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thwarted technophile part 2
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So here's the story, in detail so that others may benefit from my wisdom or lack of same: The only way to get internet connectivity on a PDA or handheld in Mo'town is Sprint. From those who have the new Sprint (no longer really run by Horizon, or so I was told), I hear positive things. So there's no real worry that the service itself won't be good--it'll get you on the internet. My current angst is figuring out HOW it will get me on the internet. Since this entry just won't flow well, let me breakdown the things I've learned episodically.
The Plan as I had it in my head was to spend a few hundred (or less) on a PDA, about $100 on accessories and $50/month on the connection. And I figured there might be a set-up fee, which was okay. The first impression I got from customer service reps (immediately upon trying to find this) was that what I wanted was impossible in Morgantown, but that didn't entirely mesh with what I had gleaned so far on the internet...so I started digging.
Amusingly enough, the easiest answer seems to be a Treo. The Sprint store downtown has a Treo 600. $450 if you sign a two year service agreement. Unlimited data connection per month for $15 a month on top of the phone plan. Not so bad a deal, but not exactly what I wanted--a little too much dropped at once, with no accessories at all. The price per month was right, though.
However, the store reps do not understand the PDA phones they offer (Treo 600, Samsung i500, and the Hitachi G100). The reps were very friendly and tried to be helpful, but are not aware of all the possibilities Sprint offers. I wrote down the phone names and took them home with me to look up online. I was sad to find that all of these are a little outdated, which worries me: There is supposed to be a new Treo coming out later this year, for instance, and probably a Samsung i6something.
A note on cellular networks: Sprint is a CDMA network. Most of your wireless networks are GSM (or some-such). The latter category includes T-Mobile, AT&T, and most other major cellular companies (with the exception of Verizon, who is also CDMA). Unfortunately this means that many many phones are not compatible with the Sprint network. There are actually two different Treos, for example, one made to run for Sprint and one for all the other companies.
I'm not clear on which is better. Sort of moot, as Sprint is the only option for the moment.
Sprint DOES have a wireless card, that can be used in many pocket PCs and Laptops. (Sprint actually has 4 wireless cards, but one is particularly PDA/Pocket PC friendly.) It's expensive, roughly $200, but from most reviews is very good.
The Sprint store here doesn't carry it or know anything about it. Neither does Radio-Shack or Office Depot.
When I finally knew to ask about it, both Radio-Shack and the Sprint Store told me to order it online. Which I can do. But I'd like to actually talk to someone who can assure me it will work with something I want to buy--especially if I'm blowing about $200 on the card alone.
There's an overstock on eBay right now--the card is being sold by a company for only $30. However it's missing the necessary charger for the battery pack which MUST be used if you use the card with a pocket PC. Do I chance the $30 on the hope I can find/order a charger from somewhere? And then get service I'm happy with?
Luckily Sprint will activate cards/phones they support even if you do not buy it from Sprint. So you can feel free to shop around for better prices.
Do I want to wait until the new Treo comes out at an as of yet undeterminate point later this year? (Will the CDMA version come out at the same time?) The new Treo is a lot like the old one with some small functionality improvements, and it seems a few odd mistakes (like moving the headphone jack to the bottom instead of on the side, not that this is a big deal to me, but I can see how headphone users would find that inconvenient). None of the old accessories or programs will work with the new Treo, and there are as of yet no accessories or programs for the new Treo (though of course there will be). Since all I really wanted was to check email and do CompuHigh work, should I go ahead and get the machine available now, which has the accoutrements I want/need? Or should I wait just because a new version must mean better? (And also because I wasn't really wanting to spend so much...though again I think the connectivity would be well worth it...)
I don't love the idea of a 2 yr contract on something which may soon be obsolete (though obsolete is too harsh a term in this case). But I think the "breaking contract" fee is $150--the same as the discount you get right now for signing a 2 yr agreement. I could get it and sign the agreement and plan to pay to break it if something better came along...
Pocket PCs are really rather neat. They mostly run on a mini-version of Windows. They differ from PDAs in that they do not run the Palm OS, and in that they aren't so much data organizers as actual little PCs, with more memory than most PDAs and the ability to play multimedia etc. Note that these things are possible on PDAs too, just not usually prepackaged and prepared. Pocket PCs are made by companies like HP and Toshiba and Dell... And all seem to be pretty reliable little guys. (Except perhaps for the hp iPaq AR 1715? I think that was the one. It got a pretty poor review.)
Pocket PCs also allow for all sorts of expansion capabilities...sadly, the Treo really does not.
It looks like the ideal for me would be a nice Pocket PC with a Sprint Card in it. However the Sprint Card plans are very limiting at the moment--for $40 you get 20MB a month, with a .002 cent per kb charge after that. I think it very possible that I would rack myself up a couple hundred dollar bill. I think you can get 40MB for $60/month, and then 300MB for $100/month. There is no unlimited data service plan with the cards the way there is on the phones. This seems like way too little for the money--hell, unlimited data plans on their phones are only $15 per month!! (Of course, they probably figure on the phones you won't use it very much.) Or are downloads etc on handhelds a lot smaller than I'm thinking they are? Looking at my data transfers on the machine here I'd guess I average 5 Mb per day--and that's not on days when I'm looking for porn. Okay, so I'm joking about the porn, but seriously, on plans that small forget about downloading multimedia!
However there is a fair bit of information out there on ways to connect the PDA or your PC to your phone, to take advantage of the wireless internet that way. Unfortunately, connectors are exceedingly scarce and expensive--say $80 to $120, with no guarantees. (Edit: it seems Radio-Shack and some others will sell cables in the far more reasonable $30 range...) Sprint 1) doesn't want you doing this, and 2) has apparently cancelled the data plans of customers they suspected of doing this. (The easiest way to do this would be through a wireless technology called Bluetooth, and Sprint is being very careful not to have a readily available Bluetooth phone. The only one they offer is not on their website and not in stores, can only be ordered through a special number, and cannot be coupled with an unlimited data plan.)
Do I get some relatively inexpensive Sprint phone with an unlimited data-plan, and try to connect it to a PDA that way?
Generally speaking, so much for my plan of spending a few hundred on a PDA, about $100 on accessories and $50/month on the connection.
So I'm not really sure what I'm going to do now. I would probably need to spend $300-$600 on a Pocket PC. Then something for a connection (card or cable, card or cable?), and maybe even more for a phone to host that connection. Or I can get a Treo, which is a simpler machine, spend $600 not to be tied down to a contract and pay $15/month on top of regular phone fees for unlimited data on it, or spend $450 and sign the 2 yr contract...
Or I can wait to see if something else might not come along soon. Which it might, other networks are expanding all the time. But I'd really like to be able to get on the internet with a handheld NOW, when there's a lot going on I could be more on top of...
I don't know. I might end up just getting the Treo. All I want is to make my work a little easier, and yes $500 is worth that--and with the current one I know I can get a keyboard and what not that will work with it. (Later.) Of course, once all is tallied, I think that might be just out of my price range right now.
Or maybe I'll wait to see if a more reasonably priced solution shows itself. Right now, it's just all made me tired... I think I have all the information now, but jeez, you'd think that any one of the four stores I went to would have been able to explain it, instead of me having to run around getting bits and pieces (two of the places told me it just plain wasn't possible, which isn't true) and then having to look it up online to figure out what the spork is going on...
The Plan as I had it in my head was to spend a few hundred (or less) on a PDA, about $100 on accessories and $50/month on the connection. And I figured there might be a set-up fee, which was okay. The first impression I got from customer service reps (immediately upon trying to find this) was that what I wanted was impossible in Morgantown, but that didn't entirely mesh with what I had gleaned so far on the internet...so I started digging.
Amusingly enough, the easiest answer seems to be a Treo. The Sprint store downtown has a Treo 600. $450 if you sign a two year service agreement. Unlimited data connection per month for $15 a month on top of the phone plan. Not so bad a deal, but not exactly what I wanted--a little too much dropped at once, with no accessories at all. The price per month was right, though.
However, the store reps do not understand the PDA phones they offer (Treo 600, Samsung i500, and the Hitachi G100). The reps were very friendly and tried to be helpful, but are not aware of all the possibilities Sprint offers. I wrote down the phone names and took them home with me to look up online. I was sad to find that all of these are a little outdated, which worries me: There is supposed to be a new Treo coming out later this year, for instance, and probably a Samsung i6something.
A note on cellular networks: Sprint is a CDMA network. Most of your wireless networks are GSM (or some-such). The latter category includes T-Mobile, AT&T, and most other major cellular companies (with the exception of Verizon, who is also CDMA). Unfortunately this means that many many phones are not compatible with the Sprint network. There are actually two different Treos, for example, one made to run for Sprint and one for all the other companies.
I'm not clear on which is better. Sort of moot, as Sprint is the only option for the moment.
Sprint DOES have a wireless card, that can be used in many pocket PCs and Laptops. (Sprint actually has 4 wireless cards, but one is particularly PDA/Pocket PC friendly.) It's expensive, roughly $200, but from most reviews is very good.
The Sprint store here doesn't carry it or know anything about it. Neither does Radio-Shack or Office Depot.
When I finally knew to ask about it, both Radio-Shack and the Sprint Store told me to order it online. Which I can do. But I'd like to actually talk to someone who can assure me it will work with something I want to buy--especially if I'm blowing about $200 on the card alone.
There's an overstock on eBay right now--the card is being sold by a company for only $30. However it's missing the necessary charger for the battery pack which MUST be used if you use the card with a pocket PC. Do I chance the $30 on the hope I can find/order a charger from somewhere? And then get service I'm happy with?
Luckily Sprint will activate cards/phones they support even if you do not buy it from Sprint. So you can feel free to shop around for better prices.
Do I want to wait until the new Treo comes out at an as of yet undeterminate point later this year? (Will the CDMA version come out at the same time?) The new Treo is a lot like the old one with some small functionality improvements, and it seems a few odd mistakes (like moving the headphone jack to the bottom instead of on the side, not that this is a big deal to me, but I can see how headphone users would find that inconvenient). None of the old accessories or programs will work with the new Treo, and there are as of yet no accessories or programs for the new Treo (though of course there will be). Since all I really wanted was to check email and do CompuHigh work, should I go ahead and get the machine available now, which has the accoutrements I want/need? Or should I wait just because a new version must mean better? (And also because I wasn't really wanting to spend so much...though again I think the connectivity would be well worth it...)
I don't love the idea of a 2 yr contract on something which may soon be obsolete (though obsolete is too harsh a term in this case). But I think the "breaking contract" fee is $150--the same as the discount you get right now for signing a 2 yr agreement. I could get it and sign the agreement and plan to pay to break it if something better came along...
Pocket PCs are really rather neat. They mostly run on a mini-version of Windows. They differ from PDAs in that they do not run the Palm OS, and in that they aren't so much data organizers as actual little PCs, with more memory than most PDAs and the ability to play multimedia etc. Note that these things are possible on PDAs too, just not usually prepackaged and prepared. Pocket PCs are made by companies like HP and Toshiba and Dell... And all seem to be pretty reliable little guys. (Except perhaps for the hp iPaq AR 1715? I think that was the one. It got a pretty poor review.)
Pocket PCs also allow for all sorts of expansion capabilities...sadly, the Treo really does not.
It looks like the ideal for me would be a nice Pocket PC with a Sprint Card in it. However the Sprint Card plans are very limiting at the moment--for $40 you get 20MB a month, with a .002 cent per kb charge after that. I think it very possible that I would rack myself up a couple hundred dollar bill. I think you can get 40MB for $60/month, and then 300MB for $100/month. There is no unlimited data service plan with the cards the way there is on the phones. This seems like way too little for the money--hell, unlimited data plans on their phones are only $15 per month!! (Of course, they probably figure on the phones you won't use it very much.) Or are downloads etc on handhelds a lot smaller than I'm thinking they are? Looking at my data transfers on the machine here I'd guess I average 5 Mb per day--and that's not on days when I'm looking for porn. Okay, so I'm joking about the porn, but seriously, on plans that small forget about downloading multimedia!
However there is a fair bit of information out there on ways to connect the PDA or your PC to your phone, to take advantage of the wireless internet that way. Unfortunately, connectors are exceedingly scarce and expensive--say $80 to $120, with no guarantees. (Edit: it seems Radio-Shack and some others will sell cables in the far more reasonable $30 range...) Sprint 1) doesn't want you doing this, and 2) has apparently cancelled the data plans of customers they suspected of doing this. (The easiest way to do this would be through a wireless technology called Bluetooth, and Sprint is being very careful not to have a readily available Bluetooth phone. The only one they offer is not on their website and not in stores, can only be ordered through a special number, and cannot be coupled with an unlimited data plan.)
Do I get some relatively inexpensive Sprint phone with an unlimited data-plan, and try to connect it to a PDA that way?
Generally speaking, so much for my plan of spending a few hundred on a PDA, about $100 on accessories and $50/month on the connection.
So I'm not really sure what I'm going to do now. I would probably need to spend $300-$600 on a Pocket PC. Then something for a connection (card or cable, card or cable?), and maybe even more for a phone to host that connection. Or I can get a Treo, which is a simpler machine, spend $600 not to be tied down to a contract and pay $15/month on top of regular phone fees for unlimited data on it, or spend $450 and sign the 2 yr contract...
Or I can wait to see if something else might not come along soon. Which it might, other networks are expanding all the time. But I'd really like to be able to get on the internet with a handheld NOW, when there's a lot going on I could be more on top of...
I don't know. I might end up just getting the Treo. All I want is to make my work a little easier, and yes $500 is worth that--and with the current one I know I can get a keyboard and what not that will work with it. (Later.) Of course, once all is tallied, I think that might be just out of my price range right now.
Or maybe I'll wait to see if a more reasonably priced solution shows itself. Right now, it's just all made me tired... I think I have all the information now, but jeez, you'd think that any one of the four stores I went to would have been able to explain it, instead of me having to run around getting bits and pieces (two of the places told me it just plain wasn't possible, which isn't true) and then having to look it up online to figure out what the spork is going on...
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