New in PDA land - Getting ASUS a696 - need advice

[adifrank]

Hi.

On Thursday I'll be flying out to Poland for a month long research trip. During this month I'll be driving pretty much all over Poland and I've decided that this is e a great reason to finally get a PDA. I want one mainly for navigating (driving), for storing contacts and calendar, some word documents and checking email every so often if I come across a wi-fi signal.

I've pretty much decided on the ASUS a696. I've read good enough reviews and it seems to give me all I'm looking for within my budget. I'll be installing iGo v.8 maps of Eastern Europe.

I've been reading up on PDA systems in articles and forums on the web and I get the feeling that PDA systems tend to be a bit buggy compared to the desktop/laptop I'm used to. I keep reading about updates not working properly, iGo v.8 not appearing horizontaly in the screen, bugs, resets, and frankly... things I've never heard of and apparently are exclusive for PDA world.

That said, my question is (sorry for the long intro):

Since I've got little PDA experience and little time before I find myself in Poland eating piorogi, I'd really really appreciate it if someone who has the know-how and a bit of aquaintance with the ASUS a696 and/or iGo v.8 (or prior version, if you think I'm better off using it) explain to me what I should check, download, upload, tweak, test and buy before I get on the plane (in three days).

I really want to avoide running into problems once I'm there.

Thanks all!