With recent devices of the non-WM variety becoming more and more bland and failure-prone, where can people like myself (who don't touch Windows if at all possible) turn?
The reason this has become a point of interest for me recently is my NX70V is beginning to show it's age, in the lack of built-in bluetooth, wifi, and only 16 MB of memory. Considering how much of what I do is web-based, it's becoming near-useless to me at the moment, unfortunately (while I have a wireless card for it, it eats battery too fast to be really useful).
So, to start, look at recent Palm devices...
Tungsten T5: Software problems, no wifi.
Lifedrive: HD lag, hardware failure, some software issues. I considered looking at one for a while, but I've read many complaints about the hardware failing multiple times for some people, even after several replacement devices. Not to mention the reported software flaws.
Treo 650: It's a phone. What about people who don't want a phone? No wifi as well.
(You may ask why I'm noting the lack of wifi built-in, when Palm has a SD wifi card. It's because of the battery life. Using an external wifi card draws much more power than a built-in one ever does. And of course it also ties up the memory slot.)
What about Linux? Nothing seriously interesting from Sharp in the Zauri, with the lack of wifi and bluetooth totally. The C3000 was interesting for it's microdrive, but that was more than a year ago now... And (aside from Nokia with it's 'internet tablet') no one else seems terribly interested in Linux for the present (Palm, possibly, in the future - but that's bound to be at least a year away).
Looking at the (rumoured/semi-confirmed) upcoming devices...
Tungsten X: Looks interesting, from the wifi/bluetooth rumours... But will it have the same software problems as the last Tungsten? Or the hardware issues of the Lifedrive? Palm doesn't have a confidence-inspiring record recently.
Zire 22: Low-end... Nothing too special for someone who wants more 'bells-and-whistles'. Although it looks like a solid low-end device, as the other Zire 2xes have been said to be.
New Lifedrive: Not really much known. Maybe a larger hard drive? Maybe they'll not have the hardware and software problems that the original is said to have...
And then you have the Windows Mobile camp, where wifi and bluetooth are standard, as is compact flash
and SD. But of course you have the wonderful stability and compatibility of Windows under the hood, not to mention a monopolist company behind the wheel... A company seemingly-dedicated to DRM in the future, as well, who look to be in a prime position to become a near-monopoly on the PDA market - the same position they're currently occupying in 'desktop-land'. Although with my Windows dislike firmly entrenched, I have to confess to, however briefly, considering looking at a WM device in the future... VGA + >600 Mhz + wifi/bluetooth + dual expansion... Very tempting, however ashamed I am to admit to such a thing as being tempted by Windows-based devices.
But, my question is simple... Where do PDAs stand if one doesn't want to consider Windows Mobile? The only hope I can see are the possibility of Palm catching up quickly with their 'next generation', in the TX, or the Nokia 770, which unfortunately still has no concrete release date...