Advice please for someone new to PDAs

[AndyRB]

I would be grateful for some advice and apologize for how basic this will be to many of you but this is all very new to me.

I would like a PDA that would enable me to download and edit Excel files, Word and Outlook. I don't need a camera, bluetooth, sat nav or much else really. I am interested in good build quality and reliablility. I would like something for around £200 (less would be lovely!). I would really like to connect with my home PC for easy updating.

The main problem is that my home PC is five years old running W98 first edition and I'm not sure if it will be possible to connect to a PDA.
Do the PDAs come with a USB connector or something else?
I do have a spare USB socket.

I have heard that a machine running MS Pocket PC would have Excel etc capabilities. (Do Palm machines run these software titles?)

What do you all think about the Mitac brand?

I will probably be replacing my home PC within the next year - should I also hang on to buy a PDA?

If anyone can help with any of these questions I would be very grateful.

Regards,

Andy

[jamessampson]

Any Windows based PDA has Word and Excel - although the limited features and functions of both could make editing slightly awkward. For example, Excel doesn't support graphs or tables - although you can get third-party software that will do this for you - usually freeware.

Windows based PDA's use MS ActiveSync to transfer files by pretty much drag-and-drop what you want. You can set up Email, Contacts, Files, Tasks, Calendar etc easily by doing this.

There would be no need to put off buying a PDA if your updating your main PC - they still use a USB connection via a cradle.

As with all Windows machines, PDA's are prone to soft-resets (essenitally re-starting) - no data is lost doing this btw. A pain sometimes, but it only takes 20 seconds to do a soft-reset!

I can't comment of Mitac as I have never owned one of their products, although for your budget, possibly have a look at a HP Ipaq 1940 (around £180) - great build quality and has everything and more than you would ever want.
The Dell Axim X3 is also very good (around £160). Both run Windows Mobile 2003 and so have the same programs (Word, Excel, Calculator, Media Player etc...)

Hope that helps a bit,

James

[aznrocket]

I'm also looking at a PDA, and also a n00b.

For hardware, I want one with a camera, internet, and can play music.
Software-wise, I want to be able to have a spreadsheet program, data analysis/regression programs (like MS Excel), Presentations (like MS ppt), Word Processor (like MS Word), and an agenda.

Any input as on where to start?

[Stevie]

Originally Posted by aznrocket

I'm also looking at a PDA, and also a n00b.

For hardware, I want one with a camera, internet, and can play music.
Software-wise, I want to be able to have a spreadsheet program, data analysis/regression programs (like MS Excel), Presentations (like MS ppt), Word Processor (like MS Word), and an agenda.

Any input as on where to start?

I think that the XDA 2 would suit your needs, you can find more information at: http://www.totalpda.co.uk/product4613_0.aspx

[aznrocket]

Cool, thanks Stevie, but is there one that has a longer battery life & no phone feature?

I don't want to use the pda as a phone.

[Stevie]

You can get PDA's that you can change the battery on, like the 2210,5550 etc have 2 batteries, one you can change and one embedded as a backup for when you are swapping.