After much deliberation I've decided that I want a bling PDA.

I want bluetooth and battery life is important so I thought the Asus 620BT would be a good one (~

For ease of integration with outlook, you really need to go with Windows 2003 SE powered devices. Although the Palm O/S ones sync with outlook, the initial setup can be a pain and its not automatic. To sync a palm os device you need to press the sync button each time whereas the MS offering is realtime. For tomtom3 expansion slots and processor speed are the key, at least 400MHZ for the processor and either an SD Card slot of Compact Flash slot are essential. Forget the older 266MHZ ones they are hopeless for some games and tomtom runs slowly in calculating routes. Some of the newer windows devices run at VGA resolution (480x640) resulting in a much better image on screen.

Palm OS sync with Outlook is much better than before - SWMBO has a Palm Zire 31 and during installation you get the choice to sync with Palm desktop or Outlook...that's it, no further configuration necessary.

Palms tend to be smaller, lighter and have better battery life, but the Pocket PC has all the familiarity of windows.

Can't make any more comments than that really - I have a Smartphone running Windows mobile but it doesn't really replace a full PDA.

Had a few PDA's over the years from a Psion 5 to my current a HP iPAQ 4150. Had various iPAQ's 3660, 5550 but the 4150 suits my needs the best and at an excellent price. Bluetooth & Wireless built in nice and small light and compact and runs tons of games. Have a 1GB SD Card in it, so it can be used as a good MP3 Player as well.

Don't use it for Tomtom though, got a Tomtom Go instead as I couldn't be bothered with all the wires, plugging in, batteries etc. plus I was told the sound isn't really loud enough with the inbuilt speaker so to go for a powered cradle.

The 4150 is bar far the best PDA I have ever had and it's lasted the longest I have normally upgraded by now. But it does everything I need and more.

Psion 5! Those were the days...

Yes the iPaq 4150 was the other main one I was considering. Being from HP, I should be able to try it out at PCworld later this sarvo.

The VGA ones look fantastic but a bit pricier than I can justify to myself :bigeyes:

Psions absolutly ruled. Give me one of those with SD slot and bluetooth and bang, top of the range PDA. PPC windows has got more apps for it too, and gives you more configuration options to play with.

I've found that my Palm T3 survives a totally flat battery a lot better than my old Tosh PPC ever did... Better screen and software too, IMHO. (Built-in software that is - Palm's offerings seem better suited to a small device).

Mine syncs fine with Outlook - using a cradle at home and bluetooth at work

Yes I have a Psion 5, still use it, it is great. Pity they did not keep developing this, a Key board is so much better than these touch screens!

I've got a Palm t3 and an Orange XDA phone, so I've got both platforms, and I really prefer the Palm. Hotsync is much better than it was in the previous versions. If you run Tom Tom on the Palm, go to the website NOW and get the 4.4 update. It adds the ability to use overlay POI files, like the Pocket Windows version -but this has all the functionality of the CheckPoint utility, too.

Excellent!

Phil

If you're considering using Tomtom, I'd recommend the Mitac Mio 168. It has a built-in GPS receiver, and the speaker is plenty loud enough for voice commands. It also seems to be very stable, and the screen is very clear.

The only downside is that it doesn't have Bluetooth, but it's good value at under

Cheers all for advice. I've done the opposite though and gone for pocket PC, the Asus 620BT as is cheap, 400mhz xscale, and built in bluetooth. The cradle's good too and the pouch/case it comes with is sturdy enough.