help for newbie please

Hi. I hope you can help sort me out as I would like to make the transfer to using a pocket pc device.
At present I use paper filofax, standard mobile phone (no internet), laptop (with usb broadband modem when travelling), and bluetooth GPS module. I have wifi broadband at home and at work.
I would like to integrate all I do into one or two devices. The ideal list of tasks I want to perform are:

-Scheduler/organiser, to synch with desktop/laptop (at present I don’t do this but rely on the filofax; however, I would like to become more ‘digital’)
-Run mobile GIS software (ArcPad) and connect to my bluetooth GPS module for basic survey work (I have seen this done on a colleague’s Ipaq – I use big, heavy toughbook at present but would love handheld device)
-Email (presently I use Thunderbird, but would switch to Outlook or whatever if required)
-Internet for general web browsing
-Office document view and edit (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
-Image viewing (jpeg mainly)
-Write to and read from SD cards and, if possible, USB flash drive.

Would it be possible to get an ipaq (or similar) and connect my USB modem to it to access email/web whilst away?

Would a ‘smartphone’ (that I think is a PDA with ‘phone capability??) be capable of running ArcPad?

Would it be best to get a PDA for the ArcPad and organiser tasks, and a ‘phone for email and internet, or can everything be done on one device?

If I get a smartphone, can I link it to my PC for web access (to deal with email attachments, etc.) and so do away with the USB modem when travelling?

I don’t need satnav or camera as I am very happy with the stand alone devices I have for those things.

Sorry for so many questions. The concept of small devices doing lots of big things is boggling and I would be very grateful for any help, advice or suggestions you may make. Thank you.

[getsurfers]

Handheld devices cannot use USB devices like memory sticks or mobile internet modems.

[Martin Laverty]

A PDA or PDA/phone would do everything you're looking for except connect to a USB stick and edit powerpoint.

Any one of the Ipaqs we sell has windows mobile 6 so you get outlook built in as standard for all your contacts calender and tasks. Internet explorer is also built in along with pocket office so you can open and edit word and excel. powerpoint you can view but not edit. Image viewing is also built in and all of our current systems have bluetooth so they would would connect to the GPS receiver.

Arcpad I've never used but it runs on your friends PDA it should run on any of these.

http://www.totalpda.co.uk/HP/HP-iPAQ...cc549a6c6be374
http://www.totalpda.co.uk/HP/HP-iPAQ-214.6975.html

If you want a normal good spec PDA thats meets most of your requiremetns get the 114.

The 214 is slightly higher spec but the biggest difference is the bigger and higher resolution screen. You will see the benefits of this if your doing lots of documents, spreadsheets and Images as its twice as sharp as the 114.

For a PDA phone you can look at these 2
http://www.totalpda.co.uk/HP/HP-iPAQ-614.6976.html
http://www.totalpda.co.uk/HP/HP-iPAQ-914.6977.html
These are both both pda phones with a slightly lower spec than the two above. They both have the same windows mobile 6 and wifi and bluetooth so still meet all your requirements. There unlocked so can use any network and both support 3G and HSDPA for faster internet access.

We also have ruggedised models.
http://www.totalpda.co.uk/Ruggedised-PDA.10033/
Similar specs and sizes to the models above but along the lines of the toughbook you already have.

Give me a call if you have any questions.

Thanks for the replies. I will read up on the models you suggest but I think it will come down to deciding exactly how I want to run things - with the phone integrated into the set-up, or a pda that I can connect for web/email via wifi when appropriate.

A few further (very) basic questions if you don't mind:

When using an office or other app on a smartphone, what happens when the 'phone rings? Does the device remember what you were doing and return you there after the call? (I did say these were basic questions...)

When on a call on the 'phone, is it possible to check the scheduler to make appointments, or view a document, etc?

Why don't pda/phone devices have a USB port to use flash drives and similar? I guess there must be a technical reason for this (and I confess my ignorance) but I would find it really useful if it existed.

Thanks again for your time and help so far - and fo your patience with the basic questions!

[Martin Laverty]

Yes the device can multi task so if your phone rings whatever you were working on will still be running in the backround. You could then reference this or any programs or documents you want while on the call.

Not sure about the USB thing PDA's have been around longer than flash drives but there would be cost and dirver issues associated with adding them to the devices.

thanks for info