chrishubbs.com …somewhere in Paraguay, quelling revolution with a fork.

Convergence: Death of a PDA, Expiration of a Cell Contract

I've carried a PDA pretty much everywhere with me for the past several years; I think I've been through three different Palm models. My current one is a Palm Tungsten E2. I don't use too many features on it, really; my primary uses are the calendar and a few games. The calendar is the biggie for me - I need something to keep all my work meetings and outside meetings lined up. The past few weeks my PDA has had trouble holding a charge. It doesn't matter whether I charge it via USB or from the wall charger; within 10 minutes or so it complains about the battery being low and starts disabling functions. I'm assuming it's nearing the end of its life - I've had it just over two years now.

Second upcoming event: our cell phone contract is just about up. I haven't completely decided yet, but I'm thinking we'll abandon US Cellular in favor of Verizon, for a number of reasons. With the new contract comes the opportunity to purchase a new phone at a reduced price. So I have a convergence here which might allow me to start consolidating electronic gadgetry. So I want to explore my options.

Desired operations:

• Basic cell phone operation
• A usable calendar that allows for easy entry and reference. My employer uses an antiquated Lotus Notes system for email and calendar, so I'm not counting on the ability to sync things up.

Heck, I think that's basically it. So what are my options?

Geof was the first to respond to my tweet on this topic. His words: "this is God's way of getting you to buy an iPhone." Geof was an iPhone early-adopter and has had nothing but good to say about it. And I will admit that I've drooled over the iPhone a time or two. Who can't love its wonderful touch-screen interface and Apple styling?

I have a few issues with the iPhone option, though. I'm not crazy about the price, but hey, if I'm replacing a PDA, the iPhone isn't really any more expensive. Does the iPhone even have a calendar feature? Surely it must. But I don't really want to use it to replace my iPod - I want my iPod to be able to hold my entire music collection, and they don't make a 40 GB iPhone yet.

The other issue, which will be an issue for all web-enabled phones, is that I don't really need full connectivity all the time. Goodness knows I check my email often enough as it is, I certainly don't need another way that I can be distracted. And the data plans that come hand-in-hand with these smartphones end up adding $30 - $40 per month to your cell plan. For the type of plan we'd have, that's almost a 50% increase, which is too much.

There are other cell/PDA combos out there; you can get a Palm Treo, any one of several models of Blackberry, and some "smartphones" that the cell providers offer. But again, I don't want/need the data plan. I just want something that'll give me phone capability and help keep me organized.

So what's a guy to do?