What's the best PDA to get for my daughter's 18th birthday?

Question

She's planning on starting college in the fall of 2007, and I want her to have the most useful and practical device and I know nothing about them.

If you think she would be better off with a laptop, what would be a good choice?

Answer 1

The answer depends on what you need the Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) for. For ease of use, and great feature, I would recommend a Palm-based PDA.

Since you mentioned the word "best" I would deduce that you are looking for a PDA that is feature-packed. In that case, I would recommend the Palm LifeDrive which includes 4 GB hard drive, built-in WiFi for Internet connectivity at hotspots, Bluetooth, built-in microphone, and a gorgeous large and vivid screen. It is the most powerful PDA in the Palm line of handhelds.

Here is the LifeDrive:

http://www.palm.com/us/products/mobilemanagers/lifedrive/

You daughter can take the handheld to class with a wireless keyboard (not included, need to be purchase separately), and take notes in class, and also use the built-in record to record her class sessions. The LifeDrive is very flexible.

I use it to browse the Web (though the screen and speed of any handheld are not ideal for long Web surfing), getting and responding to e-mail, watching DVDs on the Palm (that's one of the BEST features -- with special software you would have to buy), and of course contacts, calendar, To-Do lists, IMing, and games.

If you do decide to buy it, I would highly recommend purchasing a wireless keyboard if you plan to be using it for writing letters, a lot of e-mails, notes, or other data entry intensive needs.

Although there is no handheld that is truly a laptop replacement, or even near laptop replacement, the LifeDrive is darn close. It is much slower than a latptop, and has a delay due to its internal hard drive, but it is a sleek, powerful, small to carry anywhere, and easy-to-use Palm.

It retails for $399, but you can buy it on eBay at around $320 for new and as low as $250 for used. If you decide to buy used, make sure that unit and screen is scratch free, the battery is recharging, and it includes all the accessories.

Overall Score: 8 out of 10. Enjoy!

A laptop would be a better choice. However, the cost for a good laptop would be about 2 to 3 times the cost of the Palm LifeDrive (i.e. between $800 - $1,400). I would go to Best Buy for a number of good laptops from Toshiba, Sony, and Hewlett Packard (HP). Another good source for laptops is Notebook Shop at http://www.notebookshop.com

Answer 2

Consumer Reports, which takes no ads and has no axe to grind, has a good online guide to deciding. The link is below.

However, if your daughter isn't going to college for another year, I'd tell you to wait. For one thing, these devices are being improved almost monthly, so if you buy one now it'll likely be completely out of date in a year.

But I'd also warn that there's a battle going on in the marketplace between PDAs and cellphones. Phones are getting more and more capable all the time, with most everything a PDA can do, and they include phone service which a PDA usually doesn't (and which your daughter will want anyway). On the other hand, phones have those eye-destroying tiny screens!

If the link below is corrupted somehow, go to
http://www.consumerreports.org

Answer 3

reading the first few words of the first response...i also say go with a Dell Axim. I have the X30 mid and love it. Sure you cant skim the new fast or play just any old video games and even some videos on it but its great for everything else.

I use mine for notes and have it linked to a Deluo GPS system which i use for work all the time.

Edit, if you get an Axim get a 1GB or higher storage card for it. Mine uses SD cards and i run a 1GB.

although the PDAs are great a laptop is much better and faster....i recommend a laptop over any PDA and stick with Dell. I have had nothing but good service and prices with them.

Answer 4

The Dell Axim is a pretty good PDA. She can keep track of her schedule, get on the internet, and set it to alert her to tasks and deadlines as well as do things like play games or store files and music (might end up needing an extra memory card).

It is a pretty expensive piece of hardware though, and if you're not looking to spend too much money you had probably better figure out what features are most important to you and then check out what you can get on Ebay. I've gotten two pretty awesome PDA's from sellers there without spending alot.

Answer 5

both...a HP TC4400 tablet PC and RX1900...go to hp and check them out....