Tonight I wanna handheld like it's 1999
November 5, 2010 10:53 AM Subscribe
Best current non-iOS device (not a smartphone or otherwise something requiring recurring data connection charges) to emulate (or succeed) a Palm PDA?
My Palm Tungsten C has been acting flaky. For sheer utility as a PDA, I've never liked anything better than my m515, and I'd be happy with something emulating Palm OS 4, but most things I've seen fall down in providing an actually usable interface for input. So what should I get to replace it?
My priorities are:
small
cheap
reasonably durable
has a resistive touchscreen (for decent input resolution with a stylus)
syncs with my Linux desktop (and has non-proprietary data storage that I can get to and manipulate directly if I want to)
I'd greatly prefer some sort of decent pen-based input to a thumb keyboard, if there is such a thing in the modern world. I'd prefer something that's been out more than 6 months or so, so that any obvious issues are known.
It doesn't have to surf the web, play video, have an app store, sync with the cloud, or any of the other zillion things that have become de rigeur.
I'm willing to consider being dragged into the 21st century with something having nothing to do with Palm OS if it actually provides better PDA functionality, but not just for new shiny.
I consider the crucial PDA functionality to be calendar, to do list management (including scheduling recurring to do items), address management, encrypted password management, and facilitating linking among these things.
My Palm Tungsten C has been acting flaky. For sheer utility as a PDA, I've never liked anything better than my m515, and I'd be happy with something emulating Palm OS 4, but most things I've seen fall down in providing an actually usable interface for input. So what should I get to replace it?
My priorities are:
small
cheap
reasonably durable
has a resistive touchscreen (for decent input resolution with a stylus)
syncs with my Linux desktop (and has non-proprietary data storage that I can get to and manipulate directly if I want to)
I'd greatly prefer some sort of decent pen-based input to a thumb keyboard, if there is such a thing in the modern world. I'd prefer something that's been out more than 6 months or so, so that any obvious issues are known.
It doesn't have to surf the web, play video, have an app store, sync with the cloud, or any of the other zillion things that have become de rigeur.
I'm willing to consider being dragged into the 21st century with something having nothing to do with Palm OS if it actually provides better PDA functionality, but not just for new shiny.
I consider the crucial PDA functionality to be calendar, to do list management (including scheduling recurring to do items), address management, encrypted password management, and facilitating linking among these things.
You can still get Treos for a decent price these days. Buy an unlocked one and don't buy a data plan. Then it can be your phone and your pda so you don't have to carry both. And you keep the OS you like and form factor you're used to. I still haven't left my 680.
posted by Askr at 11:06 AM on November 5, 2010
posted by Askr at 11:06 AM on November 5, 2010
Well, it's iOS, but it's not a phone - have you considered the iPod Touch?
posted by Artw at 11:08 AM on November 5, 2010
posted by Artw at 11:08 AM on November 5, 2010
I'm not sure if there's anything that will really meet your needs? the iPod touch is out b/c of your "access like a normal drive" requirement. The Android based PDAs / small tablets really haven't been out very long.
What about just buying an unlocked Android phone? If you get a used one, it'll probably be pretty cheap. You can just keep the wifi / cell radio turned off.
Why do you want a stylus though? I was a big Palm / Treo user for almost 10 years. I've since switched to an iPhone, and there's no looking back. The screens / interface on the old Palm products was so nasty compared to what's available now, there's almost no comparison.
My guess is that any PalmOS, Android, or iOS device will fill your needs in terms of software features. It is possible to sync an iOS device w/ Linux, but there are hoops.
And you likely won't get good software features like you want on a platform that doesn't have an app store of some kind.
Perhaps you'll want this?
posted by reddot at 11:28 AM on November 5, 2010
What about just buying an unlocked Android phone? If you get a used one, it'll probably be pretty cheap. You can just keep the wifi / cell radio turned off.
Why do you want a stylus though? I was a big Palm / Treo user for almost 10 years. I've since switched to an iPhone, and there's no looking back. The screens / interface on the old Palm products was so nasty compared to what's available now, there's almost no comparison.
My guess is that any PalmOS, Android, or iOS device will fill your needs in terms of software features. It is possible to sync an iOS device w/ Linux, but there are hoops.
And you likely won't get good software features like you want on a platform that doesn't have an app store of some kind.
Perhaps you'll want this?
posted by reddot at 11:28 AM on November 5, 2010
HP says they will sell the Palm Pre 2 unlocked, so you could just use it with wifi. You could also try to get a used Pre. This has the advantage that you will be able to run older apps easily with the Classic emulator. It runs Linux, and you can ssh in and muck around with stuff if you want.
As a long-time DateBk5 for PalmOS power user, I consider the to-do experience with Done! and Toodledo to be superior to anything on the old Palms. Your other features are comparable, although syncing with the cloud has turned out to be a bigger advantage than I thought initially.
If you don't want to do that, I really liked my Palm TX. You can probably find 'em used for cheap.
posted by grouse at 11:33 AM on November 5, 2010 [1 favorite]
As a long-time DateBk5 for PalmOS power user, I consider the to-do experience with Done! and Toodledo to be superior to anything on the old Palms. Your other features are comparable, although syncing with the cloud has turned out to be a bigger advantage than I thought initially.
If you don't want to do that, I really liked my Palm TX. You can probably find 'em used for cheap.
posted by grouse at 11:33 AM on November 5, 2010 [1 favorite]
Current touchscreen devices don't have the styus based OSes anymore. I would just find a used but working Palm OS device, maybe one the Sony ones with a keyboard and higher res screen?
posted by wongcorgi at 11:42 AM on November 5, 2010
posted by wongcorgi at 11:42 AM on November 5, 2010
Aceeca manufactures Palm OS devices. It seems like their product line is geared toward medical & industrial users. There are probably a few other vendors out there, still offering brand-new Palm OS devices for these markets.
I'd be surprised if you could find one priced similarly to the old Zire-series Palms, never mind one that's anywhere near as cheap as a "lightly used" Tungsten-series Palm.
posted by cac at 12:45 PM on November 5, 2010
I'd be surprised if you could find one priced similarly to the old Zire-series Palms, never mind one that's anywhere near as cheap as a "lightly used" Tungsten-series Palm.
posted by cac at 12:45 PM on November 5, 2010
Archos Tablets. Pick your size. All running Android. No cellular connection.
posted by blue_beetle at 1:50 PM on November 5, 2010
posted by blue_beetle at 1:50 PM on November 5, 2010
I have a Nokia N800 (internet tablet, not a phone). It runs a Palm OS5 emulator flawlessly. It runs a variant of Linux called Maemo and is one of the most open devices out there. I've never tried to sync it with my PC (I use Linux on the desktop too) but everything else seems to fit your needs including stylus. It's discontinued now but you can still pick them up second hand for reasonable prices. There's still a few fairly active community sites too which is always good. These are valuable for their archives if nothing else.
The emulator is called "Garnet VM" - you would have to google around for the newest/recommended version sorry, I don't have a link.
posted by blue funk at 6:58 AM on November 6, 2010
The emulator is called "Garnet VM" - you would have to google around for the newest/recommended version sorry, I don't have a link.
posted by blue funk at 6:58 AM on November 6, 2010
PDAs are dead. What remains right now are smartphones of various flavors (WebOS, Android, ios, Blackberry, and WinMobile7) and real soon now (as they have been saying for nearly a year) there will be small Android tablets (Archos appears to be the first real option, but they are brand new).
What follows is a random collection of thoughts from the perspective of someone who used a Palm from a Palm Personal through the Palm Treo 680 and moved to an iPhone 14 months ago. Also, I have talked about this extensively with someone who still uses a Palm Vx and will not get a smartphone because of the required dataplan.
Tangent: Windows Mobile 6.5 is still technically around and I suspect HP will still sell you a PDA, but it's a dead product line so would be silly to move into.
ios and Blackberry as far as I can tell is the only option that allows 8syncing to a local computer, and Windows or OSX is of course required for that.
Blackberry's desktop syncing was (2 years ago) the most fragile syncing system I have ever encountered. Blackberry syncing to a locally run Blackberry server within the company was great.
Appstore quality (considering quantity and quality of apps); ios, android, webos, blackberry. In practice ios and android are equal for actually useful applications. Ios wins no question for games.
Ios, WebOS, and Android can all sync to various cloud services; google, hosted Exchange (or one you run yourself), yahoo, etc.
Android tablets are not blessed by google, meaning they don't get official google apps nor do they get Google's Android Marketplace. Yes, there are ways to load those things on the devices. Yes, there are ways to buy from Google's Android Marketplace on those devices. Both of those things are unsupported and will require you to keep up with the current hacking scene. It is my understanding that everyone sold/made available on the Google Android Marketplace is also available from one of the third party marketplaces (exception being the official google apps).
Styluses are dead for portable devices.
Calender and Contact syncing is easy. Notes syncing isn't too difficult (but will often use a third party service like Evernote). Task syncing is harder.
Real world suggestion: Buy an unlocked Android smartphone without cellplan.
posted by fief at 8:08 AM on November 6, 2010
What follows is a random collection of thoughts from the perspective of someone who used a Palm from a Palm Personal through the Palm Treo 680 and moved to an iPhone 14 months ago. Also, I have talked about this extensively with someone who still uses a Palm Vx and will not get a smartphone because of the required dataplan.
Tangent: Windows Mobile 6.5 is still technically around and I suspect HP will still sell you a PDA, but it's a dead product line so would be silly to move into.
ios and Blackberry as far as I can tell is the only option that allows 8syncing to a local computer, and Windows or OSX is of course required for that.
Blackberry's desktop syncing was (2 years ago) the most fragile syncing system I have ever encountered. Blackberry syncing to a locally run Blackberry server within the company was great.
Appstore quality (considering quantity and quality of apps); ios, android, webos, blackberry. In practice ios and android are equal for actually useful applications. Ios wins no question for games.
Ios, WebOS, and Android can all sync to various cloud services; google, hosted Exchange (or one you run yourself), yahoo, etc.
Android tablets are not blessed by google, meaning they don't get official google apps nor do they get Google's Android Marketplace. Yes, there are ways to load those things on the devices. Yes, there are ways to buy from Google's Android Marketplace on those devices. Both of those things are unsupported and will require you to keep up with the current hacking scene. It is my understanding that everyone sold/made available on the Google Android Marketplace is also available from one of the third party marketplaces (exception being the official google apps).
Styluses are dead for portable devices.
Calender and Contact syncing is easy. Notes syncing isn't too difficult (but will often use a third party service like Evernote). Task syncing is harder.
Real world suggestion: Buy an unlocked Android smartphone without cellplan.
posted by fief at 8:08 AM on November 6, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by jedicus at 11:01 AM on November 5, 2010