iPhone, Smartphone or PDA

November 12, 2007 6:39 PM

Smartphone, iPhone, or PDA? Weighted list of needs and wants inside, as I am pretty uneducated about these things.

I've been using a Palm m500 since, oh, 2002 or earlier. Before that I had a previous incarnation of the Palm. Now the m500 is barely keeping a charge, and as I'm about to move back to the US I am also in the market for a new cell phone.

Ideally, I'd like to have a 2-in-1 combo, cell phone and handheld planner, but I'm also interested in a wireless internet device as well. Since I've been out of the market for a PDA for the past six years, though, I have no idea what's available and what might best suit my needs.

I'm lusting after an iPhone but I'm not sure it's my best option and I'm trying to think about it rationally instead of letting my lust do the shopping.

So here is what I'd like:

Most important: phone and full-featured planner

My cell phone will be my only phone, but I'm not really picky about excellent quality. Most of my US family uses AT&T so the iPhone's mobile-to-mobile is nice, but I also have icky feelings about AT&T's politics.

In addition, I travel a lot, so good roaming and a good options for international plans are pretty important.

I am really comfortable with Palm's datebook program. I'm playing around with iCal, which I like, but I'm also concerned that iCal on the iPhone is not as fully featured as what I'm used to, mostly the ability to add and delete tasks while on the go.

I require syncing with my laptop. I am a Mac user, so Windows Mobile devices are unattractive. I am open to open source, I like Palm, and I like iCal.

Second most important: wireless internet.

Not just email, but surfing too, and wifi capability, since I don't want to pay out the nose for data. I understand iPhone's EDGE network is not as good as 3G.

Least important: other features such as mp3 player, bluetooth, modem, etc. The only exception here would be a camera. A camera would be nice but it's not as important as the other qualities.

I guess, basically, I want an iPhone but I just need to know how well the iCal program works and syncs with a laptop and how likely it is that I would be able to use it while traveling overseas. Are there better options for my needs than the iPhone? Or, is there any chance a second gen iPhone will be released soon?

posted by Brittanie to technology (18 comments total)

My suggestion is for you to check out the Palm Centro. Small, but with the features of the 755p. You'd have to switch to Sprint, though.
posted by 4ster at 6:45 PM on November 12, 2007

I've been looking into this myself. My needs are pretty similar to yours. Here's the key:

I require syncing with my laptop. I am a Mac user

Your option is the iPhone. 3rd party sync solutions for Windows Mobile and Hiptop devices are, in the words of a senior programmer at Danger, Inc., "nightmares."

Do you like dealing with syncing nightmares? If so, you might consider another device.
posted by ikkyu2 at 6:46 PM on November 12, 2007

Adding events on the iPhone-iCal is super easy. I don't know what could be better about the iPhone aside from super easy entry additions ala the Google Calendar (which is always an option on their iphone customized web page).

I've moved from a Blackberry on Verizon to an iPhone. The only drawback is the network. It takes a year to get my emails and ATT seems to drop a lot of calls.

Having said both of those things, I can't imagine going to any other phone after the iphone. The maps feature on the Edge is faster than my GPS in my Acura. The web works well enough on Edge for me to surf Google News easily while standing in long lines.
posted by aburd at 6:48 PM on November 12, 2007

The iPhone PDA functions are not (deliberately) not great at present. In fact they're barely there at all, as the thing really embraces the iPod formula of view only, with most editing done on your Mac or PC. If you're accustomed to the Palm world of real data-entry, you'll be very disappointed trying to use the iPhone as a PDA.

That said, the wifi surfing and e-mail is better on the iPhone than any phone or PDA I've ever seen.
posted by rokusan at 6:48 PM on November 12, 2007

The iPhone does calendaring right, for me. I enter almost every appointment on iCal using my laptop or desktop (iCal syncs these two using .mac, which costs $99 a year). I hardly ever enter appointments using the phone, but it's not difficult when I need to. If I had to enter a lot of appointments and shift things around, then I might have a different opinion. I used to have a Palm, but I never used it because it was never on my person, always shoved in a bag.

As for wireless internet, you can't beat the iPhone. People will cry *but it uses EDGE most of the time, not EVDO!!!*, but ignore them. Blazer on the Palm sucks so much donkey dong that the time it takes to render a page equals the extra time it took to download on EDGE. The iPhone renders almost every site perfectly, Blazer does not even come close. I don't know how Mobile IE renders, but I heard the iPhone is better than it.

The iPhone is a phone first, media player second, and PDA last. It has nothing in the way of "to-do list" like you're used to, and entering text will be slower if you're proficient in Graffiti. There is a "notepad" that i use as a to-do list. But I usually have a scrap of paper in my pocket for that.

If you can get in the habit of doing most of your planning in iCal, then the iPhone is a decent PDA. If you need to calendar exclusively from the phone, you might have a different opinion. Go to an Apple Store and give it a shot on the phone.

In my opinion, iPhone beats the tar out of my m500 or Treo (both ended up in the garbage), but our needs sound different.

iPhone camera = better than Treo. iPhone media player = best there is, hands down.
posted by jstef at 6:57 PM on November 12, 2007 [1 favorite]

If you're interested in staying with the Palm OS (And syncing the Treos isn't any more difficult than syncing the M500.), the Centro(above) is worth looking at. If you're going to Sprint, the SERO deals are probably the best available.

If you want to go to a completely different phone, I've been looking at the A1200 - It's OK as-shipped, but the third-party modding community has gone pretty nuts with it.
posted by Orb2069 at 7:37 PM on November 12, 2007

I have to vote for the iPhone. I have had a cell in my possesion since about 1989. In fact, being a gadget freak, I have had just about everything that has been built. This phone is everything I have always wanted. I haven't encountered anything I can not do on it and things only look brighter for the future.
posted by bkeene12 at 7:41 PM on November 12, 2007

I'd go with the Centro. I have a Treo700p, and love it. The Centro is just like it, but a little smaller and a whole lot cheaper. It doesn't have wifi, but wifi for anything less than a laptop is still a crap shoot. I've got unlimited data plus plenty of minutes for under $50 a month, which is fine by me.
posted by ochenk at 8:03 PM on November 12, 2007

Most important: phone and full-featured planner - There are no planners in on any cellphone as good as palm right now. Palm has the best calendar / planning software. But with third party software, pretty much any phone can be a good planner.

I travel a lot, so good roaming and a good options for international plans are pretty important. - so you want a phone that will take a sim card, so that rules out sprint or verizion. So you need a phone that is going to work on either T-Mobile or ATT.

I require syncing with my laptop. I am a Mac user, so Windows Mobile devices are unattractive. So you want to pick a device from this list.

Second most important: wireless internet. Any of nokia's N- Series or E-Series. I think they are the best WiFi phones hands down. Here is the reason why I think so here.

mp3 Pretty much every smart phone can does this now, the real question is can it do it with Stereo Bluetoothe headphones. The iPhone does not.
bluetooh Again with the stereo bluetooth.
modem You can only tether with the iPhone after you have hacked it.

I guess, basically, I want an iPhone but I just need to know how well the iCal program works and syncs with a laptop It's not on the official sync list from apple.

and how likely it is that I would be able to use it while traveling overseas. Not without hacking it. And watch out for the data charges if you do.

So I'm a little biased against the iPhone for your situation. I would look at the nokia line though, they have the most impressive smart phone features right now in my opinion. I would love to recommend Palm, but I feel they are just off thier game and have basically lost any advantage they once had. Plus the centro is only on Sprint, so you can't use it overseas.
posted by bigmusic at 8:07 PM on November 12, 2007

and how likely it is that I would be able to use it while traveling overseas. Not without hacking it. And watch out for the data charges if you do.

AT&T offers an international plan for data, which you can sign up for before your trip and then drop when you come back.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 8:52 PM on November 12, 2007

One nice feature of the iPhone is that automatically checks for any local wifi networks and asks you if you want to join. Surprising how many places have free wifi - which is usually much faster than Edge.

I've never had a camera phone before and I've been impressed by the quality of pictures taken indoors without flash - pretty good quality if you need to blow them up beyond 4x6 or 5x7.
posted by metahawk at 9:13 PM on November 12, 2007

I have an iPhone. I love it very much. I use it up in Canada, unlocked with cell phone service from Fido.

iCal on the iPhone works quite well. It is easy to add new events, and it is easy to edit them. The list view in iCal shows you everything coming up over the next few days as a list, which I also like.

The iPhone works well as a phone. It syncs all your contacts from the address book, which is a nice. You can select some set of numbers to be favourites, and they show up in a speed dial list. That's handy.

Wireless internet on the phone works really well. Way better than anything I'm used to. I've been told opera mini is really nice, so there maybe other phones that do just as good a job, but I haven't come across one yet. EDGE is slow, sort of like dial up. 3G is better, but you need to be in an area that has 3G coverage. If your cell phone provider doesn't support 3G, then getting a 3G phone isn't going to help you out.

The other junk the iPhone does is good too. It's a nice enough iPod, etc.
posted by chunking express at 6:46 AM on November 13, 2007

I LOVE my Centro. I am a Palm person too and I am very happy having a phone integrated into my Palm.
posted by k8t at 6:53 AM on November 13, 2007

Remember that all the recommendations for the iPhone in this thread assume that you'll be using only the current software for the platform. Its roster of apps is about to explode: in February we'll get an iPhone SDK, which will allow third-party developers to put out native iPhone applications certified by Apple. Which is to say that many (most?) of the iPhone's shortcomings as a PDA will be addressed in a few months, at which time it will (of course) still have the schtonkiest PDA interface, will still contain an iPod Touch, will still have the best built-in browser of any PDA, etc., etc,. etc.

My own Apple fandom aside, the fact remains that the iPhone is already a strong choice for what you want, and will only get stronger in the next few months. The reasons not to buy one grow fewer with time - and how many Palms can you say that about?
posted by waxbanks at 7:49 AM on November 13, 2007

The one drawback to the iPhone calendar application is that it doesn't support multiple calendars well. All the events from iCal are synced into the iPhone calendar (and easily editable on iPhone), but are all merged into one big calendar. When you create events on iPhone, they all sync back to one default calendar in iCal.

That said, creating and editing events on iPhone is very easy.

Pretty much everything about the iPhone is wonderful. The phone, address book, iPod, Maps, photos and Safari are a joy to use, with the other applications between just good enough (but should be better) and pretty good.
posted by andrewraff at 8:04 AM on November 13, 2007

If you're used to Palm, stick with it. Learning a new UI is almost never worth the effort. I would say iphone, but since Apple always uses the early adopters as unwitting beta testers, I think you should hold off until v2 or v3, or at least until they release a 3G model.
posted by Mr. Gunn at 11:53 AM on November 13, 2007

The iPhone has been out for long enough that any "early adopter" kinks are pretty well-known by now, and it's easy enough to learn that my 6-year-old knows how to use it. It plays better with Macs than any other device out there, and it will give you joy.

I love my iPhone. You should go for it!
posted by streetdreams at 12:21 PM on November 13, 2007

Thanks everyone for the advice. I had a chance to play with an iPod touch very briefly in Thailand this weekend (it belonged to a stranger and I didn't get to spend any more than a few minutes with it) but it only increased my lust even more.

I forgot about the SDK. Any idea if a second gen might be released soon? I'll be getting whatever I get for Christmas and I don't want to buy right before something new is released. I heard rumors they might release a second gen in early December.
posted by Brittanie at 3:35 PM on November 13, 2007