[leglug-users] Advice on phones

[Edmond]

On Wed, 25 Apr 2007, naim abu darwish wrote:

> Hi, I need to, well more like want to, buy a smart phone / PDA phone,
> something like the iMate Jamin  but i dont want to be locked with
> closed hardware. Also i need something that i cant break so easily.


Let me give you my honest ramble on the PDA issue. I have been a PDA
user for a long, long time (since the original palmpilot days). In
between, I have owned everything from a palm pilot to a treo, with
a zaurus running linux in between. While the zaurus certainly had the
most tech appeal (and I know a couple of you have one), as far as
usability it was the most lacking. Windows mobile is also lacking.

What I'm trying to say is this: if you're buying the device to show
it off and to ssh to your home box, then good. But if you're buying it
to store and manage your personal information, keep a calendar and
appointments, and manage your life's data, then the devices you're
looking at are not ready for prime time yet. The best applications 
(by far) that I've seen until this day are all based on the palm platform.
It's not open, but it works and it works well. If you can wait a bit,
palm just announced that they are moving to the linux platform. I can
see my treo running linux! But it will all depend on whether all the
apps will be ported or will run (emulated or not).

my $0.02.


Also see this:
http://www.theage.com.au/news/phones-pdas/palm-unveils-a-new-foundation/2007/04/11/1175971136619.html

Regards,

    Edmond