# PDA purchase advice

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pda-purchase-advice/267048>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [October 1, 2004, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pda-purchase-advice/267048 "2004-10-01T16:03:14Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\
**Post date:** [October 1, 2004, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pda-purchase-advice/267048/1 "2004-10-01T16:03:14Z")

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I am looking to buy a PDA and am curious about Doper’s opinions/experiences with this. I have looked for reviews online but while those exist I have found none that neatly sum up and compare them side-by-side. If I wish to read up on a zillion possibilities I can but am hoping to narrow that down a bit.

I do not need nor want anything overly fancy (which generally equates to more expensive although money is not really the main issue). No Bluetooth, no wireless internet/e-mail access or built in cell phone. Pretty much a run of the mill PDA meant mainly for keeping my calendar (synch with Lotus Notes at work) and phone/addressbook. Certainly other goodies a PDA comes with are fine but that is the main gist of what it will do. Would also like a color screen (I know for this that is not strictly necessary but I’m a sucker for flash to an extent).

I am not married to Windows CE or Palm…either is fine if it meets the above specifications.

Any opinions?

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**Author:** ![broys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5e9695/32.png) [@broys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/broys)\
**Post date:** [October 1, 2004, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pda-purchase-advice/267048/2 "2004-10-01T23:12:08Z")

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I have a Palm Zire 31 which I bought at [buy.com](http://buy.com) for $135. It can play mp3 music (with an SD addin card) and has a color screen. I wanted something cheap and I didn’t really want to have wireless or internet on it so this model was perfect for me.