Well, we still need to see what comes from the Android project. --------------------- Sent from my Treo
-----Original Message----- From: "Michael S. Lax" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subj: RE: Moving away from Palm soon (Was: Re: [Treo] Sync via BT on Vista Ultimate) Date: Tue May 6, 2008 5:55 pm Size: 4K To: <[email protected]> I've been a Palm OS user since 1996 (Palm Pro). When a friend showed me how it worked (I'm probably in the 1% of users who still loves Graffiti) I was sold INSTANTLY. I became a Treo 650 user for work a little over 2 years ago (during the BB 'scare') and was happy with it, though I only used it for email. I still use my Tungsten T3 a LOT, but I am also at the point where I wonder - what next? I'm beginning to consider what my next PDA will be, and am not finding anything I like. I'm almost certain I don't want another smartphone (please note - I'm not ruling it out!). I find the thumbpad to be just short of painful. I can write for awhile on my Tungsten, but with the Treo or a Blackberry, my hand & thumbs start to hurt. Although I used to joke there are places I'll take my PDA that I won't take my phone, the basic design of the smartphone is (again, for me), like a laptop - the function dictates the design which means compromises. The single biggest feature of my T3 that I've not seen on any smartphone (except maybe the iPhone which I have no interest in) is the screen - larger (and in some cases brighter) than any smartphone. That's an absolute deal breaker for me. Another design compromise is its shape. As a PDA the shape (a small brick) is ok but as a phone it's pretty poor. I have had both flip & non-flip cell phones over the last 10+ years and, without exception, have never liked non-flip phones. They either 'wake up' too easily (a couple times I had my Sony-Ericcson almost dial 911) or won't unlock easily when you need them to, and they are not as comfortable to hold or to talk on. This last one caught me when I was looking at slider phones recently - although they deal with the first problem (waking up too easily/being difficult to use), the straight line is not comfortable to hold or put against your face. And than there's dialing - my Razr is almost half the size of most smartphones but the buttons are many times larger. All this being said, I'm at a rather unique point where I'm thinking about replacing both my phone & PDA. I saw RIM has a flip BB coming out in September, and that kind of caught my attention. The screen is still unacceptably tiny, but I like the idea of a flip smartphone. I'm in no hurry to replace either my Tungsten or my Razr, so I'm willing to wait. For me the bottom line is while Palm has stagnated over the last few years, no one has come forward (in my view) with any great new devices. Even with all the bandaids on the PalmOS, I still find it works better for how I use it than anything else - BUT that difference is shrinking fast. I'm not holding my breath for Palm/ACCESS, but where's the next great thing? Mike Lax
