Which PDA for a Pharmacy student

December 5, 2005 11:51 AM

My wife is a pharmacy student and needs a PDA, primarily to run pharmacy-related databases from Lexi-Comp. I've owned only Palm handhelds in the past, but I want the best value for the money and have narrowed the field down to the Palm TX and the Dell Axim X51.

I don't want to spend much more than $300 on the hardware, since the Lexi-Comp software will cost about that much on top of it. I've done my best to compare features and read reviews. So far, the Palm TX is winning out. So now I throw it to you. Anyone have any thoughts on either of these devices or others I should be considering? Even better, are there any pharmacists or pharmacy students out there who have thoughts on PDAs?

CNET ranked the Palm higher in their review than the Dell and expressed some concerns about the Dell's battery life and performance in their review of it. I'm not a fan of Microsoft, but I do like Dell laptops. I also find the Palm OS more intuitive, but this isn't a toy for me, it's a tool for my wife. So I'd like to set my prejudices aside and buy the best PDA for her.

posted by wheat to technology (7 comments total)

Best value for money: Axim X30h.

Older edition, but just as fast (no graphics accelaration though).

Be sure to search around for deals if you want to go for a new x51: fatwallet forums throw some up in their hot deals section every so often.

You can run almost all palm apps on a pocketpc using an application called styletap.
posted by Mossy at 11:56 AM on December 5, 2005

Look, here's the thing... If in reality, all she needs is a device for LexiComp, even a 3 year old palm would do fine. I have Lexi-Comp running on a Tungsten T with no problems. Why pay for WiFi and Bluetooth and all these other bells and whistles if she's never going to use them? You could probably run it quite reasonably on a palm device that's about $100 or even less, and use the money you save on hardware to pay for the extortion-priced software.
posted by drpynchon at 12:14 PM on December 5, 2005

Her main gripe with the older gear is the size of the screens. I still own an old Palm IIIxe which is, last time I booted it up at least, functional. But I wanted to get her something nice that she might enjoy for things in addition to running the incredibly expensive pharmacy software. She'd enjoy the mp3 player, for instance. She might enjoy the WiFi, since we run WiFi internet and printing at our house, which is also her main study hangout.

So, if $300-ish is the hardware price point, am I missing anything? Is either of these going to be a let down?

Part of it, too--and this is pure vanity, I guess--is that I wouldn't want her to have to whip out an old PDA the size of a small phone book or anything around the other pharmacy students. So style, along with size and weight, are legitimate points of comparison, though functionality is the main thing.
posted by wheat at 12:46 PM on December 5, 2005

I have an Axim X50v and my boss just bought an X51v. Another guy here has the X51. When I saw the screen on it, I was glad I got the "v". If you decide to go PPC instead of Palm, get the X51v. You'll be glad you did.
posted by AstroGuy at 12:54 PM on December 5, 2005

I'd say the TX - Battery life and size trump just about everything in a PDA, in my opinion - What good is it if it's dead/in the charger half the time?

That and, if the TX dies in the first two days, you can take it back to the store and swap it out - Not an option with a Dell, AFAIK.
posted by Orb2069 at 1:13 PM on December 5, 2005

Just a suggestion - you might consider a Treo. Palm-based organiser and replaces her cellphone as a bonus. Vanity points, too - they look great. She may find the screen size a little small, though.
posted by blag at 2:16 PM on December 5, 2005

iPaq HX4700 - Great pricing on Ebay, and CF / Microdrive friendly as well for database storage if needed. It's the screen that is the biggest factor though - stunning.
posted by DrtyBlvd at 5:09 AM on December 6, 2005