Why is there not a really good PDA Phone?

Well, it is clearly the Democrat's fault. They prevent everything. Oh, maybe this should be moved to a different section...

 

Here's the reason:

but in all honesty, the problem comes down to trying to fit so much into such a small space. It is really difficult to give all the features people generally want without a huge footprint.

I'd say more importantly than the specs you've listed above are the typical use cases you expect with the smart phone. Do you expect to use the calendar a lot? Open/edit Word/Excel/Power Point files a lot? Browse the internet a lot? Use it for mobile entertainment (music/movies)? check e-mail with it constantly? Get driving directions?

Limiting yourself to Windows OS cuts out a lot of great phones, IMO. For example, the iPhone has (from your spec req's):

620mhz cpu
16GB ROM
128MB RAM
2 MP Camera
No GPS currently, expected in G2 this summer
Full keyboard
high capacity storage (read 16GB ROM above)
802.11 b/g (maybe N with G2 this summer)
Bluetooth (works great with my Prius)
Usable in the US and Europe

It's compatible with Mac and Windows, and the iTunes store is one of the biggest around for both music and video. The 2.0 software and gen 2 being released this summer are sure to bring some marked improvements. The screen is huge and amazing to look at. I wouldn't throw this one out the window just because it's not Windows. I'd carefully look at your use case and what you want to do with it, and see if the iPhone does everything you want (or at least if Gen 2 will).

 

Rumor is that the next iPhone will include GPS. IIRC, the current one will triangulate your position based on cell tower locations. I don't own one though, I'm not a big phone user.

I'm waiting until the hands free requirement takes affect in June (? maybe July?) in California, so I can use my hands free phone to call the CHP and report the other a-holes who are trying to text message while driving.

 

Dump the Windows OS requirement. Windows is hardly a top choice for full computers, let alone a light-weight embedded system. Microsoft has produced some good software along with the bad, but no one ever accused them of making software lean and mean. On the contrary, Microsoft is usually associated with bloat-ware.

Tom

 

My only response to that is to ask what apps, in particular, are you planning on using? If there are some very specific apps you want to use, then yeah, you'll probably be tied to whatever OS those apps run on. If instead you're looking for all the "standard" smart phone apps (e-mail, browser, calendar, note pad, etc) then you really won't be tied to a particular OS. I don't want o try to pressure you into anything, but i think it's at least worth considering other platforms. Heck, go into an Apple store and just play with an iPhone for 15 minutes... the sexiness and usability of the phone is far better than any other smartphone i've seen.

 

iPhone triangulation is more than fine for the GPS requirement. It'll map out where you are at and want to go using google maps, and unless your a complete fool, giving you a good sized circle of the area you're currently in should be just fine.

 

I love my iPhone.

My Treo was ok but was huge and crashed daily and never synced well with my computer and the browsing sucked.

I absolutely LOVED by Blackberry but it was huge, didn't sync well and didn't take pics and the browsing sucked.

I'm smitten by the iPhone. I miss expandable storage and external keys, but the sync is spot on, size is perfect and the browsing is stellar.

 

Check this one out. . . Hands-on with the HTC Touch Diamond | Crave : The gadget blog


Wildkow

 

Don't Rule out the iPhone

I've had Windows/Palm and other system based PDA/phone combinations and I love my iPhone.
Think about how your Prius compares to the SUV you've been driving and you'll see my point about the iPhone.

 

Hmm.. how about the Symbian OS?

I am currently using my Nokia N81, and my brother uses his Nokia N95, both are Symbian OS phones. His N95 comes with GPS, and both phones have wireless lan 802.11 and bluetooth. I often surf web with the phone, camera is a reasonable 2mp (lousy compared to my Sony Ericcson K800), and i put in a 8gb micro SD card and now have more space than i can think of using. Small Videos on my N81 is fine, but large videos can get a bit stuttery.

Best thing of all? the N81 is also the new N-gage, and can play N-gage games. Excellent Audio quality especially when hooked with a normal earphones.

There is no keyboard though... you need to key in text with the normal keypad.

 

I've been an HTC/Pocket PC user for about three years. My advice? Get a pay-as-you-go plan until June if you need a phone now, then consider a v2 iPhone.

The state of Windows Mobile is immature, and I don't think it's the hardware. Windows Mobile can be a bit unstable and slow. I have to reboot my phone to clear out the errors at least once a day (a ubiquitous problem with WM PDA phones), and the Windows Mobile version of IE is lackluster as a web browser.

The big advantages to a Windows Mobile phone are:

1. Direct Push email, so you get a notification from Exchange instantly upon receiving email.
2. Better integration with Outlook (though ActiveSync/Mobile Device Center only works about 50% of the time).
3. Hands down, the best voice recognition and text-to-speech technology out there in the form of "Voice Command" (which some phone companies actually disable as a feature for some insane reason).

The iPhone is more usable/stable/useful as a web browser, media device and the iPhone v2 is rumored to be coming in June. It's also rumored to have GPS (which will be awesome given their outstanding Google Maps interface), 3G, and seeing as Apple is starting to realize the iPhone appeals to business users as well as the casual consumer, I wouldn't be surprised if we see some better integration with email servers.

Oh, and did I mention the buzz is that it will be $200 with a two-year contract?

Actually, come to think of it, the iPhone sucks. You should take my phone. If you're willing to take over the 1 1/2 years left of my contract in June, I'll give you a Windows Mobile 6 HTC 8525, an awesome swivel holster and a 1 GB (I think) microSD card for free. Normally, I think all that stuff originally cost $400 or so even with the contract.

Oh, and that's a serious offer to anyone out there if the price and feature set of the v2 iPhone lives up to the rumors because I'd ditch my phone and defect to Apple if that's the case.

 

One thing to note from your list - the iPhone software roadmap Jobs & Co announced a while back (Apple - QuickTime - Apple March 6 Event) includes ActiveSync an exchange server support with V2 of the iPhone OS. They also have push e-mail through outlook and .Mac accounts.

The one thing the iPhone really is missing is voice command, and i haven't hear any rumors about implementing that

 

I heard that the Second version of the iPhone will be out June 15 - it will have 3rd generation internet connectivity, a large HD, etc.

Also under the understanding Verizon Wireless is going to open their network to ALL phones. They will not support those phones technically that they do not sponsor directly. So - i will probably end up getting the new iPhone this summer when i can connect it to Verizon Wireless.

I too am suffering with my PDA (Treo 700P) waiting and waiting.

 

More like alleged support. Every Windows mobile PDA or phone I've owned had a lot of promise. However, getting the functionality to work, reliably, is nearly impossible.

My iPhone does not promise as much. But it does the things it promises, flawlessly. There is no Windows mobile phone that synchronizes with iTunes. Personally, that disqualifies windows mobile for me.

As mentioned previously, the soon to be released new iPhone is rumored to have GPS.

 

According to this:
Streaming Live video to Iphone - iPhone | iPod Touch forums

...the iPhone doesn't support streaming wmv.

If you take over my contract and get the free PDA phone, I have a copy of Voice Command I can throw in also!