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General discussion

PDA suggestions I can use with my Dual G5 Mac

Nov 20, 2004 10:44AM PST

I'm planning on getting a PDA and I would like some input as to which one to get. It needs to be able to work with both PCs and Macs. I've heard that some PDAs require a $30 program in order to sync with a Mac...that's no problem. Here's what my Mac is going to have:

* Dual 2.5GHz PowerPC G5
* 4GB DDR400 SDRAM (PC3200
* AirPort Extreme Card
* NVIDIA GeForce 6800 Ultra DDL
* Bluetooth Module

Basically top-of-the-line. Here's what I would like my PDA to do.

* Bluetooth is a must.
* Wifi would be great, but not necessary.
* If there's no Wifi...the ability to get a Wifi SDIO card would be good. (It would be great if the Wifi card could have memory on it too...like SanDisk's WiFi SDIO + 256MB)
* I must have the ability to listen to MP3s and watch videos...fairly easy out of the box.
* Lots of internal memory if possible (like what the Palm T5 I guess).
* I'm a college student going into video production and eventually want to own my video production business. So something to help me out there that won't be too much out-of-date in a few years. Basicall I want something that will be useful to me for many years.
* A good software package.
* As big a screen size as I can get, but the other features are more important to me than screen size.

That's basically all I've got. I'm looking for something between $350-$400. Obviously less is OK if it's a good PDA. Let me know if you need anymore information. Thanks in advance for all your help.

~Jeff

Discussion is locked

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Re: PDA suggestions I can use with my Dual G5 Mac
Nov 20, 2004 11:27AM PST

BEWARE the Palm units which can have issues with Wifi cards. NO driver can fix that issue and it varies with the model.

http://www.brighthand.com/article/PocketMac_Lite_Released notes a solution to the Mac sync and the price you note puts you in the X30 with Wifi, but do try to get a look at the X50 with Wifi.

Bob

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Re: PDA suggestions I can use with my Dual G5 Mac
Nov 24, 2004 10:45AM PST

Thanks for the suggestions. What about HP's iPAQ rx3115 or rx3715? I've also heard about Dell's Axim X50v having troube with video playback. Would the X50 520MHz or X30 624MHz be better?

Thank you very much for your help

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Regarding video playback.
Nov 24, 2004 10:54AM PST

Let me be short. That area will frustrate owners of ANY make/model due to the wide proliferation of video CODECs. There is no real standard and users will strain to translate video into an acceptable coded video.

Example of what I mean is at http://www.moviecodec.com There are least as many CODECs as there are in a deck of cards. You pick the winner.

The HPs have an issue I think HP needs to address. They have meaningless model numbers and finding the "right" model has proven difficult.

I'll stand by my nod towards Dell on this one.

Bob

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Which Dell would you recommend?
Nov 30, 2004 4:24AM PST

First of all...I'd like to thank you for your help Bob.

I have another question. I've ruled out the Axim x50v because of it's price, but I'm not sure which Dell to get. What would you say are the good and bad aspects of the following:

1) x50 520MHz
2) x50 416MHz
3) x30 624MHz

Thank you again for your help.

~Jeff

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Number 3. Here's why...
Nov 30, 2004 4:51AM PST

It has the Wifi connection. For me, it's what mades this unit stand out. While it does push up the price, a larger or second battery is on my wish list too.

Bob