PDA- Cell phone combo IPAQ 6315

[DonLandis]

I'm planning to move from an old cell phone to a state of the art IPAQ 6315.

I am new to PDA computers and looking for any advice from anyone who has one. How much ram to add, accessories, etc. How about software compatibility with my PC? What to buy?

[DonLandis]

I guess no one here uses a PDA-

I got one yesterday and it is like learning a whole new computer technology. I have no fear that this will take away or replace my laptop on the road but it will greatly enhance my capability. It took nearly 30 hours for T-Mobile to activate the GPRS but tonoght it is working. It auto switches between WiFi and GPRS as needed giving priority to the faster connection.
Very awkward to surf the net due to the small screen so at best I found it good for quick internet lookups where a laptop is still necessary for more indepth research.
It best shines as a more capable phone where I can use the Blue Tooth hands free and work it with the IPAQ on the desk or on my belt. When a call comes in and the caller has some detailed instructions needed to be written down, I can use the sketch pad to take notes, If I can't write them down, I can simply hit record and record the conversation to a sound file. All this is nicely filed for later access. I have 1.1 G of ram so storage is not a real issue. 1G is SD card and is easily swappable.
The camera does nice easy photos in 640x480 but is no digital camera. It is best used for an at your fingertips ready to go camera to document something.

I have not yet used the PC sync cable to marry the IPAQ to my laptop but that project is next. Apparently that is the procedure to install extra software.
I purchased an external IR keyboard that folds up into a very small package so if I get stuck and need to use it for typing a text file with some detail, At least this will make the job easier.

If there are any experienced PDA users out there, I'd appreciate any tips you may have.

[n8dagr8]

I'm planning to move from an old cell phone to a state of the art IPAQ 6315.

I am new to PDA computers and looking for any advice from anyone who has one. How much ram to add, accessories, etc. How about software compatibility with my PC? What to buy?


It comes with about 57MB of free space. I got a 256MB SD card on amazon.com for about $35-40 (simpletech). It is more than enough for me.

I also added omegaone's journalbar to the today screen (it was about $20...maybe less...omegaone.com). This allows me to download 5 day forecasts (with satellite and radar images), stocks, news...either when synced to the PC or wirelessly (WiFi or GPRS).

I am currently playing with a WiFi VOIP software for PDAs to see how well I can make international calls using the phones internet capabilities. I will update when I get a better feel of things.

The phone comes with activesync software which allows you to connect to your computer to get outlook info (contacts, notes, tasks, e-mail), avantgo, and the internet if you have a computer connected to the internet.

One trick to consider. I have T-zones and get access to the GPRS network (might not be so ethical but it is much cheaper than data packages). This allows me access to my e-mail and internet wirelessly, on the phone system, when I don't have access to WiFi for about $5 a month.

[DonLandis]

For the e-mail, I have it setp so that I get the SMS headders only now and it gives me a short sound bleep when a new e-mail arrives. The original remains on my server until I download it to my laptop for storage. That seems to work fine for now. I'm not happy with the Blue Tooth Motorola headset as it is very poor loudness with all volumes up to maximum. I may return it when I get back from my trip. The Jabbra wired set I have is 10 times louder.

[n8dagr8]

For the e-mail, I have it setp so that I get the SMS headders only now and it gives me a short sound bleep when a new e-mail arrives. The original remains on my server until I download it to my laptop for storage. That seems to work fine for now. I'm not happy with the Blue Tooth Motorola headset as it is very poor loudness with all volumes up to maximum. I may return it when I get back from my trip. The Jabbra wired set I have is 10 times louder.

If you have t-zones ($4.99/month) you can use the h6315 to get your pop3 mail (and surf the net...not so fast, though).
set-up your e-mail at tmobile.com under t-zones settings, then....

-make a new pop3 account on the ipaq
-(1/4) enter the pop3 e-mail address you want to use
-(2/4) enter you name, user name (10 digit phone number with :1 at the end....i.e.0123456789:1, then your password
-(3/4) enter account (i use pop3 for type and name)
-(4/4) incoming mail (myemail.t-mobile.com) outgoing mail (myemail.t-mobile.com) leave 'domain' blank.

options
-(3/3) i tell it to get a full copy of the message

[DonLandis]

I think t-zones comes with my package but I had to pick up a cd from the dealer that explains how to activate it. wasn't aware of the :1 then PW but somehow I got the SMS to download the headers. I'll keep working on this issue.

I also ordered the new 3600mah battery. I hope that satisfies me on the battery life. Bought a different belt pouch for the ipaq so I can now carry my Blue tooth headset Motorola and the spare battery.

I found CompUSA has about the best collection of PDA accessories of any store in town.

So far, I found that the PDA is not a replacement for the laptop but rather a good accessory to the laptop while I'm traveling.

Still lots to learn about these PDA's. The salesman at CompUSA explained that the IPAQ and other windows based pocket PCs are one kind and the Palm series is another. He said to think of it like Macs vs. PC's. Not all acessories are compatible with both types. That answered my question as to why the Palm IR keyboard doesn't work with my IPAQ. I will be returning it for credit. I got the hp Bluetooth one and it works fine. Just a bit more money though.