I heard something about people taking their iPods and turning them into PDAs, but I want to go one step further; I want a PDA/Cell phone/MP3 player that’s Mac-compatible. Oh, and one that cooks eggs would be nice, too, but if not, I can live w/o that
So, does this thing exist? I may end up just having to get one w/o the MP3 player attatched, because I need the phone and PDA, but I can survive w/o the MP3 player.
The Handspring Treo might be your best bet. It’s a cell phone/PDA combo. I thought that maybe with Handspring’s Springboard technology, you could add a module that would hold and play mp3s, but that doesn’t appear to be the case.
For Mac compatibility, IIRC PocketPC-based PDAs are out of the question. It’ll have to be Palm OS-based. With the aid of a shareware app called The Missing Sync, you should be able to use any Palm OS (4.x) based PDA. OS 9 and X versions are available.
Links forya:
http://www.markspace.com/missingsync.html
http://www.handspring.com
I have a Samsung SPH-i300 working perfectly with my iBook. It’s a combo cell/PDA (no MP3, alas), and I don’t need any software other than the basic Palm Desktop. (The Missing Sync is specifically for Sony Clies – you won’t need it for a Handspring or Samsung.) Sprint was selling them until recently, but they don’t seem to be on the sprintpcs.com site any more.
Oh, and Pocket PC is not out of the question. There’s at least one commercial Mac synching program out there (PocketMac Regular Edition –
http://www.versiontracker.com/moreinfo.fcgi?id=12564&db=mac) and I think there are a couple of open source ones out there, too. And if you have a copy of Virtual PC handy, the folks who do MacWindows.com have gotten Pocket PCs to sync via Virtual PC.
No offense, Zelmph(!), but have you seen that program’s rating and user comments? PocketMac apparently stinks. It has one of the lowest ratings I’ve seen at Versiontracker.
Thanks for clearing up the point about The Missing Sync and Cliés, though. I think I subconsciously assumed every PDA would need TMS because I’m eyeing a Clié myself. Ah, well.
Welcome to the SDMB!
I’ll just add that if you can sync via infrared, you don’t need The Missing Sync for the Clie, either. Of course you don’t get the ability to directly sync with iTunes nor mount the memory stick on the desktop.
Also, Clies synch perfectly under VirtualPC.
Too bad you need the cell phone; my PEG-N760 is my favorite Palm OS device ever, and the MP3s are great – really 128Mb are fine and I don’t have to carry a separate iPod 
AudreyK, no offense taken. And you’re right about PocketMac’s reviews. That’s actually why I pointed to the VersionTracker page instead of to the developer’s site. I figured that folks should know what they were getting into. I guess I also figured folks should read my mind to know why I linked there. :rolleyes:
I also forgot to mention iSync. Based on this MacOSXHints hint (http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20021113062141624), it works with Clies.