Well, it's time for a new PDA...

[Mr Buckshot]

My old PDA was a 2000 HP Jornada 520 (birthday present in 2001), which ran Windows CE, had a QVGA touch screen, and had a CompactFlash slot. No Wi-fi, no bluetooth, but it was still fairly versatile. It had a pocket version of MS Word, which is all I needed.

(the events described below are true. I swear)

I had copied and pasted the Sparknotes guide for Shakespeare's Julius Caesar into Word and was reading it on the Jornada while taking a blissful shit. I flushed the toilet, reached for the paper, and...

...the HP Jornada PDA slipped out of my grasp and FELL INTO THE TOILET.

Fortunately, I had already flushed the toilet beforehand, so the water was clear of any visible shit, but I had the nasty feeling that microscopic pieces of my shit were still in the water. Completely mortified, I gingerly used two gingers to fish out the PDA and threw it onto the "foot-drying carpet" next to the bathtub. I quickly wiped my ass, grabbed a latex glove from the bathroom drawer, and retrieved my PDA.

Well, suffice to say, the PDA is ruined, although the 256 MB CompactFlash card is still in pristine condition. I dismantled the PDA, blew at all the parts with a hairdryer, but to no avail. It just won't turn on even when I plug in the charger. Oh well, the damn thing was nearly 8 years old anyway.

If you're curious, here's what my old PDA looked like:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/94/HP_520_no_case.JPG/180px-HP_520_no_case.JPG

Farewell, HP Jornada 520. You'll be missed. You served me faithfully throughout high school.

Now here's a PDA that I'm probably going to buy as a replacement:
http://bargainoffers.com/Cell/o2/o2-xda-zinc.jpg

It has Bluetooth, Wi-fi, a slide-out keyboard, 3G support, a video call lens, and a 2-MP camera. And it doubles as a phone. Plus its screen can display more colors than my old PDA. Did I also mention that some models come with built-in GPS navigation receivers?

[Hotrod]

The new one looks pretty good, I'd buy it if it were me. It would really suck to drop something like that in the toilet. Oh well...

[DrunkenSamus]

Why would you put your PDA so close to the toilet paper? What if you accidentally grabbed the PDA and wiped your ass with it?

[Huero]

Damn it samus I can't rep you twice in a row >:
Oh, and the new PDA looks sexy.
You should get it; plus it sounds really useful. Now, the question is; "Does it have MS Word?"

[Bastinka]

Sex PDA indeed, loving it. Whenever I get a PDA I don't have any use for it though :p

[Mr Buckshot]

Yep, the O2 XDA Zinc PDA is one hell of a portable machine and owns my toilet-soaked one in every aspect. Unfortunately, its phone feature will go to waste since I already own a great cell phone and it’s awkward to hold such a huge device to my ear anyway. It’s hard to find any modern PDA that isn’t also a cell phone L.

I find PDAs to be very useful. I can store presentation scripts on them, read Sparknotes/Cliffnotes guides on the go without printing them out, and even surf the web at public hotspots. I rarely play games on them unless I don’t have my DS with me (thank god I didn’t drop THAT into the toilet, otherwise I would cry). Ok, a laptop can do all that (I have an awesome gaming 15.4” laptop) but it’s huge, cumbersome, and has inferior battery life.

If you guys recommend alternate PDAs, post them if you like. I do want to have a physical keyboard, Bluetooth, Wi-fi, 3G, and a standard mini-USB connection. Phone functionality and a camera are not necessary.

[TPE]

A couple of my friends have a slightly different model of that but it looks exactly the same.

Its great but the screen gets scratched up SUPER easy.

[Mr Buckshot]

A couple of my friends have a slightly different model of that but it looks exactly the same.

Its great but the screen gets scratched up SUPER easy.

Yeah, I believe the O2 XDA has a Flame model as well that offers more features.

Scratched up easily? Hmm, I'll have to buy one of those velvet sleeves (I already ordered the PDA to be shipped from Hong Kong).

[klange]

I gave my 520 to friend a while back and got an rx3715. It's served me well for many years.

[Mr Buckshot]

I gave my 520 to friend a while back and got an rx3715. It's served me well for many years.

Was it the Jornada 520 or the RX3715 that served you well? For me, the Jornada 520 served me very well despite its age and its very outdated feature set (to get Wi-fi, I needed to plug an adapter into the CompactFlash slot lol)

The new O2 XDA Zinc should arrive in about a week. Cost me $800 HK, which isn't very much up in Canada.

Anyone have suggestions as to what I can do with my old toilet-water-soaked PDA? I could save the stylus as a spare, and I gave away the CompactFlash memory card to a friend whose camera uses that kind of storage.

Oh I know, I could give the PDA to my electronics teacher at school...he'd be delighted to open it up and tinker with it (he's one of the few I know who single-handedly upgraded laptop components...which is not very easy).

[klange]

Both served me well. My rx3715 is still doing it, running a custom built Linux distro.

Personally, I'm looking at getting a Freerunner (the OpenMoko final version)

[Mr Buckshot]

You use Linux on your PDA? I always found that Windows Mobile was the best mobile operating system for handhelds. It's Microsoft, but it was the most user friendly. I have a second-hand Palm Treo 600 and I never got used to the Palm OS (which can't even read my Word documents...so I just chucked the Treo in my drawer).

Can't wait for my new PDA :D I wonder how Windows Mobile 6 will perform compared to the first-generation Windows CE on my victim-of-a-toilet Jornada.

[Snowy]

PDA's are a dying trend. Get an iPhone.

[0m3g4Muff1n987]

iPhone is win. Any app you want, you can view any document under the sun on that thing. Plus you can play tons of awesome games on it if you jailbreak (come a little later in February you can just get the apps without jailbreaking).

[JDMFSeanP]

The phone he has listed is WAY more useful than an iphone.

I've owned a cingular 8125 and an iPhone and I prefer my 8125 for its keyboard.

[Mr Buckshot]

The iPhone is overrated. The iPod touch is a better buy as it's basically an iPhone minus the phone feature. I plan on buying an iTouch, but definitely not the iPhone.

For its price, the iPhone doesn't offer a slot for removable storage like mini SD. It doesn't have a video call lens (well I guess it's to be expected since the U.S. doesn't have that service). Its "everything on the touch screen" feature is innovative but not so useful in practice. I much prefer my hard buttons. However, nothing can beat its screen size and resolution, making it the ultimate flash-based portable video player. Still, I don't know many people who constantly watch video on the go.

I second JDMF. A physical keyboard feels much more natural and is smoother than a touchscreen keyboard.

[Warsaw]

You do realize that the phone displayed on page 1 is an older model, right? The newest one is the AT&T "Tilt," though it can be found by other names from other providers.

The one you are getting, however, is quite nice. Having used one myself (my uncle has it), the touch-screen is nice and responsive, and the keyboard was fairly comfortable (I have small hands, so it isn't hard to be comfortable). Windows Mobile 6 doesn't do much more than WM 5, except touch-screen support (unless it's WM 6 Standard) and have a prettier interface. I recommend using the stylus though, since using your fingers is a pain on it. It doesn't like to respond to finger taps, but using the stylus or a pen works nicely.

[JDMFSeanP]

I actually have a full iphone skin on my 8125 haha, I need to update to the 8925, prolly will once its cheaper.

BTW Buckshot I was in the same thinking lane as you, and have an ipod touch 16gb :P

Warsaw, that top phone isn't made by HTC. So that is very well its newest version

EDIT:

Found my old pics.

http://a577.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/105/l_1ff09dca44a43ab3e3de5bf9bcc4f9b8.jpg

http://a166.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/120/l_9f4187c4485a2b6dc2d7b8ba29cb4fbd.jpg

[Warsaw]

My bad, it looks a lot like HTC's previous phone. Still, having used the top one, I stand by everything else I said.

[Hotrod]

So, what kind of games can be played on PDAs?

[Mr Buckshot]

So, what kind of games can be played on PDAs?

I don't use them for games 99.9% of the time - that's what real portable consoles (DS, PSP, etc) are for. I actually have important uses for PDAs, and therefore I often carry one around with me. The Windows Mobile program I use the most is MS Word, lol, followed by MS e-book Reader. And sometimes Adobe mobile. I used to have nearly 50 study guides, essays, and e-novels on a 256 MB compactflash card.

These new PDAs come with Nvidia Goforce chips, which is some pretty hawt stuff for the mobile platform. Games that I've seen are mostly simple 2D parlor games like chess, solitaire, poker, Big Two, checkers, etc, meant as casual ways of passing the time (I had chess and Big Two and sudoku on my toilet-ridden PDA lol) using nothing but a stylus.

However, with new advances in PDA technology, I've seen ports of Doom 1. I've seen racing games. I've seen Starcraft-style RTS's. Unfortunately, not all PDAs are ideal for such games. Directional pad's placement + stylus is not always an optimal control layout.

PDAs aren't meant for portable games, period. If you really want to game away from home, buy a device that's built for that ability.

Also, I'm thinking of buying the Bluetooth GPS receiver (to use my soon-to-arrive PDA as a navigation system) just to be cool.

[0m3g4Muff1n987]

My dad just got the new Treo, the 755p. It's pretty awesome. :D

[Warsaw]

Meh, I found Treos to be too awkward for what they do. Personal preference really.

[Mr Buckshot]

Me no like Palm OS (I have an unused Treo 600). The Treo keyboards' keys are so tiny they may as well not exist and free up space for a bigger screen. Treos look cute but are phail as PDAs. They can't even read Word documents :/

Three more days...can't wait to get my hands on this new PDA.

And if Windows Mobile users want games:
http://www.downloadsquad.com/2007/03/19/10-free-windows-mobile-games-mobile-minute/
http://www.pocketpcsoft.net/php/newgameresults.php?type=games

There's even a GBA emulator I believe, but it wouldn't control well.