You know I went to the store today ready to buy a T5... Office Max has a deal on for a free hard case after rebate, plus a $20 or $25 gift card with purchase of a Palm T5. I saw it, and the beautiful screen and I wanted it. They didn't have it in stock, and they only offered me $40 off on the display. (Which hadn't been out very long, and had a screen protector on it so it was in good shape.) I would have bought it for $50 off, but fortunately he said no to that. Anyway, they didn't really have any accessories in stock so that would have been frustrating anyway.
But then I went over to CompUSA and snuck a look at an IPAQ h4700x, or whatever that VGA model with the touchpad is. I couldn't believe my eyes at the quality of the display and how wonderful the apps looked on it, like Pocket Informant for example. Wow! The I took another look at a T5 and realized it's all about the display! (Although I'm not sure I could get used to the touchpad. But oh my it's a great looking PDA. Thierry is going to love his!)
I think the T5 is great, but when it comes right down to it, Pocket Informant beats DateBk5 for me. And VGA slightly beats Hires +. And while the T5 is nice and slim and light, it doesn't even have a voice recorder or WiFi.
Everything else is secondary to me. PalmOS vs Windows Mobile doesn't have a clear winner in my mind. Even the frustrating way that you can't operate a PPC with your fingernail because of how the OK button is often so tight in the corner you can't reach it. Funny, I even like Palm desktop better than Outlook, but I'm probably going to stay with Outlook even if I go to Palm just because it's the focal point of compatibility with everything.
What I hate about Windows Mobile and Windows XP on the desktop really comes down to one thing.... information and settings are hidden and/or confusing. On a Palm, except for the lack of folders for RAM, you know what everything is and where it is. When you enter an appointment, there's really not much to it, and when you look at the screens you see it all. On PPC, you only get these little windows into all the data and most of the time you really don't know what's in there.
On the desktop, at least with programs like Outlook, you really still don't see exactly what's there. Again with Palm desktop, I know exactly what data is in my entry. I can choose views easily that makes it plain and clear. But in Outlook, I'm never quite sure at a glance what's there. That bothers me a lot because the whole purpose of a PDA for me is to make the PIM organization straightforward and easy. I'd give up some features in an instant for the opportunity to make it easier and simpler and clearer.
Okay, before I get too far off topic again, let me just say that this broken PPC has really forced me to think about what's important in a PDA. And the number one thing is clarity/simplicity. I want to not have to think about what's there and how to find it. I want to enter and retrieve data very easily. And I don't really want to see any delays as the PDA works to bring up the next screen of info. I want it to be second nature so I don't have to even think about it. It should just happen while I'm doing other things, just like paper and pencil or a keyboard do for me. Neither Palm nor PPC PIM apps quite do that for me yet. Maybe, yes, I do have some feature requirements, but not the fancy ones. Don't even care about linking or stuff. Just to be able to see it in a useful way, and it seems like all the PIM apps are close, but missing the mark. But like I said PIM views and simplicity is what I want, and Pocket Informant wins for the moment. (But I need to try out KSdatebook and that other new app on PPC whose name escapes me.)
Everything else is fluff. Both platforms have decent task management/launchers available. Both have adequate software choices. Both are fun to use. Both have similar ebook readers. Give me a really great and really simple PIM app that's neat and clean and straightforward with views that I like -- then I'm sold big time.
Anyone else feel like the PIMs are not as useful and easy as they should be? Anyone else feel like PIMs are what it's all about, and everything else is fluff?
It's been "common wisdom" that nice hires screens are for multimedia and fancy apps like games. I think PIM apps need great screens also. They make things easy and simple and you can see what you need so you don't have to remember the context in your head. I don't like looking at a screen that's just a bit of the picture. PDAs are already like that by nature, so every bit of screen resolution helps a lot.
So for now, I'm sticking with my free Toshiba replacement, but I'm looking for that next PDA already... the one with the really nice screen and simple/effective PIM apps. I just don't know whether that will be Palm or PPC yet.
But then nobody is reading this far anyway, because I've gone on and on and on. Oh well... at least it helped me clarify my thoughts a bit more
