Help,I'm PDA stupid

[Lone]

because of my growing collection and the problems of remembering what I already have ,I'm thinking about getting a PDA

I have no idea what specs or features i'd need(OS,memory,etc.)

I'm looking for the 2-300 dollar range

anything I need to know ?

[DJ Doena]

YOu'll need a PDA running Windows Mobile (the current version is 6 I believe), not PalmOS.

About the other data I don't know what's actually on the market. When I bought mine a few years ago it 64 Megs of RAM and 400 MHz.

[lyonsden5]

From what a few people at Invelos have said you can get a used "something" on ebay for about $100 to $150. Not sure of model numbers or brands though. May be something to consider if all you really want it for is you DVDP Mobile.

Personally I upgraded my phone to a PDA type phone (touch screen of course). Works great. Something to consider.

I know Touti has DVDP Mobile as well. Perhaps he can add a suggestion or two.

[Touti]

If the PDA is gonna be used only/mainly for DVDP, memory is not really an issue because it wouldn't be advisable to load the data in the device's memory anyway.  Why ? Simply because you're bound to run out of it sooner or later if your collection grows, especially if you want to download both front an back images.

So what you need to make sure really is that your PDA has a slot for Compact Flash, SD Card or any other type of external storage.  You install the program in the PDA's main memory and transfer your collection to the external storage.  If you have a storage card recognized by your PDA then when you synchronize your collection with DVDPM you'll have the options to save your data on the storage card.

Speed can also be of importance if, again, you want to download images in it.  Drawing the covers in "full screen" can be somewhat slow if your device is under-performing.  I'd says 300mhz is a minimum, 400 would be my choice, 500 would be great if you can afford one.

Of course, chances are that you are not gonna use the PDA only for keeping your DVD collection so you should also check what are the requirements for the other usage you are planning and find yourself a device that covers it all.

[Lone]

I think I see where I need to head,,,thanks for all the advice
and yes,the PDA will be for MDVDp only,I use a laptop for everything else when I'm on the road(I really don't want to be shopping for dvds using a laptop,it would look something like using one of the 80's bagphones)

400mhz with an SD slot and windows mobile will be what I seek when I go to Buy

[DJ Doena]

400mhz with an SD slot and windows mobile will be what I seek when I go to Buy

Mine is a Fujitsu-Siemens Pocket Loox 420.

I don't know if F-S is available over the pond but I am quite satisfied with products of that company (in the old thays I had a 19" CRT, now I've got a 22" 16:10 TFT).

[Lone]

settled on the iPAQ H4350 PDA,seems to have good reviews(as opposed to the Dell that the SD card doesn't work in)
found one for 245.00 that was used one week at a trade show as a demo instead of the 459.00 new

[Touti]

found one for 245.00 that was used one week at a trade show as a demo instead of the 459.00 new

Seems like a very good deal.  Just make sure you do a hard reset on it to restore all default settings before loading anything into it.  You don't want to start up with a unit that all kinds of "weird" settings in it.

[leo1963]

That is a great deal.  Touti is very right in that you should do a hard reset first thing.  Also check for a BIOS update via the web.  I would get at least a 2 gig SD card.  I have a 2 gig and about 1200 DVD's and I'm only using about 25% of the SD card with front and back images.

Good luck and welcome to the world of PDA's.