What do you do with your PDA?

Tradarcher

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 20, 2005
Location
Creedmoor, NC
The federal prison just donated some "obsolete-2 years old" iPaq pocket PC's to the school where I work. I can't really figure out what kinda benefit it is going to be to me over what a flash drive and laptop are going to be. In what creative ways do you use yours?
 
Kevin Lawler said:
The federal prison just donated some "obsolete-2 years old" iPaq pocket PC's to the school where I work. I can't really figure out what kinda benefit it is going to be to me over what a flash drive and laptop are going to be. In what creative ways do you use yours?
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I have a, iPaq (about 5 years old now) that has a GPS that I bought for $120. I mounted it to my dashboard and use it regularly. It even talks just like the Tom Tom.

Matt
 
I've toted a PDA since the first Palm came out. I use it every day. Calendar is the most used, 2nd is a freeware called HandyShopper where I do to-do lists, shopping lists, packing lists, etc. I got several hundred phone numbers and addresses for contacts.

Web access is probably next, but usually in oddball places like at lunch. My dad before he passed away spent time at UNC hospitals and Duke, and it was nice to have it so I could check email without having to mess with keeping track of a laptop.

I have a password protected utility that keeps track of all my passwords, alarm codes, etc for all my client sites. (If you do something like this, be sure that a hot sync doesn't save them on a PC in plain text w/o a password, some do.) Similar utility for managing wireless access points, with passwords, WEP codes, etc.

I do some carpentry on the side, and have several calulators related to that, i.e. baluster layout, compound angle calculator. A couple of chord databases for the guitar. Tide tables for beach fishing.

Some client data relating to their systems and network infrastructure in word and excel files.

I'll keep a few photos of family and the Jeeps in case get the opportunity to show off.

That's about it.
 
boonewheeler said:
Paper Weight.
I havent lost a paper yet...:beer:
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damn beat me to it.

Best paperweight ever

oh and i did carry it for like 3 weeks.

Seems if you dont slow down to put stuff in the damn thing it doesnt do crap...:shaking:
 
Palm IIIx & others piled in desk drawer along with each versions cabling... :shaking:

While the technology is over 3 years old, my current BlackBerry 8700c is the snizzle! Only have to wired sync for Outlook Contacts & Tasks... the rest finds me by wireless via BES. I've added Google Maps and Gmail applets so far, but finding it does all I need it to for now... unless I find a smokin' (near free) deal on a GPS module & apps :lol:
 
I've been thinking of getting a cell phone/PDA for my business, so I can keep track of my appointments and how much I charge on each one.

Can these units synch up with a program like Quickbooks Pro?
 
Caver Dave said:
Palm IIIx & others piled in desk drawer along with each versions cabling... :shaking:

While the technology is over 3 years old, my current BlackBerry 8700c is the snizzle! Only have to wired sync for Outlook Contacts & Tasks... the rest finds me by wireless via BES. I've added Google Maps and Gmail applets so far, but finding it does all I need it to for now... unless I find a smokin' (near free) deal on a GPS module & apps :lol:
Click to expand...

Crackberry sucka.
 
ive tried an older palm a year or so ago, i really didnt use it much, im sure if you traveled much or had specific needs it could be handy. For me i still like paper and pen for keeping my to do lists. -mike
 
Some people take to PDAs while others never really find the useful. I've been using one for about ten years now, since the early days of the palm pilot. I even thought the "I synch therefore I am" t-shirts were cool. (I'm a super nerd)

I don't have creative uses for mine this is what I do with it.

Address book: A PDA beats a paper address book in a few ways. One biggie is that you have all the room to store info that you want. I can store the names of people's wife and kids, I can have full directions to their house in the notes, etc. Another cool thing is that as they add/change phone numbers, email addresses, etc. it doesn't turn into a scribbled mess. On the downside, I can still write faster than I can enter an address into the form with the keypad. I usually use my PC and synch if I can.

Calendar: My PDA (Treo 650) has become a required brain extension for me. I could never keep track of my meeting schedule without it. Also, sometimes I get into my work and it's easy for a few hours to drift by. It beeps in my pocket, 15, 10, and 5 minutes before my meetings so I don't forget them. Like the address book it's easier to track everything about the meeting than it would be in a paper calendar. I know where it is, the agenda, the dial in phone numbers, who is going, etc.

Notes:I keep lists in here. I have just about every part in my buggy and where it came from in my phone/PDA. This comes in handy when I need a new thermostat/water pump/inner axle seal/tie rod/bearing/whatever and the guy at autozone doesn't want part numbers because their system is based on what car/truck it came out of. When a light bulb blows I make a note on my home depot shopping list. When I want almonds I make a note on my grocery shopping list. I also keep a full maintenance record of all the cars/rigs I maintain so I know when an oil change is coming up, how long it's been since I changed the air filter, etc.

Those are my key uses. Sometimes I play games on it, sometimes I use a program to convert metric to SAE, etc. but those other things are my top three.
 
I would get fired on the first day without my 8525. Seriously I cant work without mine, constant email checks, ect. cant imagine working without a pda
 
Until the PDA merged with the cell phone I thought they were useless. Tried em twice, never bothered to carry it more than once or twice.

I have had the Treo (w) for the last 20 months or so, it is fantastic / syncs with my outlook, but so far I have not linked the email stuff. (Too much junkmail)

Mid November I am expecting to buy the Blackberry Storm and go ahead and setup email too. I really need the access for students (I teach online-Acctg) and I hate being on the pc during the weekend.

So, older ones, sell it on ebay...but if you want something practical get a "smartphone"

[GPS in car functions are actually a decent use of the older PDAs though... if you can keep cost down cheap, otherwise buying a new one makes more sense]
 
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