Your digital consultant » treo http://yourdigitalconsultant.edublogs.org it's easy but I'm not cheap Thu, 02 Jul 2009 06:08:12 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.2 en hourly 1 How smart is your phone? http://yourdigitalconsultant.edublogs.org/2009/05/20/how-smart-is-your-phone/ http://yourdigitalconsultant.edublogs.org/2009/05/20/how-smart-is-your-phone/#comments Wed, 20 May 2009 12:41:43 +0000 Simon Robinson http://yourdigitalconsultant.edublogs.org/2009/05/20/how-smart-is-your-phone/ It’s been a while. Whatever, we push on.
I seem to remember writing an interim post but it appears to have vanished into “the ether” about the same time I was having issues with Edublogs. But more on that later.
My trusty Treo 680 has served me very well thank you for the last few years but is starting to get a bit raggedy around the edges. Heck I’ve dropped it more times than I care to remember. Bottom line, I was in the market for a new smartphone and was surveying my options.
Now it may surprise some of you to know that I don’t really fit into the “average” category when it comes to “technology needs” and the smartphone was no exception. So here’s the list…
  • Preference for hardware keyboard. Used to love “graffiti” on the old Palms but you just can’t hammer out text as quickly as you can on a hardware QWERTY. Something about feeling those keys.
  • 3G, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity (and ability to handle proxy server at work. Yes I’m talking to you Blackberry Bold)
  • A decent camera that can capture photos and video
  • Decent voice recorder
  • Capcity to view and edit documents, presentations and spreadsheets or run software that does
  • Expandable memory slot desireable
  • 3.5mm audio slot desireable (to fit my Senheiser noise cancelling headphones)
  • Under $1000 (as far under as possible) unlocked with option of outright purchase

Of course it would make and recieve calls, SMS and whatever but truth be known I don’t use the phone that much. I don’t even like answering the phone really. The PDA functions, camera and documents though are a differnet story. With WI-Fi on board I was hoping to throw email into the mix there as well. Unfortunately if you are chasing a smartphone with a hardware keyboard and Wi-Fi around $1000 there aren’t many options so check back later to see if you guessed right. There may even be a prize (seriously, who are we kidding?!)

]]> http://yourdigitalconsultant.edublogs.org/2009/05/20/how-smart-is-your-phone/feed/ 0 Should I get an iPhone Mr Robinson? http://yourdigitalconsultant.edublogs.org/2008/05/24/should-i-get-an-ipone-mr-robinson/ http://yourdigitalconsultant.edublogs.org/2008/05/24/should-i-get-an-ipone-mr-robinson/#comments Fri, 23 May 2008 23:36:17 +0000 Simon Robinson http://yourdigitalconsultant.edublogs.org/2008/05/23/should-i-get-an-ipone-mr-robinson/


Another iPhone Desktop Wallpaper

Originally uploaded by Sigalakos

Student asked me if she should get an iPhone. Her Uncle has offered to buy her one. I told her if it was that or nothing get it. What are you nuts?!
But seriously, she said she uses her phone a fair bit and loves listening to her iPod. She currently has a Touch which she likes a lot and figures if she can slim down to one device it’s a bonus. I agreed. But who’s paying for the plan GF?
I was asked the inevitable question “Would you get one?” and I got to thinking.
Probably not.
Biggest obstacle at the moment would be cost. I can’t justify the expense (although salary sacrifice would be an option) and would find it hard to give up my Treo. I know a lot of people rag out on Palm and think the Treo is outdated etc but I quite like it. (I go into this in more detail here) I guess I don’t make or receive many calls and primarily use the PDA functions on my Treo680 so the iPhone doesn’t register for me at the minute. The ActivSync plugin might change that somewhat if I could get my email anywhere on campus easily but I still have my laptop and don’t really like to be contacted that much…
Besides, I need the Palm platform to run Turbostats so I can take stats on my basketball games.
Deal-breaker right there people.

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