Old Tech - resurrecting the dead!

[Kirok]

In common with many parents I survive on hand-me-downs! From my backpack which I use for work (not strong enough to carry all my son's schoolbooks) and my lunchbox (My daughter's Winnie The Poo box from primary school) to my phone, which is my wife's old Motorola KRZR, I survive on my family's cast-offs!

I had a great iPaq from work which I used to read eBooks on but I recently lost it, on the train I think. Most everything else I can do on the other hardware I have: videos I can catch up with at home, or on my new Linux eee PC ("Mini Me") and I've got a pretty good mp3 stick player for podcasts, audio drama and music but I really miss the convenience of firing up an eBook in a second (and a calender/schedule that I can sync with my Outlook at work).

I'm debating whether to resurrect some of the old hardware I still have lying around - a Palm iii xe or an eBookman - or watch eBay for something else at a good price.

I loved the old iPaq but the stylus was a pain and wifi would have made it even better ... and a camera and Phone would have made it unnecessary for me to carry anything else! Any suggestions for an old model PDA I should watch out for or what I can do to get the most out of the Palm or eBookman - are they still viable?

Cheers

K

[wayrad]

Originally Posted by Kirok

Any suggestions for an old model PDA I should watch out for

You might want to check out the Tapwave Zodiac (I'm very fond of mine!). It's a PalmOS device with a 480 X 320 16-bit color display and gaming controls, very handy for page turning. 128MB memory (32MB for the Zodiac 1), will take two 2GB SD cards (non-SDHC only). They tend to run about $100-$150 on Ebay.

[Kirok]

Originally Posted by wayrad

You might want to check out the Tapwave Zodiac (I'm very fond of mine!). It's a PalmOS device with a 480 X 320 16-bit color display and gaming controls, very handy for page turning. 128MB memory (32MB for the Zodiac 1), will take two 2GB SD cards (non-SDHC only). They tend to run about $100-$150 on Ebay.

Thanks for the pointer. I had a serious look at the Tapwave but since I also needed a mobile phone for email I plunked for a free mobile on a plan. I fear that I've locked myself into a smaller screen but it will only be for filling in time when I can't get out my Linux powered EeePc.

The Tapwave looks like a bullet-proofed PSP!

Cheers

K

[wayrad]

Glad you found something that suited your needs. Happy reading!