Request for help in choosing a PDA-cell phone combination

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.verizon (More info?)

I am a medical resident who lives in Omaha, Nebraska (zip 68135) and
would commute for about 30 minutes across river to Council Bluffs,
Iowa (zip 51503) for my medical residency. I am looking for a PDA-cell
combo that has following characteristics.

1. Must have a physical QWERTY keyboard
2. I must be able to install and use my medical softwares such as
5-minute-clinical-consultant etc. Normally, Windows CE or Palm
operating systems allow such software installation. I mention this
because I heard the cell-based PDAs have a different operating system.
3. Must have some feature that prevents PDA from
accidently/unintentionally getting on. My current PDA is Handspring
Treo 90 which i stopped using since its on/off button is so sensitive
that it gets on with a slightest touch while in the pocket of my coat
and gets the battery drained pretty fast.
4. Reasonable lightweight so that I can carry it around.
5. I want to consider both palm and pocketpc.
6. Access to web and email is of secondary importance.
7. the less expensive, the better but I know I will have to splurge a
couple of hundred dollars.
8. The provider of cell service is of secondary importance, though i
prefer At&T.

I would appreciate your input on this. Please let me know which model
numbers of which brands fit the bill. Thanks a lot in advance!

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.verizon (More info?)

Previously on alt.cellular.verizon, nachiketajoshi said:

; I am a medical resident who lives in Omaha, Nebraska (zip 68135) and
; would commute for about 30 minutes across river to Council Bluffs,
; Iowa (zip 51503) for my medical residency. I am looking for a PDA-cell
; combo that has following characteristics.
;
; 1. Must have a physical QWERTY keyboard

Then I think you want a Treo 600. VZW just released it last week.

; 2. I must be able to install and use my medical softwares such as
; 5-minute-clinical-consultant etc. Normally, Windows CE or Palm
; operating systems allow such software installation. I mention this
; because I heard the cell-based PDAs have a different operating system.

Nokia smartphones use Symbian. You can add programs to them, but it
has a much smaller selection than Palm or any of the MS versions.

; 3. Must have some feature that prevents PDA from
; accidently/unintentionally getting on. My current PDA is Handspring
; Treo 90 which i stopped using since its on/off button is so sensitive
; that it gets on with a slightest touch while in the pocket of my coat
; and gets the battery drained pretty fast.

Take a look and see. Also, cases/covers/belt clips can help here.

; 7. the less expensive, the better but I know I will have to splurge a
; couple of hundred dollars.

More like several hundred. The Kyocera 7135, which due to your
requirement of a qwerty keyboard you do not want, is $400 with a
contract.

--
Jeffrey Kaplan www.gordol.org
The from userid is killfiled Send personal mail to gordol

"We need an energy bill that encourages consumption." - George W. Bush,
Sep 23, 2002

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.verizon (More info?)

I heartily recommend the Treo 600. It should meet all your needs, including
automatically locking keyboard and buttons. I'm an Anesthesiologist, and
have ePocrates, and a couple of Palm OS Medical Texts on my Treo. I do
Medline searches regularly, and even get CME online. There are numerous Palm
OS medical apps out there. Check out www.pocketmedicine.com, among others.
I have the Sprint CDMA version (only $15/mo for unlimited data). Battery
lasts over 24 with heavy use (but drains faster in poor reception areas).
My only complaint is that I wish it had a higher resolution screen (maybe in
next rumored version). You can probably get one for ~$300-350 with a new
contract. The next version is also rumored to include Bluetooth, but I
doubt it will be avail until 2005.

"nachiketajoshi" <nachiketajoshi@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:52b9374a.0407251038.5a200d4b@posting.google.com...
> I am a medical resident who lives in Omaha, Nebraska (zip 68135) and
> would commute for about 30 minutes across river to Council Bluffs,
> Iowa (zip 51503) for my medical residency. I am looking for a PDA-cell
> combo that has following characteristics.

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.verizon (More info?)

Kevin Michaels wrote:
> nachiketajoshi@yahoo.com (nachiketajoshi) wrote in message news:<52b9374a.0407251038.5a200d4b@posting.google.com>...
>
>>I am a medical resident who lives in Omaha, Nebraska (zip 68135) and
>>would commute for about 30 minutes across river to Council Bluffs,
>>Iowa (zip 51503) for my medical residency. I am looking for a PDA-cell
>>combo that has following characteristics.
>>
>>1. Must have a physical QWERTY keyboard
>>2. I must be able to install and use my medical softwares such as
>>5-minute-clinical-consultant etc. Normally, Windows CE or Palm
>>operating systems allow such software installation. I mention this
>>because I heard the cell-based PDAs have a different operating system.
>>3. Must have some feature that prevents PDA from
>>accidently/unintentionally getting on. My current PDA is Handspring
>>Treo 90 which i stopped using since its on/off button is so sensitive
>>that it gets on with a slightest touch while in the pocket of my coat
>>and gets the battery drained pretty fast.
>>4. Reasonable lightweight so that I can carry it around.
>>5. I want to consider both palm and pocketpc.
>>6. Access to web and email is of secondary importance.
>>7. the less expensive, the better but I know I will have to splurge a
>>couple of hundred dollars.
>>8. The provider of cell service is of secondary importance, though i
>>prefer At&T.
>>
>>I would appreciate your input on this. Please let me know which model
>>numbers of which brands fit the bill. Thanks a lot in advance!
>
> Hello,
>
> Kevin from palmOne here. I see that a couple folks have recommended
> the Treo 600 to you. I just wanted to point you towards the Healthcare
> Solutions page at palmOne.com. Here you can find a wide selection of
> information and resources devoted to helping medical professionals get
> the most out of their palmOne devices.
>
> palmOne Healthcare Solutions
> http://www.palmone.com/us/enterpri [...] ealthcare/
>
> I hope this helps you with your decision.
>
> Best wishes,
> Kevin
>
> - - - - - - - - - - - - -
> Kevin Michaels


To the Original Poster:

HP and T-Mobile announced today that a new phone-enabled IPAQ with
Wireless and Bluetooth will be available in August for $499 with a
T-Mobile activation. This sounds like just what you need, since there
are tons of medical-related software available for the PocketPC 2003
operating system.

To read about this, go to the following link:
<http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=581&u=/nm/20040726/tc_nm/telecoms_tmobileusa_hp_dc&printer=1>

Because the link is so long, you'll probably need to copy it and paste
it into your browser window. In case the line breaks, you may need to
reconnect the parts of the link. The full link includes everything
between the angle brackets.

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.verizon (More info?)

"nachiketajoshi" <nachiketajoshi@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:52b9374a.0407261358.38f5d9ea@posting.google.com...
> Thanks to everyone who replied. I checked out the TREO 600 and yes, it
> was the only one that met all my requirements ($449 with At&T or
> Spring activation). I will probably go with it. It is slightly bulky
> but something with a keyboard is expected to have that weight/girth.
>
> Peter Pan, thanks for the links (I am sort of a tech junkie so found
> those useful), but what i need is not just a PDA but also a cell phone
> in a single unit.
>

Glad you found what you were looking for, hope you don't mind me rambling a
bit in case anyone lurking here reads this. I used to have a PDA and
Cellphone combo in one device for a few years, until three things happened.
#1, the PDA died and had to go in for warranty work. Took a few weeks and I
was without a cellphone too. #2 I was in an area (alaska) that only had
analog voice capabilty, and the PDA/Cellphone combo only worked in digital
areas (no analog voice at all). #3 A new cellphone came out with options I
wanted, but couldn't get em unless I got a whole new PDA/Cellphone combo (at
a huge cost). That when I started looking at alternatives and went with a
separate phone and PDA and a cable to tether em. (Turns out I can also use
the cellphone on my laptop and desktop computers too with other cables, and
still get a new phone with NE2). Of course there were other reasons, but the
best I found, was realizing that there are many PDA's in the world, but
Verizon only has a few/very limited selection. They mainly have phones, and
the best PDA's (for me) were actually sold by other companies, so I went
with the best PDA and best phone, and figgered out how to make em work
together. Just an aside (actually a funny story to me, but probably not to
others), at both home and work we have WiFi networks, most places I stay
in/go to now have wireless networks, and a bunch of my friends have
Bluetooth enabled devices (both of which interface with the HP Ipaq 4100).
Since I have started using it (and using both the built-in WiFi and
Bluetooth), I haven't even USE'D the cable/tether cellphone to PDA!

Ok Ok, maybe this is better... I live in Florida (Tampa Area), what the H
was I doing in Alaska?!?!?! It was August, extremely hot and humid in
Florida, so I went somewhere cooler!

Hmmmm, maybe I should go to alt.humor until I get a sense of humor.....

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.verizon (More info?)

Thanks...can you tell em how treo 300 is diffrent from treo 300? I am
leaning towards 300 as it seems to be more affordable and lightweight.
Thanks!

kevin.michaels@palmone.com (Kevin Michaels) wrote in message news:<cc98eac0.0407261038.5ca8a17@posting.google.com>...
> nachiketajoshi@yahoo.com (nachiketajoshi) wrote in message news:<52b9374a.0407251038.5a200d4b@posting.google.com>...
> > I am a medical resident who lives in Omaha, Nebraska (zip 68135) and
> > would commute for about 30 minutes across river to Council Bluffs,
> > Iowa (zip 51503) for my medical residency. I am looking for a PDA-cell
> > combo that has following characteristics.
> >
> > 1. Must have a physical QWERTY keyboard
> > 2. I must be able to install and use my medical softwares such as
> > 5-minute-clinical-consultant etc. Normally, Windows CE or Palm
> > operating systems allow such software installation. I mention this
> > because I heard the cell-based PDAs have a different operating system.
> > 3. Must have some feature that prevents PDA from
> > accidently/unintentionally getting on. My current PDA is Handspring
> > Treo 90 which i stopped using since its on/off button is so sensitive
> > that it gets on with a slightest touch while in the pocket of my coat
> > and gets the battery drained pretty fast.
> > 4. Reasonable lightweight so that I can carry it around.
> > 5. I want to consider both palm and pocketpc.
> > 6. Access to web and email is of secondary importance.
> > 7. the less expensive, the better but I know I will have to splurge a
> > couple of hundred dollars.
> > 8. The provider of cell service is of secondary importance, though i
> > prefer At&T.
> >
> > I would appreciate your input on this. Please let me know which model
> > numbers of which brands fit the bill. Thanks a lot in advance!
>
>
>
> Hello,
>
> Kevin from palmOne here. I see that a couple folks have recommended
> the Treo 600 to you. I just wanted to point you towards the Healthcare
> Solutions page at palmOne.com. Here you can find a wide selection of
> information and resources devoted to helping medical professionals get
> the most out of their palmOne devices.
>
> palmOne Healthcare Solutions
> http://www.palmone.com/us/enterpri [...] ealthcare/
>
> I hope this helps you with your decision.
>
> Best wishes,
> Kevin
>
> - - - - - - - - - - - - -
> Kevin Michaels
> kevin.michaels@palmOne.com
> - - - - - - - - - - - - -
> Check out what's new at
> http://www.palmone.com/

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.verizon (More info?)

Thanks....I read the article you sent...the plot thickens, I guess :-)
I need to sit down and think about how am I going to use the
additional features offered by this phone.

No Reply <noreply@nospam.invalid> wrote in message news:<g5dNc.13742$ps5.5737134@news4.srv.hcvlny.cv.net>...
> Kevin Michaels wrote:
> > nachiketajoshi@yahoo.com (nachiketajoshi) wrote in message news:<52b9374a.0407251038.5a200d4b@posting.google.com>...
> >
> >>I am a medical resident who lives in Omaha, Nebraska (zip 68135) and
> >>would commute for about 30 minutes across river to Council Bluffs,
> >>Iowa (zip 51503) for my medical residency. I am looking for a PDA-cell
> >>combo that has following characteristics.
> >>
> >>1. Must have a physical QWERTY keyboard
> >>2. I must be able to install and use my medical softwares such as
> >>5-minute-clinical-consultant etc. Normally, Windows CE or Palm
> >>operating systems allow such software installation. I mention this
> >>because I heard the cell-based PDAs have a different operating system.
> >>3. Must have some feature that prevents PDA from
> >>accidently/unintentionally getting on. My current PDA is Handspring
> >>Treo 90 which i stopped using since its on/off button is so sensitive
> >>that it gets on with a slightest touch while in the pocket of my coat
> >>and gets the battery drained pretty fast.
> >>4. Reasonable lightweight so that I can carry it around.
> >>5. I want to consider both palm and pocketpc.
> >>6. Access to web and email is of secondary importance.
> >>7. the less expensive, the better but I know I will have to splurge a
> >>couple of hundred dollars.
> >>8. The provider of cell service is of secondary importance, though i
> >>prefer At&T.
> >>
> >>I would appreciate your input on this. Please let me know which model
> >>numbers of which brands fit the bill. Thanks a lot in advance!
> >
> > Hello,
> >
> > Kevin from palmOne here. I see that a couple folks have recommended
> > the Treo 600 to you. I just wanted to point you towards the Healthcare
> > Solutions page at palmOne.com. Here you can find a wide selection of
> > information and resources devoted to helping medical professionals get
> > the most out of their palmOne devices.
> >
> > palmOne Healthcare Solutions
> > http://www.palmone.com/us/enterpri [...] ealthcare/
> >
> > I hope this helps you with your decision.
> >
> > Best wishes,
> > Kevin
> >
> > - - - - - - - - - - - - -
> > Kevin Michaels
>
>
> To the Original Poster:
>
> HP and T-Mobile announced today that a new phone-enabled IPAQ with
> Wireless and Bluetooth will be available in August for $499 with a
> T-Mobile activation. This sounds like just what you need, since there
> are tons of medical-related software available for the PocketPC 2003
> operating system.
>
> To read about this, go to the following link:
> <http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=581&u=/nm/20040726/tc_nm/telecoms_tmobileusa_hp_dc&printer=1>
>
> Because the link is so long, you'll probably need to copy it and paste
> it into your browser window. In case the line breaks, you may need to
> reconnect the parts of the link. The full link includes everything
> between the angle brackets.

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.verizon (More info?)

Yes, I noticed that deal yesterday, but if I get the coverage/phone
thru a local dealer, he gets me 15% off on monthly bill due to my
affiliation with a hospital. That is $6 off per month on $39.99 plan,
i.e., $72 off over a year. Plus I need only one year contract and
still get all the benefits of a 2-year contract.

"Alan N" <amnast@NOSPAMmindspring.com> wrote in message news:<kZCNc.16454$iK.4955@newsread2.news.atl.earthlink.net>...
> FYI... Amazon and ATT Wireless are now offering the Treo 600 for $150 (after
> rebate and new service contract, including Data). That's a GREAT price,
> *if* ATT coverage works for you.