PDAs / nitty gritty survival

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For those who use PDAs, what features are most helpful in moving through the day?

I'm considering getting one of these. Are they helpful for Aspies?

#1 helpful function is the calendar - I used to miss lots of meetings before I had one.
#2 is the phone numbers

The games are kinda nice too when I am waiting for something like a doctors appt.

I have a Palm TX and a Palm Lifedrive. I use the TX for general purpose stuff, stuff such as writing notes, and all that, I have it underclocked so it has better battery life. I use the Lifedrive for home purposes, so I can connect to the net and listen to internet radio, and watch movies. One down-side of the Lifedrive is it uses a MicroDrive instead of a Flash drive, it runs slower. But you can fix that easily by opening it up and replacing it. But the Lifedrive is no longer for sale for that reason. But the TX runs great, it does not crash often, it is small, lightweight, and gets the job done.

I use the Palm TX for Nursing. I am a nurse. It is indispensible. I can look up all the drugs and other stuff I need to know. It has wifi so I can connect to the internet to look up special stuff. It also has a clip on microphone so I used it to record lectures when I was in school. With a 1GB SD memory card (same as cameras use) it can record hundreds, if not thousands, of lecture hours. I mean, other students had to pop in a new tape every 30 minutes, but the palm recorded seamlessly.

Mine also has a VOIP phone so I can use it to make calls with my callcentric account when I am in a wifi hotspot.

The calendar, alarm clock and web are nice too. But when I'm not working, I have used it as an MP3 player. It will play them for several hours. On a plane or long trip, you can download movies into an SD card and play them. Also, did I mention that it shares SD cards with cameras seamlessly. You can pop your camera's SD card in the TX and it will let you view the photos.

Because I'm in nursing, I can't live without it.

I've used a Palm OS device since '99, and they're absolutely indispensable for me. I can NOT remember appointments, lists, details, etc. Without alarms and my schedule, etc. I wouldn't make it at my job or for much else.

My complaint just comes in that I think Palm's hardware is pretty junky. Back when Handspring and Sony were around (they both made Palm OS devices) that was fantastic, but the hardware Palm themselves sells is really junky from my experiences...but it's still good enough for me, gets the job done, and I have no real choice.

From my experience Windows Mobile is a complete joke. One version of the OS wouldn't reliably sync appointments with my computer. It would just SKIP many of them, totally randomly, and with no warning. That's actually worse than not syncing at all, because I'd have no idea that it wasn't working.
The version of Windows Mobile I used after that crashed multiple times a day and some of those crashes would wipe out my Documents folder, even though that shouldn't have been possible.

I've been using Palm's TX also since it launched. I would *not* get their E2. Not so much because the TX has better hardware, but more because the E2 is running an older, buggier version of the OS than the TX.

The TX comes with Documents to Go, which is a solid Office compatible program that I use all the time.

If you want something cheaper, Palm's Z22 is probably a good choice. It dosen't come with Docs to Go, but that can be purchased separately (actually the TX's version is like 3 versions out of date, but I haven't bothered upgrading since it works fine for me). I'd get the Z22 or TX though, not the E2 that's priced in between them.

Feel free to ask if you've got any questions about any of this stuff!

I don't have a PDA per se. I use my EnV phone as a kind of PDA. I can't remember phone numbers anymore, so of course it has all the phone numbers I need to know. Then it has a calendar, which I cannot live without because I am bad with remembering appointments and I'm horrible with time. I text myself when I have things that I need to remember that don't fit in other formats. I take pictures of things I need to remember or that remind me of things I want to remember later. Oh, and post it notes are absolutely indispensible. Always have them in my purse. Whatever doesn't fit on my phone, goes on a post it. Or I recently starting emailing myself. That works too. I can get online with my phone, so that is good.


I stopped having a planner about a year ago because I got this phone. It's been a god send. I had PDAs before but they weren't as good as my phone! I can even sync it to my outlook calendar at work. It's wonderful...I love my phone.

depends on what like to do.

am have a sony clie [not sure which one,they use PalmOS,the picture quality is high res],the feature am found most helpful with it was the notes software installed,for using to communicate instead of makaton-it was easy enough to use,problem is,even a little thing likt that used the battery up quick-especially with the needed backlight on,not good if no ever remembers to charge it.

PDAs can also be used for everything from storing things needed to get from shop to watching videos or playing games on.

am prefer laptops [which is only what am use now] as they do a lot better communication programs,wifi, better gaming etc-even though they are big and not as easy to carry around,because they are bigger am find it easier to remember have it on charge,am have it on charge whenever in bedroom.

PDAs can be got with linux installed.

I have a PDA, which I gto to help me with my poor executive. I had it a couple of years but I barely used it, I just cant remember. You need a minimum amount of executive for that.

I can set beeps even ones that won't drive me up the wall, but I sill have to keep it charged. I still want to keep it just in case I find some ground to hold onto.

Also it is a Dell Axim. There is a fun project trying to get Linux to boot on it. It is possible, but getting something workable is a challage.

Last edited by 0_equals_true on 14 Aug 2008, 6:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.

You have the same problem as me

need a good techy to invent a self charging PDA!

my pda is a highly customized and cleverly folded sheet of paper.

make your own! - http://www.pocketmod.com/

Thanks so much, everybody!
Palm TX would never have occurred to me.


So far it's clear I need:

- GOT to be a phone / smartphone (not clear whether VOIP is enough)
- calendar - alarm, notices, reminders
- contacts
- document - at least text file - compatibility
- camera
- music


I need to do the numbers on a phone contract vs. buying unlocked.

Well, a contract may involve forcing you to get the wireless internet plan which is usually an extra $30 a month. I would get unlocked unless the wireless internet is that important. The TX is not a cell phone, and wifi only works in hotspots. However, if you have a limited circle of friends and they also have voip, you can use Free World Dialup which is totally free (even minutes), but you can only call people on VOIP. Calling a regular phone costs about 2 cents a minute.

The TX does not have a camera either.

Here is a link to an AT&T Tilt phone. Its got every feature you want EXCEPT a decent sized screen. But it does have a camera, phone, Wndows and a GPS.

http://cgi.ebay.com/UNLOCKED-At-t-TILT

The problem with Smartphones (ie PDAs with a phone in them ) is you're tied to a particular carrier. I'd probably get Palm's Treo, except my carrier dosen't offer it, and the only ones that do are way too expensive. So I'm stuck hauling around 3 devices for the time being.

I have the problem of remembering to check it too, but basically I've trained myself that the *ONLY* thing I have to remember is to check it from time to time (and set alarms for appointments and things far enough ahead of time, so I'll hear it go off even if I don't remember!)

This is why it MUST be a smartphone.

Though ... having canceled my contract on time so it wouldn't auto-renew, but having failed to choose a new provider, I now have zero phone service. (WiFi through neighbor but not reliably.) So if I manage to get set up again, I might be so stuck in isolation mode I just won't care about the phone. Am using the inactive phone as a calendar / meds reminder. It's super primitive, but I have to take one med every 90 minutes and without the reminder I'd be lost.

I'm in Europe and was splitting my skull trying to choose a phone that would also work back in the U.S. I think I have to accept that I'm here for now and just choose the device that'll give me a bit of support with the exec dysfxn issues.

Heard on Kim Komando that Palms and Blackberries run on a slower network. Should check out if that's true across the board.