outlook's web-based option or a mail service like Yahoo or Hotmail) this is an excellent tool. The difference between POP (post office protocol) mail that most of us use and the web-based variety is you have no control over the message download process with POP - it steams into your system until all messages have been downloaded. You get the spam and low priority stuff with the important messages. Web-based mail allows you to preview the messages and selectively download and read them. If you do not have web-based e-mail and expect to use this card with POP mail, you might be in for a disappointment. It takes forever to download mail at the relatively low speed at which this device operates.

Other issues include the cell site strength of your provider. I use Verizon and live in Southern California. My area has great service and coverage, except for in the late afternoon when the network seems to congest and calls drop. If you have problems with dropped calls with your provider this might not be the device for you.

How IT professionals can use this device. If you have a laptop or palmtop computer and get paged that is triggered by an event, such as a file system at 80% or, say, a database problem, you can hook this device into your phone/laptop and initiate a telnet session once you get into your network - regardless of where you are, troubleshoot and possible resolve the problem.

As an IT professional I personally view this device as an emergency tool, much like the jumper cables I carry in my trunk. I do not use it often, but when I need it I know I have a tool that will connect me to where I need to connect. Surfing the net with it, on the other hand, is not only agonizing, but expensive.

It installs easily and works right out of the box. You be the judge and make an informed decision based on limitations and utility. If you can live with the limitations and see the same potential for utility as I, then this is a 5 star device, which is how I'm rating it.

Try the Targus leather case for the Palm VII. It's better made and much tougher! You can slide in the Palm VII and there is no need for velcro. The Palm VII can also be left in its slip case for added protection and it will still fit into the Targus case.

Stylish carrying case and the slots to hold business cards are quite handy. The velcro that holds the unit into the case itself isn't all that secure. I added a second piece and it is rock-solid.

I bought this case at the same time I got my Palm VIIx. I highly recommend that you get this case with your VIIx. First of all you want something that LOOKS good. This case is very attractive. So if you carry your Palm around with you a lot (like I do) it looks natural on a desktop, conference table or in your hands. The quality of the leather is very good. I take my Palm with me everywhere I go and the case looks as good as the day I got it-- so it's very durable. I've never dropped my Palm so I can't say how well it would survive, but a moderate fall from a table top to a carpeted floor should not be a problem. Perhaps the best feature is the great holder for the stylus. It's located in the inside spine of the case and keeps it there very secure (mine never fell out). I find it MUCH easier to take the stylus out of the case than to reach back behind the Palm. I use the "wallet" side of the case to hold my business cards and the Graffiti Reference Card.

Bottom line: the Palm VIIx costs too much not to put it in a nice, functional case.

DO NOT BUY THIS CD PLAYER, i got it, and if you are in the car, it will skip like every 2 seconds

I got this personal CD player for an early Christmas present and I am glad to say that it is an awesome product. It feels smaller than average CD players out on the market and the sound is wonderful. I am very happy with the battery slot is inside the player rather than opening it on the outside and risking the batteries falling out if the cover breaks or does not hold secure. I have shaken it violently while playing and have had no skipping whereas on my old CD player, I just had to hold it wrong and it would skip... The Headphones feel different but you get used to them after awhile, keep in mind that for optimum comfort, you might have to buy different headphones as the ones provided are only for convienence... Imagine having to buy a new CD player and it didn't come with headphones? I am very happy and I hope that everyone who purchaces this player is just as happy.

First off, I would like to say that this player amazes me. I bought it for a 2 week work trip for use on the planes and such. I ended up using it every night to fall asleep because the guy I had to share a room with snored louder than a diesel engine. So, it got used for ~8 hours a day. During the entire trip I only had to change the batteries once near the middle of the second week. So, long battery life doesn't even begin to describe how long it lasts. The volume goes up to a level that even satisfies my annoyingly loud taste. The one complaint I have is that the playback features are lacking. It's only good if you use shuffle all the time (which I happen to do, so it kind of works) or listen to the songs in order every time.

I had the unique opportunity to use and evaluate the Casio EM500 for a week to determine if I was interested in purchasing it. At the end of that week, I really wanted to buy this PDA, but I had some lingering concerns that kept me from doing so. Here are some of my thoughts after using it:

-First off, I really loved the display on this unit. It was extremely bright and easy to read even in daylight. I would not have thought it, but a color screen made a HUGE difference. I had a Palm Pilot before, so I know what I'm talking about here. This Casio has one of the best displays of any of the color units.

-I really liked the PocketPC OS with just a few exceptions. As I mentioned earlier, I have had a Palm Pilot in the past. Of the two operating systems, I prefer the PocketPC. This is largely due to the fact that I use a lot of Microsoft products (Outlook, Word, Excel, Money) and it was extremely easy to synch with data with these applications. Some people prefer the Palm OS's simplicity, but for what I needed to do, I found greater functionality in the PocketPC. The only reservations I had was that the PocketPC makes in annoyingly difficult to close applications and its navigation could be simplified.

-The actual hardware design of this unit is fair. It's a little on the bulky side, but I never expected to be able to fit it in my pocket to begin with. While I liked the semi-scroll wheel on the side, I never used the multi-directional D-pad on the front. In fact, I rarely used any of the buttons on the front. I was also very disappointed that there was no cradle included. The USB cable was kind of awkward to have lying across my desk, and I would have appreciated a cradle to set the unit in when not in use.

-Battery life was impressive. While I never did an official test, I was often able to go through two days of normal use before needing to recharge. The unit uses a Lithium Ion battery.

-Don't underestimate the benefit of having Internet Explorer and Microsoft Reader as included applications. Using Avantgo (which is included), it is very easy to read news, weather, and stocks from sources like MSN and Yahoo. The problem is that it is not a live connection to the Internet, and you must wait until you synch with a PC again to get the information updated. It was also fairly easy to find e-books for Microsoft Reader.

-This unit only comes with 16mb memory. While that is more than enough to run most of the bundled applications, don't expect to play many MP3's on the Media Player unless you buy additional memory.

That brings me to the biggest single drawback of this PDA and the reason I did not end up buying it. This Casio EM500 has a MMC (Multi-Media Card) expansion slot. Most of the PDA's today use Compact Flash memory slots. This means that while I could find MMC memory to buy for my Casio, I could not find very many other expansion options. There are no modems available, or cameras, or any other type of expansion pack available other that just a memory card. Being that MMC is not really catching on, at least in the USA, I worry even about the availability of MMC memory packs in the future. While this may not be important to many people, it was to me. If I am going to spend this much money on a PDA, I want it to last for a while. I want to be able to be able to expand or upgrade the unit as new technologies and products occur. Even Casio seems to realize they made a mistake by using MMC in this unit rather than Compact Flash. Newer Casio models now use Compact Flash.

NOTE: Casio announced recently that EM500 will be capable of supporting SD (secure digital) memory cards. This will require a downloadable update from the Casio web site. Even with this announcement I still am concerned about upgradability options. I have yet to see anyone selling SD memory cards.

If you are not interested in expansions such modems and such, then this is an excellent PDA for you and a great value. I give it four stars (****) in that case. For those of you that are like me and crave expansion, I would suggest looking at the Casio E-125, or better yet, the Compaq iPaq line of handhelds.

I love PDA's (and computers in general, for that matter) and this is an excellent device. There was a time when I swore by Palm's pda's, but while Windows CE (now known as Pocket PC) has evolved to near-desktop power, the Palm has remained virtually unchanged. Of the Pocket PC's available, this unit is the best compromise of size and power. It packs a 150mhz cpu (more powerful than the HP Jornada, less than the Ipaq), 16mb of ram, and an amazing screen capable of displaying 16bit color. The Ipaq and HP Jornada can both only do 12-bit color at best. All of that is packed in a comfortable, small device that feels extremely solid in the hand.

While I do believe the EM-500 is probably the best unit available, it does have a few draw-backs. The miserly 16mb of ram is hardly enough... if you buy this make sure to get a 32mb or 64mb memory card to go with it. My other complaints are minimal: lack of hardware volume control, location of IRDA port... but none of these minor issues really impact the usefulness of the unit.

Definitely a great PDA, and well worth the money

The casio is a really good casio because it is a casio and i THINK IT IS VERY GOOD BECAUSE THESE CASIO'S are always good and so i say this casio is good because it is a casio and casio's are really good so i say this casio is good because it is a casio and casios are good...

p.s. casios are good because their casios

It's not bad when it works. I have had the 500 series now for just over 1 year. It broke the first time half way through the warrentee and the second right after it ran out. With only an MMC slot the expandibility stinks as well. On the plus side, the screen is very bright and nice, battery life was good, and the price is now almost half what I originally paid.

Just got a EM-500 and I love it. But I was shocked to learn that no one makes a keyboard for the system - folding or otherwise. I've even called the manfacturers, and they say they have no plans to make one. So if you want to add something along those lines, look for a different pocket PC.

I love PDA's (and computers in general, for that matter) and this is an excellent device. There was a time when I swore by Palm's pda's, but while Windows CE (now known as Pocket PC) has evolved to near-desktop power, the Palm has remained virtually unchanged. Of the Pocket PC's available, this unit is the best compromise of size and power. It packs a 150mhz cpu (more powerful than the HP Jornada, less than the Ipaq), 16mb of ram, and an amazing screen capable of displaying 16bit color. The Ipaq and HP Jornada can both only do 12-bit color at best. All of that is packed in a comfortable, small device that feels extremely solid in the hand.

While I do believe the EM-500 is probably the best unit available, it does have a few draw-backs. The miserly 16mb of ram is hardly enough... if you buy this make sure to get a 32mb or 64mb memory card to go with it. My other complaints are minimal: lack of hardware volume control, location of IRDA port... but none of these minor issues really impact the usefulness of the unit.

Definitely a great PDA, and well worth the money

I tried this thing out for two weeks.
4 weak points:

1. It takes soo long to transfer music to it.
30 minutes per 1 hour of music. This is a drain on the batteries and your time.

2.It's buggy. It Hard-Reset (losing everything on my handspring) my Handspring twice, the thing soft-resets my Handspring soo often, either by taking it out of the springboard slot before it's good and ready, or it just freezes. The User-interface could be much better.

3.It sucks batteries like you won't believe.
It suggests you get special "NiMH" batteries that are $$$ for two, plus you have to get a recharger, so that it can play longer. Using normal Alkaline batteries, you need to stop listening every bit of time so the batteries don't kill too fast. Otherwise it'll die without warning.

4. Serious design compromises. Not being able to put the cover back on the handspring sucks. Also, it really adds to the size and weight of the Handspring.

There is one minor element: Compact Flash cards are still very expensive, although the price will down with time.

To sum it up: it's not a bad little player, just disappointing in almost every way! Get yourself a stand alone module with more memory.

I'm returning my InnoGear module. What a disappointment. I listened to music for about 10 minutes and wiped out almost a third of my battery. The file transfer can only access the 2 MB section of the module, not the removable (and expensive!) media. Data transfer is slow and I'd recommend no less that 128 MB storage for reasonable listening. I had planned to keep this module in all the time but when it is in you can't put on the protective cover. The photos in the photo album are awful on my b/w screen-- not worth the time it takes to load them.

It simply doesn't live up to the hype.

I just got a MiniJam and attached it to my old handheld (Prism) for workouts at the gym. When I got the new Treo, my Prism threatened to become excess. Repurposing it for entertainment seemed to be the thing to do.

Intuitive Operation / Reasonable Setup
This is only the second Springboard module that I have used (Eyemodule was the first). I was pleased to find that MiniJam works intuitively. I am typically put off by set up procedures involving disks and devices, but it was painless. I would have been less daunted by set up if the instructions were printed as a simple 1, 2, 3 on the outside of the box instead of the junky graphics. The unit is a lot less junky than the pictures on the packaging seems to indicate. Once it was set up, it couldn't be easier to use. It is intuitive, taking advantage of the familiar icons of traditional products like a cassette tape player and (browser-style)juke box.

Function in the Gym Environment
OK, I wouldn't say that the earphones would never fall out; running on the treadmill would require a different listening apparatus. For my workouts, though, the MiniJam worked great. I am substituting it for a Walkman tape player, so the key benefits were being able to switch to songs that I felt like hearing without winding and longer battery life -- no more droning tape. The drawbacks were losing the earphones once during weightlifting and initially getting the Prism situated on me so that I didn't inadvertently bump the buttons.

Key Observation
When I got my first handheld, I didn't feel compelled to use module expansion. However, it's amazing how when I have two of them the primary one does all the calendaring and traditional functions and -- with the Springboard platform -- the second one gets used more as I imagine Handspring had intended: sort of a Swiss Army Knife of electronic products. I would have still kept the Prism for playing games (any Wordlet enthusiasts?), but it has a lot more life left in it than that.

I recommend the MiniJam. It's just what you'd expect your Springboard MP3 player to be.

I bought this card primarily for German, but was disappointed to find out that the German words are not listed with their gender. All German words have a gender (masculine, feminine and neuter) and you need to know the gender in order to use the proper article. In German the article is pretty important for effective communication. Other than that, the quantity of words and useful phrases is pretty good. I also like the functionality and navigability of the software.

This is a great card. I've used it a number of times on business trips to Europe. It's so much easier than carrying a different dictionary for each country (i.e., one for Spain, one for France, etc.). Highly recommended!

This card is great! I don't know if you noticed, but the provider of the content on the card is Franklin Electronic Publishers, the leader in handheld translating software! I haven't seen any other products that can translate words not only from English to other languages and back, but between those other languages. This is a must buy for teachers, students, and travelers.

If any of you value your sanity or life, stay AWAY!! I got this for Christmas. I was happy because my friend had one and it worked fine for him. Lucky for him, not for me. It didn't work with the drivers that came with it. I had to download the driver from Belkin's site to get it to even recognize that there was a keyboard there. Now, whenever I press a button once, it fills the entire screen with that key. WITH ONLY ONE PRESS. I figured that I might be missing something so I contacted their technical support. A week later I got an email saying I should just download the drivers from the site and not use the one that came with it. They won't take it back or anything, if I ever meet the president of Belkin.......

I just received this keyboard for my palm t3 and it works great. however, there is just 1 issue that would make this perfect, at least for me. The spacebar could have been more centered than it's now. looking at the keyboard, there is really no reason why the "alt" key needs to be on the right of space bar, which is pushing the spacebar towards the left. if they had just put the "alt" key to the left, it would have been perfect as i noticed that tapping on the spacebar on the extreme right edge (due to the fact that it's left bias and I'm using my right thumb) sometimes misses the actual space character.

I'm in high school, and am not good with writing down notes, there is always too many papers. So I saw a different keyboard on the web and wanted to get it for my birthday. I had wanted a keyboard before, for when I go on trips and need a computer to type reports and so on. Well, it was the night before a trip and I had a report that was to determine my final grade due the day after I got home from the trip. I had gotten the project that day too. I couldnt get it online, so I went to staples and this was the only keyboard left. I was so frantic I bought it. And Im definetly glad I did. I use the keyboard for everything, and I can take it anywhere. I like the design the most, it fits inside everything, and is so easy to unfold, that and I've never had a problem with it and have had it for about 2 months now. I love this keyboard!