[John O'Shaughnessy]

I've used my Newton 2000 faithfully up until last year. It still works great, but the size, weight, and lack of certain applications are making me consider a Palm or Pocket PC.

My main use of the Newton was not as an organizer -- I use my Phone to handle contacts and calendar.

I used the NotePad extensively. The hardwriting recognition was good but slow. the ability to search all messages quickly was excellent. The ability to have simple drawings in my notes was also excellent. Is there an application that can do this on the Palm or Pocket PC?

I seem to be most interested in the Palm Tungsten C. The Wifi would be a nice touch.

Thanks,

John

[Severed Hand of Skywalker]

I am also a former Newton 2000 user. I have been eying Palm for years and was never intrested till the Zire 71 which I have found to be awesome.

All of Palms current lineup is great although rumor has it they are coming out with the Tungsten 2 any minute which has the same great screen as the Zire 71:

http://www.pdabuzz.com/#newsitem1054698822,6052,

[slider]

I have just brushed the surface of these handhelds as I was doing some research for my sister on these. I have dealt with the Pocket PC on a iPaq 36xx, I forget exactly which one it was. It was OK, but after using this and playing around with a palm I can say that if I was going to get a PDA it would certainly be something running Palm OS 5x, I think the company is on the right track. My sister purchased a sony PDA and it's great, however one of the problems, I guess all things sony these days, is it's peripherals are proprietary and therefore very expensive, where as the PDA itself has tended to be a little cheaper, that was until the Zire 71 at any rate. Just some thing to keep in mind. Good luck.

[icruise]

As much as I hate to admit it, I think the Pocket PC is the closest to the Newton in terms of being able to take handwritten notes. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't believe Palm has anything similar (ie write directly on the screen in full words which are recognized and translated to text). Of course I can't really recommend the Pocket PC for many other reasons (not the least of which being a lack of Mac compatibility, although there are some third-party programs that partially alleviate this).

If you think you can deal with using the built-in keyboard instead of HWR then the Tungsten C would probably work well.

It's ironic that nothing has really been able to replace the newton's functionality in the 5 or 6 years since its demise.

[Severed Hand of Skywalker]

Originally posted by Icruise:


It's ironic that nothing has really been able to replace the newton's functionality in the 5 or 6 years since its demise.

Actaully nothing comes close to what the newton was when it came out TEN years ago. Crazy.

[klinux]

Originally posted by Severed Hand of Skywalker:
Actaully nothing comes close to what the newton was when it came out TEN years ago. Crazy.

What is crazy is that I bet you will still say so TWENTY, THIRTY or even FORTY years down the line.

PocketPC's transcriber engine is good.

[John O'Shaughnessy]

Originally posted by Icruise:


It's ironic that nothing has really been able to replace the newton's functionality in the 5 or 6 years since its demise.

From my limited testing, I'd agree that the handwriting recognition in the Pocket PC is superior to Graffiti, or even Graffiti 2 on the Palm.

There were enough other things that I prefer about the Palm OS units (especially some applications) that I ordered a Palm Tungsten C this evening. Dell is running a deal (order before 11 pm CDT tonight) -- basically $410.00 for the normally $499.00 unit including free shipping.

I had pretty good luck with the T|C keyboard that I tried last night. I'd still prefer a Newton-like handwriting recognition engine. I'd also like to find a Newton Notepad like application that allows simple outliner features (collapsing indents of items) along with the ability to store simple hand drawn images. I like the Newton ability to see you draw a triangle, or a box, and have it create nice square lines for you in drawing mode. It makes for great network drawings!

John

[icruise]

Originally posted by John O'Shaughnessy:

There were enough other things that I prefer about the Palm OS units (especially some applications) that I ordered a Palm Tungsten C this evening. Dell is running a deal (order before 11 pm CDT tonight) -- basically $410.00 for the normally $499.00 unit including free shipping.

If our experience with Dell's iPod orders is any indication, you should be receiving your palm sometime next year.

[Severed Hand of Skywalker]

Originally posted by klinux:
What is crazy is that I bet you will still say so TWENTY, THIRTY or even FORTY years down the line.

PocketPC's transcriber engine is good.

I wasn't talking about the Handwriting rec, I mean the OS as a whole.

And yes, it will probibly still be true in TWENTY years.

[tikki]

I like my Zire. It was cheap and it gets the job done.

my only complaint is I miss having a cradle and Hotsync button. Having to use the one on the screen blows.

[vmpaul]

I actually just went BACK to using my Newton 2100 after several years with the Palm Vx.

Mostly for the form size. I predominately take notes and organize lists with my unit. The bigger screen is just more handy. I compare it ot using a paper organizer like a Day Planner except it's digital. I use DateMan as a to-do list/event planner.

The small size of the Palm is great for reference but horrible for reading and taking notes. I use it still when I'm going on vacation and I need all my contacts and a small to-do list.

You said you have a 2000. Try to get your hands on an upgraded 2100 unit. I find it snappy enough for my use. You may not.

[cschmelz]

I just got a Tungsten C (also through the Dell $410 dollar deal)

Man, this thing rocks! It is what Palm has been needing for quite some time

High Res 320x320 GORGEOUS screen
HUGE battery with great life despite networking
400mhz! INSTANTLY responsive to any request, including MP3, Kinoma, SplashPhoto photo changes are INSTANT! Avantgo page changes take seconds, hotsyncs take seconds instead of minutes!
SD slot
Good WiFi (in fact really good..I used the WiFi wardriving program while driving to work and around my neighborhood (mostly condos) and found 20 access points. It even accepts Garmin GPS input (cable is about $30) so it will automatically log lat/longitude of all seen APs!)

Nice nice nice machine, even the keyboard is better than my Treo 300...Now I am connected EVERYWHERE! Treo 300 for WAN, Tungsten C for LAN/work/in building use

[John O'Shaughnessy]

Originally posted by vmpaul:
I actually just went BACK to using my Newton 2100 after several years with the Palm Vx.

You said you have a 2000. Try to get your hands on an upgraded 2100 unit. I find it snappy enough for my use. You may not.

Actually, mine is an upgraded 2000.

Your usage profile seems to match mine. it is a shame that no one else seems to think note taking is a good use for a PDA!

Like you, I may keep my Newton for the Notes, and use the Palm for its other functions.

My recent frustration with my Newton is that it is about half the size of my laptop! Quite big when as a consultant, I've got to carry my whole working life in a backback, often to multiple customers in a day.

If I'm on a long term project, where I don't have to carry everything, having the Newton is great!

John

[John O'Shaughnessy]

Originally posted by Icruise:
If our experience with Dell's iPod orders is any indication, you should be receiving your palm sometime next year.

Dell shipped it yesterday, and it is running its way through the UPS system, so thankfully, THAT problem won't be mine!

John