use my PDA more

I can do almost everything on my PDA that I do on my computer, and be much more mobile. Hopefully more productive, too, since I won’t be tied to a single location.

I’ve come to the realization that the PDA didn’t help me visualize things the way I would like to. So I’ve switched to a pocket calendar in my purse instead. It works better for me to help me anticipate things coming up, it just doesn’t beep at me when I need to pay attention to something. Oh well. =P

I have an i-mate PDA2K PDAPhone which cost $800 in 2005-February, and over $800 now. In the world of consumer electronics, this is extremely rare.

When I was house-hunting, I had on my PDA a list of criteria for the place I wanted to rent. One of the criteria was the availability of city-wide wireless access. I would use the WiFi feature built into the PDA to check for that.

One of the potential landlords asked me how I got there and if I found the hoise easily. I told them I had a Bluetooth GPS unit and GPS navigation software on the PDA. As I was saying that, the PDA beeped with a reminder that I had to make a phone call. From the PDA. The landlord was kind of stunned. She told me “You live off that thing…”

I looked up synonyms for “stunned” in a dictionary software I have on the PDA and replied:

“You seem flaggerbasted…”

Voice memos, text messaging, picture messaging, alarm clock (a certain tone can be heard even through 32dB-attenuation earplugs), mini-flashlight, Internet browsing, candid photos, video recording, complex chronometer, e-book reader, audiobook player, music/video player – these are some of the features that this PDA has, and that I actually use frequently. But it can do so much more. Unlike the iPhone, you can download applications into the PDA and have it act pretty much like a small computer with a wireless modem hooked into it.

...function without it. I’d be lost.

My husband got a Blackberry Pearl, which replaced both his phone and his pda. So I got his Sony Clie to replace my Palm Zire. It’s pretty nifty, high def (by comparison) screen, cool applications. Some games and applications that I had on my Zire I beamed to the Clie and they look a lot better! Now, I’m either going to have to carry both or get a wallet case for the Clie (or a wallet) because I had a Zire wallet case. I can use the Zire for ebooks and the Clie for organizing myself and games, but that seems silly doesn’t it?

I use my PDA to store contacts and appointments, sure. Also, shopping lists (listpro), packing lists, regular WM 5.0 to do lists, birthdays (lifesaver), list what I eat and my workouts (My Personal Diet), attempt to wake me up, pictures, movies, a million reminders, songs, documents, finance management, homework. And of course, to play darn bubblebreaker addictive game. If anyone knows how to delete it, please tell me.

good luck to all

+

Since getting busier with volunteering and having meetings to attend with the Symphony, ect. I have to use my PDA…otherwise I am making arrangements to do things on days I am already promised to other events! So..PDA gets lots of use!! Not to mention the phone numbers I have in it..to lose that wee thing is to lose my life right now! UGH…hate to admit that!

An online PDA makes the difference.

The hassle with my PDA is that it was another thing to carry around and fill up a pocket. Another thing to keep charged and synchronized. Another random toy to spend hours tweaking and wasting time on. Another thing to be dependent on.

So, instead of using my PDA more, I’ve discovered a way that works for me. My biggest problem has always been keeping my schedule synchronized between work and home so I always know what I’ve got coming in the next day or two. So I figured that since I’m always able to get online if I really need to, I can just synchronize Outlook at work with my Yahoo! Calendar, and using the Yahoo Widget Engine at home to have a calendar widget on my desktop at all times. I also use the widget to store a prioritized task list of things I need to do.

Now I always know what’s coming and what I need to be doing without having to lug around another piece of hardware.

That may not work for other people, but it works plenty well enough for me. Just keep in mind that a PDA isn’t always a person’s best option.

I need to just give up and sell the dang thing. I only bought it for clinical rotations 2 years ago, and I don’t even use it for that reason anymore. But I know the minute I get rid of it, I will need it back for some mundane reason. I prefer pen and paper. I keep a notepad and pen in my purse and I use it a heck of a lot more than the PDA. It’s a lot faster for sure.