Looking for Best PDA for Busy Mother with Buzy Kids.

Well I have had a few Smartphones over the years. And well I have learned a bunch. Of course you pick one for the things you want, how it feels in your hands, how the buttons feel, etc. But well let me tell you they all have their little things about them. Some you can't change the ring tones, some you can't hear them ring in your purse, some you only put on vibrate, and so on. But if you work and have a busy family life too. Well here is something to think about that I found out by trying.

If you get a windows interfaced phone well you can have it sync with your internet email, outlook, and your works outlook email servers. But if you choose a blackberry device well you can get email from only internet servers like yahoo but not from windows clients. So if you use outlook or your work have exchange servers well you will not be able to get your email. Blackberry devices have to use their own blackberry servers to get email from. And if you have internet email there are settings you have to change on your account to allow your email to show up on your phone.

So depending on what you use for your email, calendar, contacts, etc. Well this may help you narrow down your selection a bit at the start. I know people like the treo, the Q, and many other phones for all kinds of reasons but also there are some new phones that just have entered the market and keep being added that just might fit your needs in its own way. So depending on if you want a stylist to enter things, a key pad, one that has a slide out key pad, you can use the buttons with your fingers or nails, it fits in your purse you will have the ultimate choice. But I can tell you I love having my phone with me and knowing what is going on at my finger tips. I love that my husband at work can send me a calendar entry and I get it on the go. I love being at the doctor and making an appointment that both me and my husband have now on our calendars. I love traveling with out a laptop on short vacation trips. I can keep up on everything from any where I am.

Good Luck to you and I hope you do find the device that fits your needs.

I use the Mogul by sprint. It has literally EVERYTHING you could possibly need. internet, email, phone, task list, notes, calendar, alarms, reminders, text messaging. I LOVE it! I used to have a regular flip phone AND and IPAQ, and it was just taking up too much room in my purse, or I'd leave one behind. This phone is AWESOME! And well worth the price. I still haven't even figured everything out yet. It has features I haven't even tried! LOVE IT!

It runs off Windows mobile so it w/ sync perfectly w/ your pc.

I adore my iPhone. It synchronizes easily to my computer. The best part of using iCal on the Mac is that you can create multiple color-coded calendars to keep track of each kids' activities separately if you want.

I teach low-cost Mac classes at MacPac, and have one coming up for the iPhone on August 5: http://ical.mac.com/WebObjects/iCal.woa/wa/default?d=1&am... . I also give computer help over the phone or email!

A.
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Blackberry's are OK, but I've been using the treo's for years and they are GREAT! Of course they are also "smart phones" which I love and you can get them with either Palm based programing or Windows based programs, so if you usually use Windows and are familar with that then your learning curve will be a lot less. Good luck with your search.

The iphone is great and the price just came down! I love mine.

I have a palm centro. It does the phone thing, but also the calendar thing and you can sync it to your computer. You can do e-mail and internet and texting too. I love mine!

I have a palm that works well for me. But the reason I always have it with me, is I got a case for it that doubles as a wallet. I would say look for a usable case no matter what pda you get. Also check into battery life before recharging. It seems like I forget to recharge it often enough.

I love my Palm Centro. It holds my life in it. It has these really cool color coded option that has me keep track of my whole families activites. Each person has their own color and it also has an alarm option that reminds me when things are coming up. The memo is awsome to I can put my shopping list in there without wasting paper, and I can link my phone to my computer so I can make my list there then transfer it in to my phone. Many more features are on this phone. I Love this phone. It's made life so much easier.

I dont know if you can change your cell phone with the contract that you are in but I recently got a blackberry pearl and I love it. I use to try to carry around a planner but like you I wouldn't have it with me when I needed it then my husband bought me just a plain PDA but carrying 2 electronics was a pain. The pearl is a nice size and the calander works great. You can set up reminders view by day week and month or just agenda. You can also set it up that it will show your next 2 events on your home screen. My husband has the iphone but I wouldn't trade my pearl for anything. Good luck on your search Ali

I love my palm phone/PDA and have used one for quite some time. I was ready for an upgrade and just did some shopping. I use Verizon & didn't want to pay the extra monthly fee for internet every month that you have to pay w/ the Blackberry's.

So - I got the new Palm Centro that just came out for Verizon last Friday. I love it - very easy to use & syncs nicely w/ the computer. I know the centro is available w/ other cell companies as well.

Personally I keep everything on the computer, then sync it w/ my phone so I have it w/ me every couple days. You can also print off a calendar, shopping list, etc. from the program - which is nice for posting on the frig....etc.

It's SO nice - for instance, last week someone asked me when Farmer's Market closed. I pulled out my phone, went to "Farmer's Market" in my contact listing & clicked on "notes" - I had recently typed in all the days/times so I'd always have it. I do the same for Library hours, event stuff, etc.

Good luck in your search!

I use a palm with my phone and agenda and contacts all together. it is great! it has a microsoft operating system and uses an outlook schedule program. it has really made things easier for me. Hope this helps!

I love my phone, pda, email, and internet on the go so I have the blackberry curve, it does them all! I dropped it water once and freaked because I lost it for a day until it dried out. You can sync it with your computer too, so convenient. Don't know what I'd do without it, can't ever use a different type of phone after this one!

L.,

I have the Palm Tungsten E. It's several years old now, and with the hard case I bought with it it looks nearly new even now. It's what I use for my calendar, it also has a button you can push to scribble a note to yourself in your own handwriting.

My husband recently got a refurbished Centro or Treo, I can't remember which. His biggest complaint about it is that he has to put the phone on speaker to access the calendar part of his phone.

Hope this helps,
M.