Going to the ocean!

My wife is away in Atlanta, Georgia for the PartyLite annual convention and just found out the trip she will try to earn for both of us next year is a trip to Hawaii! I only spent 2 days there on business before and am looking forward to a real vacation on the beach.

I am taking the day off work tomorrow and taking my 3 girls to Long Beach, WA for a stay in the hotel and some playing on the beach. It has been very hot (upper 80s or so) for WA and should be a good time. We may also go see SpiderMan II since I read the book and heard it was an excellent movie. I will probably be out of touch at the beach, although I have to buy Hilary Duff concert tickets tomorrow morning before I leave.

What devices still interest me?

As I said in a few earlier posts and as you can read about in tomorrow's PDAGeek newsletter, I am maintaining the status quo for now. I was hoping to see some of the new iPAQ devices at our PSHUG meeting, but Jeff sent them out for a photo shoot so I will have to wait until next month. I did see the 1715 at Circuit City and it is a piece of JUNK! It feels very cheap, yet is priced at $279. The only people who will buy this are those who don't know any better. Especially when you can get a X30 High for about the same price with a Dell coupon or rebate.

The iPAQ 6300 interests me, but the low RAM (55MB usable), slower processor (does give it good battery life), and high price ($600) will probably keep me away. I was also hoping for a trimmer snap-on keyboard since the photos make it look rather clunky and it doesn't have a backlight. The MDA III looks very good, but not worth the upgrade from my MDA II.

The hx4700 still interests me with its large VGA display, but again it is hampered by lousy RAM (55MB). I don't really need a CF slot either, although they can be nice to have for adding cheap memory. The ASUS A730 has about the same specs with a 1.3 megapixel camera and may be cheaper as well. I called and canceled my eCost order twice now so this one my pull me in just because it has almost everything.

I am very interested in the Treo 610 that will improve on the Treo 600 (ACE) with a high resolution display and Bluetooth. You can get a 600 now from Amazon for only $149 after rebates and activation so I think the 610 is getting closer and closer to reality. I have never owned a Palm smartphone and think this one may get my attention. I doubt it will run Palm Cobalt (OS 6), but I have been pretty happy with OS 5. I could sell my excellent UX50 to help offset the cost of the 610 and this may be the route I go.

New iPAQ device details coming out

Official details are now coming out on the new iPAQ Pocket PC devices and you can find many links over at the iPAQ HQ site. I have to say I am very disappointed in the high prices HP is charging for devices that the Dell Axim X30 beats at around $300. The only HP device that is reasonably priced is the new 6315 Phone Edition at $600. However, it only has 64MB of RAM and a slow processor (according to benchmark results). The slower processor gives it quite a battery life though and may be worth the tradeoff.

I think I will stick with my MDA II as my primary device that does it all and has very impressive specs. The X30 that Dell gave me to review and keep can serve as my WM2003 Second Edition device.

Z 760 coming back, hx4700 order canceled, no new devices right now

There has been some news now and links directly to the HP website showing detailed specs of all the new iPAQ devices. Unfortunately, the buyer of my Zaurus SL-C760 is unable to get it to charge via the new Brando cable I bought and needs to use the Z 24/7 as a server or something. It still works great if you charge the battery using the external charger though so it is a fully functional unit. I am refunding his money and he is sending it back to me next week. The thing is that hit my PDA budget hard so I had to cancel my hx4700 order for now. I will check out the Z and try to see why the cable no longer works because it was working fine for me here at home. I may try to get by with the Z or I may sell it again informing everyone that it works fine, but you just have to charge the battery using the included external charger instead of the USB port. If anyone is interested, please email me at palmsoloATgeekDOTcom and I will let it go for a great price. By the way, the nice buyer is including the Sharp CF camera card that he bought too so that adds another bonus to the nice metal 3-in-1 stylus pen, the Brando USB sync/charge cable and Ambicom WiFi card I am also including. He was unable to get the Ambicom card working either and I am getting my friend's DLink card to try on Tuesday to see what is up with it.

I have sold some of my 720 gear and only have the unit and Socket CF card left to go. There is one person chatting with me now about that device at a great price.

I am a bit disappointed with the hx4700 specs though since it only has 55MB of usable RAM and 80MB of File Store. I think that is a mistake by HP since you can always use a SD card as File Store type of storage and love the 128MB RAM in my MDA II. My MDA II is looking like a keeper more and more, especially if I am able to upgrade to Second Edition and get landscape mode. There is no 3rd party application that will work with the MDA/XDA II to put it into landscape now.

Status of 720 and new iPAQs on Monday

I receved an offer and accepted it for 3 pieces of my Jornada package from a very nice woman in Australia and thus my 720 package has been trimmed down. Here is the ad I placed on various forums and you can see that the total is down to only $300:

I have a MINT Jornada 720 and neoprene carrying case, NEW docking cradle and cables, and Socket CF Bluetooth card that I am selling. This gear is easily worth over the $400 I paid in the last couple months (much more for original costs), but I am asking only $300. I only charge actual shipping wherever you are located throughout the world and I accept PayPal in most cases. If you are interested, please contact me at palmsoloATgeekDOTcom. I can send photos if you like.

I just saw that 4 new HP iPAQ devices are set to be announced on Monday and am sure the 4700 will be one of them. You know my college football number was 47 and that is my favorite number so I think the 4700 is the PERFECT device for me:) It also seems like I may have to cancel my eCost.com order since their new date shows 3-4 weeks and the price was bumped up about $30. I had to buy my 4350 from HP directly last fall since they were the only ones stocking it so I may go back to HP on Monday morning and place my order.

Yes, I am crazy! The hx4700 is now ordered

OK, if you have been reading my blog you were under the impression I was stable for a while and would wait until another Phone Edition came out. Well dang it, I couldn't resist the hx4700 from eCost at $563 so I placed my order early this morning before work. FedEx overnight was only $10 and rumors have them shipping out Friday or Monday. I am justifying this purchase by selling off all my Jornada 720 gear and making this my new writing platform combined with my slim Think Outside IR keyboard. I may have to update the keyboard to the Bluetooth model though. I hope the 4705 does ship soon so I could show it to the PSHUG group next Tuesday!

If you are interested in a Jornada 720 package I have a MINT Jornada 720 and neoprene carrying case, NEW docking cradle, Orinoco PC WiFi card, Socket CF Bluetooth card, regular battery and new extended life (3x) battery, and an external keyboard with case. This gear is easily worth over $650, but I am asking only $500.

Phone Edition devices were made for me

OK, I did some more evaluation of rumors and known information and decided I just can't give up the Phone Edition device since it really was made for a data centric person like myself. I also can't see paying $650 for a PDA without phone functions and will let others get the hx4700 and then read their reviews:) I have narrowed a future device down to the iPAQ 6300 (if there is a version with 128MB RAM) and the Treo 610. I don't think any other device will sway me at this point since the MPx display is really quite small and the keyboard is rather strange.

I cranked out two full reviews and 4 mini reviews in the last few days and am down to about 15 items left. I will be busy judging software for the Pocket PC Magazine Software Awards again in early August so I am trying to clean out some of my review queue.

Is the iPaq hx4700 in my future?

Man, is Pavel from PDAGold the luckiest guy in the Pocket PC world or what? He was able to play with the new HP iPAQ hx4700. He also now has me thinking what in the world I can sell to save up enough cash to get one of these babies. I think the price that was on CDW last week (and suspiciously has been pulled from that site) was $649. That is quite steep for a Pocket PC device, but the large memory capacity, 4" high resolution display, magnesium casing, dual slots, integrated WiFi and Bluetooth, WM2003 Second Editon, and 624 MHz processor really have me drooling.

I am still a bit leary about the touchpad though since I personally hate them on laptops and prefer the eraser head on laptops. I think it is a novel idea and hope it actually works well, but I would have been happy with a directional pad too.

I like having a converged Phone Edition device, but I could sell my MDA II and almost afford the hx4700 so I will have to do some real self evaluation soon.

Trouble getting to the site?

I received an email from one of my regular blog readers and found that my domain name had expired a couple days ago. The renewal email must have gotten lost in my Mailblocks spam filter system. I renewed it this morning and palmsolo.com works, but www.palmsolo.com is still taking people to a dead link. If you are reading this then you either used palmsolo.com or the root Blarg site where my humble blog is hosted. Sorry about the trouble, I will have to put a reminder in my PDAs to renew around the 4th of July every year:)

The C760 is off on a FedEx truck to the buyer who should get it tomorrow and I spent last night getting my UX50 tricked out with all the software I need so I can make it my primary Palm Powered device again. I may need to get a larger Memory Stick though if I want to watch any movies on it or listen to some tunes.

Zaurus is gone, PDA decision made, Pocket DVD Studio preview

Well, you won't be reading anymore about my Zaurus struggles for a while on my blog since I just sold it to a reader a short time ago. Even though I had the WiFi connection up and running, I was spending way too much time trying to tweak the device and learn Linux at the same time. I got rid of my previous SL-5500 for the same reason and was hoping the 760 would work out. It is an amazing piece of hardware, but if you don't feel comfortable with the terminal and doing some tweaks then it will consume you:) I am going to stick with my other devices for now and am actually planning on keeping the T3 as well for my oldest daughter in a year or so. It is too nice of a device to get rid of for $200 and will probably serve her very well as she gets older.

My MDA II is my primary device away from the house, the UX50 is my home device with integrated WiFi, and my Jornada 720 is my laptop replacement and serious writing tool. The E200 and Nokia 3650 smartphones are great for on the go connectivity when I don't want to carry around a larger device like the MDA II.

So now I really can get back on the review track like I planned. I was just given a code for the new Pocket DVD Studio application and converted LOTR III last night while I slept. I watched part of it on the Axim X30 and my 512MB SD card and was amazed by the quality. I used to spend hours trying to do this myself and most of the time the conversion stopped about 3/4 of the way through. I am doing some more testing, but this application is looking like a serious winner right now.

It looks like Dale Coffing's Pocket PC Passion site may have bit the dust recently and they may have even lost all their data. That would be quite sad as there was a wealth of information in the forums and it is tough to recover from something like that.

What should I do with my PDA collection?

I can't believe it, but I have had issues with getting my Ambicom WiFi card working again on the Z 760. I found another update to the firmware so I will try this out tonight, but I am getting a bit frustrated and was considering selling the 760. However, it is such a nice piece of hardware and now with the TextMaker beta running on it and the Targus IR keyboard working with it I could use it as a laptop replacement. I have to keep my patience and give it some more time.

I have been going back and forth on what hardware I will be selling or keeping and think the Tungsten T3 and the Jornada 720 may be up for sale soon. I don't need the T3 with the UX50 and the WiFi of the UX50, along with the keyboard and camera, outweigh the specs of the T3. I have a brown Sena leather case for this device as well and will try to get $250 or so for the device.

The 720 is a very nice piece of hardware in MINT condition and I have the extended battery (3x the life) and an external keyboard, along with a PC WiFi card and cradle so this is one complete package that is tough to let go since I think it makes a great writing platform. Then again, I just never really use it and can't keep everything hanging around. I may sell this package also and am thinking $450 is fair since the extended battery itself is worth $100 and the keyboard another $50. I bought the PC WiFi card, Orinoco Silver, for $45 too. I also have a nice neoprene carrying case for the 720.

Should I just keep it all or should I clean house and save up for something new? This is the debate that goes on in my head. I have a spreadsheet with an ever increasing number of tabbed sheets listing all my selling/keeping options and am trying to figure out the perfect combination.

Please pray for Linda Davis!

I try to keep by blog posting related to PDAs and related issues with PDAs, but this is an important request that I felt I needed to post.

We just found out that our church secretary and wonderful woman of God, Linda Davis, has advanced lung cancer with 22 nodules inside her lungs. She has never smoked or drank, yet developed this cancer. Our church is quite small, about 70 people, and we held a healing service today where Pastor Brad discussed the Biblical foundation of healing and we as a congregation lifted up our sister in prayer. Since I am one of the two elders, we went up front with our pastor and laid hands on Linda for additional prayer, as commanded in James 5. It was a very tough and exhausting morning for our small body and I can feel us pulling together already as we struggle through the devastating news.

I am asking any readers who may visit my site to pray for a miraculous healing, if it is the Lord's will. If the Lord has other plans for Linda, then I request you also pray that people are touched and changed by her testimony. Please also pray for her husband, Jeff, that he be strengthened and comforted by the Lord as they go through the treatment and other trials. Even though Linda will eventually be in a wonderful place without illness, it is still very tough for us on earth to deal with the loss of a loved one. Thank you everyone, I sincerely appreciate it.

Zaurus success and update on gear

My PDA plans have changed a bit now that I finally got my Ambicom WiFi card working on the Zaurus. I had to reflash the firmware on the card using my desktop computer and didn't even know that was possible. I found a link from a discussion on the Zaurus User Group site that was awesome in helping me out. So now I am going to experiment with the 760 some more because the battery life is incredible and the hardware is very nice.

I also realized I have to keep the E200 through at least mid-August because I am judging MS Smartphone software for the Pocket PC Magazine awards. I may sell some other things, but they all are unique and have their uses. Then again, it would be nice to get a bit of cash to get something new for myself for Christmas:)

I hope to crank on some reviews this weekend and plan on using the beta of TextMaker for the Zaurus to write them up. So far the beta seems great and I am happy to see them porting such a powerful application to the Z.

Frustrated with Zaurus C760, PDA collection decisions

I now remember why I had to sell my last Zaurus SL-5500. It was because I spent way too much time, that I don't have available, monkeying around and tweaking the device to get it working like I needed it to. I still can't get my Ambicom CF WiFi card working with my SMC Barricade 802.11b router, yet every other device I have works with it with no issues. I am going to be testing a new D-Link 802.11g router soon to see if that has any effect. I have tried every known setting and configuration, but the dang card still just flashes green without getting a connection. I have spent a couple hours searching the forums and trying things to no avail. I am also only a Linux newbie, so I don't feel too comfortable going into the terminal and editing away with config files and that somewhat limits my ability to get things working. I also have to do some config editing to get the Socket CF Bluetooth card working and am close to giving up and selling the C760. I do love the brilliant display and the keyboard, but if I can't get wireless working then it is just not worth the cost to keep it.

Along with these Linux frustrations, I think my current collection has grown a little too large and I may be selling some gear to save up for a future device. I now have in my possession the following; Nokia 3650, Orange SPV E200, CLIE UX50, Zaurus SL-C760, Dell Axim X30, MDA II Phone Edition, Tungsten T3, Jornada 720, 10GB 3G iPod, Dick Tracy and Abacus SPOT watches. I cannot give up the dependable Nokia 3650 and it really isn't worth much since it is locked to T-Mobile and is an older phone. The X30 is a WM2003 Second Edition device so that's a keeper for now, the MDA II is my main buddy, the 720 is a wonderful writing platform and I have accessories that make it my laptop replacement, the T3 is just nice to have and a wonderful PDA that would get me about $250, the SPV E200 is a great WM2003 Smartphone even though I don't use it a ton since I have so many other toys, the UX50 is my favorite non-phone PDA ever and I don't think I can ever give it up again, the C760 has a nice display, is a Linux device with great keyboard, but is also a time sink, I never use my iPod since my music collection is sparse and I enjoy the radio although I do use the iPod to backup stuff from my PC, I wear the Dick Tracy watch almost every day, but never use the Abacus model anymore.

So I may put the C760, T3, and 10GB iPod up for sale and am also considering the E200 and X30. That would leave the UX50, Jornada 720, Nokia 3650 and MDA II. I think I may use the Abacus as a PDAGeek giveaway or PSHUG giveaway instead of trying to sell it. Do any of you readers have advice on what to do? Should I just keep it all since they all have some value? Should I get rid of it all and keep one or two devices?

There is nothing out there right now I want to buy, but I would like to look at the MPx, iPAQ 6300, and MDA III as a replacement for my MDA II. However, the MPx display looks too small, the iPAQ has lower specs, and the MDA III may be just the ticket although I don't know about the manufacturer quality. I will have to get a Palm Cobalt device, if they are ever released, to review and test stuff for PDAGeek.

Back from the holiday and into the PDA grind again

We had a great time at our annual church camp-out and I actually performed the baptism of my oldest daughter so it truly was an awesome weekend!

I went all weekend without using a single device or being connected to the internet. It was fun just to swim, play, talk, and enjoy people for a weekend without any technology. I now have to get cracking again on reviews since I have the Pocket PC Magazine Software Awards judging starting up soon that will take quite a bit of my PDA time as well.

Have a Happy 4th of July!

I just made a trip to Idaho and am off on a long camping weekend so I may not have access to the Internet. Enjoy your weekend! I will be relaxing and having fun at our 4th Annual church campout where I run the fun and games.

My oldest daughter, Danika, is going to get baptized on Saturday night in the lake too. That is very exciting for our family and should be one of the happiest moments in my life.