Are PDA's cell phones?

Question

I wanna now if PDA's are half cell phone.Even though this question is stupid. I just really wanna know.So please answer this question.And also, tell me which is a good plan.

Answer 1

Well put Andy.

To be strict, a PDA is just that... an organizer. A PDA with phone functionality is usually referred to as a smartphone. You will never hear a Treonaught or Blackberry owner refer to their devices as "PDAs".

The question is far from stupid, by the way.

As of now, you really are limited to what type of deal you can get with a smartphone. Plan price would also be affected by what extra features (like data) you pick to go with the phone. I'll defer to others on price specifics.

Answer 2

If you are looking for something that is a mix of both, you are looking for either a PDA-phone or a Blackberry. PDA phones (such as the Palm Treo line-up) in my opinion have a little added advantage over blackberrys simply due to the fact that they have the touch screen and are able to run a much wider variety of programs, as well as are able to have other devices installed into them as well to improve connectivity. Blackberrys do have a great deal of business appeal to them, though, and are common within the majority of corporate offices, and are also exceptionally reliable from what I've heard. They're also Canadian made for the most part, if that will make any difference to you. As for what a good plan would be, given that people who use PDA phones and Blackberrys tend to receive a lot of e-mail to their devices, and also check through a lot of web sites on their devices as well, it would be good to get a relatively large data plan on your device, as well as a reasonable voice plan since you will still be using it as a phone. Now to point out something, I do have a PDA phone (an HP iPaq h6325), and while some people will say that the battery life of these devices is not as good, I must beg to differ. My battery on my HP lasts as long if not almost longer than the battery life of many of the phones I've had over the years, and that was with use as an MP3 player, cell phone, wireless e-mail receiver, entertainment device... almost all at the same time. So it really does depend on the device you are looking at. Hope that helps you out.

Almost forgot (thank you to the answerers who were above me) there is also the option of the smartphone. These are devices that have either the Symbian operating system or the Windows Mobile operating system installed on them. The difference between these and a PDA phone is that these are in the body of an actual cell phone, and usually also don't have a touch screen interface on them. Any typing is done with the phone's numeric keypad. There are PDA phones though, which I do find a bit of a better option because they do have the touch screens and generally behave much more like a PDA with the functionality of a phone as an added bonus.

And I'll also be quick to point out that while older smartphones and PDA phones do not have any high-speed options as of yet, many of the newer ones (released within the past year or so) are offering either EDGE technology (if they use a GSM carrier) or 1x-EVDO technology (if they are using a CDMA carrier).

Answer 3

2

Answer 4

No. You can have a PDA, cell phones and a compbination of both.

A PDA is a personnal digital assistant. Basically, it manages your contacts, appointements, and tasks. Palm and Pocket PC are kinds of PDAs.

A cell phone is the wireless connection you get to talk to people.

You can have a cell phone WITH PDA. This is fun because you can call people right out of your contact list.

However, there are other ways of having connectivity with your PDA. For example, your PDA could be WiFi compatible (without being a cell phone) so you could access the internet and send emails without any cell phone access.

So it's really up to what you want to achieve. Do you want to send email? Replace your cell phone? Manage your appointments? Browse the Internet?

I personnaly have a Blackberry. Its a combination of PDA, cell phone and wireless Internet. I just love it!

Good luck!

Answer 5

Now it is common to find pdas that function as cell phones as well. There are many pdas that do not have telephones built in. My preference is to use a separate phone and PDA because the combinations use a lot of energy and do not hold a charge when combined as long as two separate units. There are definitely advantages to a combination if you are frequently close to a power source. If not, it is better to have separate units. I hope this helps.

Answer 6

Usually not, PDA and cellphone are still considered separate devices as of now; the convergence of those two are labelled "Smartphone" so there.

I think PDA and cellphones are not good enough to merge together as of yet. There is no advantage to buy into a plan yet unless you do need to use a concrete commercial solution (no high-speed yet).

Answer 7

I am with Verizon and recently renewed my contract. When you renew every 2, they give you a $100. credit towards a new phone, but I didn't want some little hunk of junk cell phone.

I wasn't really sure what I wanted to upgrade to because I own a small business and liked the idea of having all my info. in one place.
Phone numbers, broadband access, email, address book, calendar, music, camera, etc. But I didn't want to lug around some giant piece of equipment either. lol

So I ended up trying and purchasing the Palm Treo 700w Smartphone. Packed with all the stuff I need and as small as a deck of cards.

Answer 8

PDA is an electric orgniser, Like a Palm, you can get them with a phone built in, like the balckberry's but they are an added thing, that's a phone with a pda,

Answer 9

If you are the practical type...I would recommend the Palm Treo.

The 700p with a Palm O/S....especially.

It's a great organizer that "just-so-happen" to have phone capability.

I have a 600 which I think works great!

The newer ones have bigger keys on keyboard.

I like T-Mobile, so u don't have to worry about roaming charges.

If you travel to some parts of California...ur S.O.L.

:-P

Answer 10

Some of them are if you buy them from a cell phone store. Verizon has good service and phones. But of course the best person to ask is the people in the stores, but they're going to hope you buy something obviously.