[Sussex] Mobile phone/organiser/pda device question(s)

[Richie Jarvis]

John D. wrote:

>Hi list,
>
>Been looking into replacing my O2 XDA2s phone/pda. I haven't really got
>on with it very well, the contract is about up and various searches etc
>have lead me (vaguely) in the direction of maybe a Treo 650.
>
>Anything that is linux based, seems to be pretty much the holy grail in
>UK/EU.
>
>Whatever I end up with, I'd rather not have something that is windows
>based (the XDA is a bugger for crashing/freezing etc).
>
>I don't really need mobile surfing facilities, but mobile e-mail scores
>pretty highly on my list of "wants". A qwerty keyboard is definitely
>prefered.
>
>3G ? well that does seem to offer distinct possibilities, but would it
>really be necessary to keep costs down (yes cost effective is reasonably
>important)?
>
>Also PalmOS based, how "easy" is it to link that to my linux system (as
>synce/multisync aren't very intuitive - and no I haven't managed to get
>the damn XDA "talking" to the linux box since Steve assisted me by
>setting "it" up when I was still running Gentoo)???
>
>The biggest stumbling block seems to be, that I'll have to opt to go for
>something that comes with a contract, to reduce costs (and as I'll need
>the phone anyway), but it's probable that I'll switch providers as I
>haven't been overly impressed with O2.
>
>Am I thinking on the right lines ?? I know that some of you (especially
>the "self employed types") will appreciate the need to keep the numbers
>down - plus whenever you check through the various pricing/cost options,
>the curious (intentional ?) ways it's all explained seems to do quite a
>good job of covering up hidden costs in this area i.e. cost of device +
>calls + gprs for email??/3G etc.
>
>So any advice/suggestions etc are much appreciated (unless anyone knows
>how I can get Linux installed on an XDA2s, while retaining the
>functionality :-D ).
>
>regards
>
>John D.
>
>p.s. Plus something that can run some of those little java based games
>for boredom prevention when I'm working/waiting to "make a drop" somewhere.
>
>  
>
Hi John,

I can heartily recommend the Treo 650 - great device - I use it for my 
main phone.  However, Palm have just launched the Treo 700w (which is 
Windoze based) - what has this to do with Linux you might ask??  Well, 
rumours are that they are also planning to launch the Treo 700p, which 
will be PalmOS based, and Palmsource have committed to developing future 
versions on Linux (not that the 700p will be, unfortuantly.)

The treo650 is available on Orange and Vodafone as well - check Expansys 
for the various deals and device costs for both networks.

On the Linux device front - we have some cool HTC test devices which run 
X - but I am not supposed to talk about those ;)

Cheers,

Richie