"Geoffrey S. Mendelson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > On Fri, Mar 24, 2006 at 12:09:49AM +0200, Uri Even-Chen wrote:
>> How much is a pocket PC? I was thinking to buy a portable MP3 >> player myself, buy your E-mail reminded me that it might be better >> to have something that can read E-mail too. > > I really don't know, good ones are about 3500 NIS, but the > definition of good is very fluid. You can get cheap ones for about > 1800 NIS. If that's too limited for depends upon what you want to > do. I have not checked the prices in Israel lately. I got my iPAQ 4155 in the States for $350 a couple of years ago, with built-in WiFi, BlueTooth, IR, e-book reader, etc. I have sent and received emails with it, although on my latest travels I have had some problems configuring email in such a way that I could send it without registering one way or another with some local ISP (servers on the way didn't relay, unsurprisingly). I am fairly sure it was a configuration problem that I had no patience to track down (preferred the touristy bits). > The problem with pocket PCs is more a question of how do you answer > an email? If you are good with a tiny keyboard then you can do it. The handwriting recognition software on iPAQs is really good, and has been for quite a few years. I've written fairly long emails on it, taken notes during meetings, etc. > I "played" with a pocket PC/cell phone combo with a full keyboard, but > I was unable to use it. The keys were just too small. Other people had > no trouble. There are folding full-size keyboards, too - I used to have such a keyboard, courtesy of one of my previous employers. The small screen was the biggest trouble in that case, typing was easy. This time I decided not to buy a keyboard - they are fairly expensive and the handwriting recognizer answers my needs. The 4155 does not have a keyboard at all, and it does not bother me in the least. > Not every hotel has WiFi, my son stayed in a top of the line hotel in > Seoul which had relativly fast internet via ethernet. I don't know of > a pocket PC that supports ethernet. The older ones had PCMCIA slots where you could stick an Ethernet adapter. The newer ones went for a smaller, slimmer form factor and come with built-in WiFi. The solution for this problem does not seem to me very difficult. If you travel to big cities like Seoul and stay at top hotels, you can find out in advance which ones provide WiFi and which stick to regular Ethernet. Even if your hotel is not if the wireless type, it should not be a big problem to find a coffee shop or another public place with wireless. If you travel around rural Asia I would imagine that either wireless or Ethernet connections will be few and far between. In a pinch one can use the solution that we adopted on business trips in the years when iPAQs were around but WiFi or broadband weren't (5 years ago or so): we used to travel with an iPAQ and a cell phone - anywhere you are, place the cell phone opposite the iPAQ's IR, dial in (you need to know the right numbers, you can dial in directly to you ISP in Israel, assuming you have the service, e.g., as a backup to your broadband at home), and use your cell phone as a modem. The IR link serves as a serial connection. Download your mail, compose the replies at your leisure, another call will send the mail on its way. I suspect it will still work today. -- Oleg Goldshmidt | [EMAIL PROTECTED] | http://www.goldshmidt.org ================================================================= To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word "unsubscribe" in the message body, e.g., run the command echo unsubscribe | mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]
