[Advantage X7500, MDA Ameo Upgrading] maria-l:
Playing the waiting game

Warning--this is long. Sorry. I'm new to this thread, but old to the waiting game for a tablet like gizmo that does what I would like. I wont post often, but here are my few bits. Ever since the Apple Newton came out I wished there would be something like it that would actually be functional and useful. Something you could say:

1. Sketch on like the software programs in a tablet pc (as I do art and ideas come and go). Saw a fellow using a tablet PC at a wedding doing great sketches he printed out for people there and then. (Most handwriting recognition software, and sketch software that I've otherwise seen is impractical. Correct me if I'm wrong.)

2. Write on like a journal, author's note book. A portable moleskin if you will. I enjoy writing and have some big projects on the go. I need something to capture ideas into at all hours of the day from here or there.

3. A GTD (Get Things Done) friendly task manager/organizer which my hp ipaq was not exactly (syncing was a royal pain with outlook and hid my apointments and tasks if I changed their labels etc) that can incorporate busy personal, parenting, and work life nicely. Also, since my iPaq fell out of my pocket and onto the floor the other week and the battery popped out causing it to completely lose everything I hadn't synced yet, I had considerably *less* love for it.

4. Something that can operate word/exel/ppt--as I also have a job and "work" to do. I also have a Mac PowerBook at work and an old IBM notebook at home that has served me well but is now quite an old man. It's a pain to sync between home life and work life, so I figure a good "laptop replacement" would help alleviate this dilemma as I'd just put all my calendar and task stuff on the mobile unit.

5. Phone cabability. Have an old dying phone. Need a new one.

6. Wifi capability b/c I don't feel like paying phone companies exhorbitant data prices. I only need a phone voice plan, data syncing and wifi.

7. GPS is bonus as I like to hike etc. Usually don't get lost around town.

Anyhow, I was pretty interesting to find the Shift, but it wouldn't be that practical to lug around in my purse compared to the HTC TyTn Kaiser or the Advantage. It would be doable, but to go biking, kayaking, hiking etc, would be quite a risk for a pricey piece of equipment. Just one summer of dusty camping wrecked havoc on the screen of my HP iPaq for instance.

I DID go and use up my Fido dollars to buy myself a bluetooth headset though, in anticipation of getting at least a decent smart phone with a decent screen, but I'm unfortunately STILL undecided as to which direction to take.

After reading almost all of this post, and thinking about it, although I like the tablet/VISTA and PDAish options, I do think that the Shift would be impractical as a hand held phone or GPS for "active types". It would be fine for car, more businessy, geeky sit in office time. So, I think it will have to be Advantage or Kaiser here.

Thanks to you "Athena" gurus for all your support. If I go Advantage I'll probably be bugging you, but I think I will wait until "mid January" as the tech dude from HTC advised me when I called them today asking about the Shift's phone capabilities. He sounded rather fishy on the phone, and wouldn't give me a straight answer, then went to talk to his sources, and then told me that I should check out HTC wiki as well as third party phone software forums, which is how I ended up here. And he aslo said I should wait until mid Jan. That makes me suspect that Oli and the other 'senior' people DO know what they are talking about here.

Nevertheless, I wouldn't want to waterlog or get dust and rain all over a pricey unit like the Shift. So, for phone/GPS/PDA functionality, I'll probably need a tighter, cheaper, or at least smaller, more dash about package, since although I usually just go from home to work, I have enough of an out and about life to probably need something smaller like leoni has suggested. The other option is to get a cheap old phone to switch the SIM card into if doing sporty stuff, but what's the point of having a sexy unit at home and cheapo ugly unit for the road?

So, if you are still reading, apologies for length, but I do have a question in the end. I'm seriously considering the x7501 vs the Kaiser or HTC Touch Cruise (would need to also get foldout keyboard) paired with something like the Samsung Q1 that would be more grounded. How practical is the 7501 be for toting around camping, biking etc? It seems doable, but have any of you actually dragged the thing around with you successfully? ie. If you want to just use it as a GPS if you go on a weekend hike, is your battery going to die on you?

Thanks for all your humourous banter and helpful advice. Will probably do more lurking and reading in next while. :cool: