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AnchorDesk

David Coursey
Why I'm STILL waiting for the perfect PDA/phone

David Coursey
Executive Editor, AnchorDesk
Wednesday, August 28, 2002
TalkBack!Add your opinion
Early in my technology-writing career, I learned an important lesson: Fools rush in, and it's wise not to stop them. After all, someone needs to be the beta tester, right?

I've been thinking about that lesson a lot lately as I track all the coverage, here and elsewhere on AnchorDesk, of devices that combine a PDA and a cell phone. Most recently, my colleague David Berlind wrote about the features he'd like to see in the ideal PDA/cell phone combo.

WHAT I TAKE AWAY from these columns is the strong sense that combining a PDA and cellular telephone is like combining a horse and a cow: I doubt the result would provide either good milk or a suitable platform for chasing bad guys out on the prairie. Like Mr. Ed used to say, "A horse is a horse..."

And a cell phone is a cell phone. And a PDA is, well, a personal digital assistant. The requirements I have for each device make it difficult to combine them. Among these must-have features are: a dedicated keypad for the phone, a thumbpad for the PDA, and a rectangular phone I can hold to my ear without my face touching a big PDA screen. And I strongly agree with Mr. Berlind that you need easily replaceable batteries. I'll even up him one: I want the option of using AA cells in an emergency.

Given those requirements, I'm not surprised that I've yet to see a combo device that works as well for me as the individual pieces.

I still find wireless PDAs interesting. Why? Because I want wireless e-mail, especially always-on wireless e-mail, and I'm beginning to see Web services that make good use of a small screen. I remain a big fan of Pocket PC. I just don't want to make any compromises. When a wireless PDA comes along that does everything my iPaq does, I'll think about buying it.

IN THE MEANTIME, however, I'm sorely tempted by the Treo 300 that Sprint introduced along with its PCS Vision service. Sure, it uses the Palm OS. But the color screen, along with the work Handspring and Sprint have done to make the device a good e-mail platform, makes all the difference. As a phone, it's only so-so--but on the high side of so-so; it's perfectly usable as a compromise device.

It's just that I don't like to compromise. So I'm expecting to keep carrying a separate phone for the foreseeable future. My next phone is likely to be one of the Sprint PCS Vision devices, because they allow me to attach a modem cable. (Coming soon: Bluetooth!) That means I can connect my notebook to the Net at 40 to 70kbps. Sure, that's slow if you aren't a full-time dial-up user, but it's better than I've been getting from my cell phone up to now.

As for those of you seriously considering a combo device, I'll take a cue from Mr. Berlind and offer you a single word of warning: battery. I've yet to see a combo unit with an easily replaceable battery. So if you run out of juice when you're away from your desk or car charger, you may be hosed. That should be reason enough to scare any serious user away from these admittedly cute devices.

I've made my own peace with this state of affairs by figuring that as long as I don't use it for voice, a combo device probably has enough battery power to be an OK wireless PDA. Certainly, the RIM 957 Wireless Handheld I've been using gets excellent battery life--but, then, it doesn't have to drive a big color screen all the time.

WHILE THE HARDWARE compromises may take a while to resolve (assuming they're ever really resolved to my satisfaction), there is another issue to be considered: billing plans.

While it's possible today for several phones to share the same billing plan and a pool of monthly airtime minutes, I've yet to see a similar plan for shared data. This means that, while Sprint offers plans that support multiple voice-only phones, it has yet to come up with something for multiple voice/data devices. As far as I know, Verizon and T-Mobile are in the same situation.

That makes my dual-device strategy more expensive than it needs to be, which in turn makes it more likely I'll wait before implementing it on my own dime. But when my PCS Vision devices--ideally a phone and a Treo 300--arrive for review, I'll be able to tell you how that strategy works out (or not) and figure out what the actually monthly cost would be.

So for now, unless you're willing to make some serious compromises, I'd take a wait-and-see approach on today's combo devices. But if you see a fool rushing to buy one, don't stop him. We may all learn from his experience.

What do you think? Are you ready to buy a combo PDA/cell phone? Are you waiting? What are you waiting for? TalkBack to me!

Have you bought a cell phone/PDA combo device?
Yes
No

If so, would you recommend it to a friend?
Yes
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