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Basic PDA for Mac OS X?

J

jassmin17

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 9, 2006
4
0
Before I start let me just say that I can't get an iPhone:eek:

I would like to finally move out of the age of post-it notes in my paper calendar to a PDA. However, it seems I come into this in the tail-end of the PDA only market. I would like something compatible with my MacBook Pro. The things that it must do are pretty basic:

1. Calendar
2. Store Contact Info
3. Memos/notes
4. To do lists
5. Reliable (don't want to spend more time making it work then having it work properly)
6. Bluetooth/wireless connection to my computer (not necessary, just really nice)

I think that these are pretty basic functions any PDA's can perform. It would be great if these functions could synch with the programs I already have on my Mac, then I would actually use them :rolleyes: But I'm a little confused about which devices are and are not compabile with Macs and how you make them that way (additional software needed, etc.). For instance when I googled 'Palm Pilot Mac' the Plam Pilot page touted their Mac-compatible TX device but all the features seemed way more then I needed. Can you make the lower end model Mac-compatible?

Here's the second part: Ideally I'd get a smart phone type thing so I'm not carrying my phone and something else. But I'm tied to the stupid Nextel radio/walkie-talkie for work. The only smart phone they make with walkie-talkie is the Blackberry 7100i. I seem to remember reading somewhere that someone was using it synched with their Mac - can someone confirm that?
 
jassmin17 said:
Before I start let me just say that I can't get an iPhone:eek:

I would like to finally move out of the age of post-it notes in my paper calendar to a PDA. However, it seems I come into this in the tail-end of the PDA only market. I would like something compatible with my MacBook Pro. The things that it must do are pretty basic:

1. Calendar
2. Store Contact Info
3. Memos/notes
4. To do lists
5. Reliable (don't want to spend more time making it work then having it work properly)
6. Bluetooth/wireless connection to my computer (not necessary, just really nice)

I think that these are pretty basic functions any PDA's can perform. It would be great if these functions could synch with the programs I already have on my Mac, then I would actually use them :rolleyes: But I'm a little confused about which devices are and are not compabile with Macs and how you make them that way (additional software needed, etc.). For instance when I googled 'Palm Pilot Mac' the Plam Pilot page touted their Mac-compatible TX device but all the features seemed way more then I needed. Can you make the lower end model Mac-compatible?

Here's the second part: Ideally I'd get a smart phone type thing so I'm not carrying my phone and something else. But I'm tied to the stupid Nextel radio/walkie-talkie for work. The only smart phone they make with walkie-talkie is the Blackberry 7100i. I seem to remember reading somewhere that someone was using it synched with their Mac - can someone confirm that?
Click to expand...

Cheap, but no bluetooth:
http://www.palm.com/us/products/handhelds/z22/
 
Faced with the same exercise about a year ago, I ended up with a Palm Tungsten E2. Bluetooth, syncs with iCal and Address Book. Under $200, last I checked.
 
i sync my blackberry 8100 with the missing sync to my mac's iCal for calendars and to-dos, address book for contacts, and instead of stickies i prefer to use the mark/space notebook included with the missing sync for notes. works really quite well, i only wish it was bluetooth.
 
I use a Treo 700p for everything. You may not need a PDA that's also a phone, but honestly do go with the Palm OS, not Windows Mobile.

Palm's Mac software, however, isn't what it should be. That's why there's a third-party replacement (mentioned above too).

Without The Missing Sync, it would be impossible to have everything integrated as well as I do. It's a wonderful piece of software, worth every penny.
 
shecky said:
i sync my blackberry 8100 with the missing sync to my mac's iCal for calendars and to-dos, address book for contacts, and instead of stickies i prefer to use the mark/space notebook included with the missing sync for notes. works really quite well, i only wish it was bluetooth.
Click to expand...

RIM also provides Pocketmac for free to all Blackberry owners. I've used MissingSync with a Windows Mobile 5 device in the past, and Missing Sync has some nice additional features over Pocketmac, but I find that so far, for whatever reason, the Pocketmac + Blackberry 8700g experience has been far more stable for me than the MissingSync + Axim x51v experience was.

Pocketmac syncs all the kinds of information on your to-do list, although I guess the bluetooth issue may kill the Berry for you.

I honestly really love my Blackberry.
 
i had a lot of issues with pocketmac including not properly and consistently synching stickies. i do most of my working/organizing/task managing with just a text document and the mark space notebook comes quite close for me.
 
shecky said:
i had a lot of issues with pocketmac including not properly and consistently synching stickies. i do most of my working/organizing/task managing with just a text document and the mark space notebook comes quite close for me.
Click to expand...

It's weird, I have to admit I've heard many people say that MS works better for them than PM. I've personally used both, but I've never used them with the same device.

Thankfully, in the BB case, you have the luxury of trying PM for free and then getting MS if you don't like it. :)
 
just remembered now that i'm trying to get my new tungsten e2 to work that i forgot to thank you guys for all your advice!

one more question. what do i have to do to get it to synch with the applications i already have? right now the only thing it's doing is linking with the palm desktop software. i put a test appointment in the calendar on the pda and it shows up in the palm desktop software, but i want it to synch with iCal.

the only thing i can think of is the 'documents to go' program. but it only talks about excel,powerpoint, etc. plus i just want it to synch, not put a copy of a whole document on the pda.
 
You need to set this up in iSync. This is where you add the Palm device and tell it which calendars and address book groups you want to sync.
 
I bought one for I think $15 from someone on here; it's monochrome, but synchs with (and has software for) OSX. I'd say check ebay and research the cheap ones for OSX compatibility.
 
I've tried various PDA's over the years (Windows, Palm, Smartphones), but my current Blackberry Curve is the only one I've bene truly happy with.

If you do go Blackberry though, ditch the supplied Pocketmac software as even for free its a waste of money and buy Missing Sync.
 
I like the idea of using iSync for my Treo 680. Will it work well? Can I use it to transfer files (ie. mp4 movies) from my Mac to the Palm-based Treo 680? Thanks!
 
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