eMate, Newton, Palm, oh my!

[dricci]

I admit, I'm not too pda-wise. The only true PDA I ever owned was a Casio running some cheap Casio OS, which only synced to Windows. I sold that.

Anyways, I've been a Mac user for a long time.. And ever since my Performa 631CD came with that Newton Demo app, I've always wanted one. But here's the thing...

I want a PDA to do some organizing on but also to play with. Do I want to save up and get a Palm that'll be supported under OS X and has a wider variaty of apps for it, or do I want to get something that runs the Newton OS that not everyone has?

The eMate.. Wow.. that thing sure looks nice. I heard they're mostly for educational use, but it looks like they run the standard Newton OS 2.0.... And they just look so damn cool!

So here it goes..

Do I want to save up for a Palm? If so, which?

if else

Do I want to save up for a Newton or an eMate?
Newtons are kinda big.. eMates look cool.. I know a site that sells them refurbished for about $340.. maybe cheaper on eBay..

The Palms are garunteed to be supported, but anyone can have one. Newtons and eMates are rare, and look very cool.. but they're old and I'll have to launch Classic to run the sync software.

Can someone set me in the right direction?

Thanks for reading this long post!

[AdmiralAK]

OK this is my strictly very personal opinion

I have used both the Palm OS and the Newton OS.

Now here are a few things to consider:

Palm:
1) No *true* handwriting recognition, you need to learn graffiti (which to me is something like chickenscratch )
2) Small!
3) It's good as a PIM (personal info manager). So if you want something just to hold contacts, addresses and dates, the palm is good.
4) Personally I find the Palm Limiting and stupid


Newton:
emate:
1) Dont get it if you want something portable.Its the size of a mini laptop

Now there are 2 choices:
1) Newton 2100 (what I have)
2) Newton 130 (My old newton...sort of)

The newton OS has:
1) True handwritting recognition (other can attest to that)
2) Mac & PC syncing
3) 1 or 2 PCMCIA expansions (depending on the model)
4) Has PIM function and can be expanded through public domain software
5) There is a huge newton community out there.
6) Its expandable! It has ethernet cards, modems, PCMCIA memory and so on available for it.
7) Its old but it has a web browser, mail, ftp, WAP, newsgroup and PErsonal Web Sharing apps for it

THe newton is teh size of a real life paperback agenda though. So the size might come into consideration.

I bought my Newton 2100 for about $300 USD on ebay. I had gotten the 120 (130 without backlight) on ebay for about $80.

It all comes down to personal choice. Even though the newton is bigger than the palm I would not trade it. I find it more functional.

Hope this helps :-)

Admiral

[EmpireCityRay]

My Newton 120 still kicks though it might use a new spring in its stylus or just a new stylus period Nevertheless it captures one's handwriting so great. I recall the eMate and how it was targeted and promoted as a Newton mixed in a labtop fashion, it really was neat too -ah the good ole' days, hehehe

[dougk_ff7]

If you want a Newton, I think Tima Scientific has a few Newton 120s left, and they aren't bad. The Newton 120 doesn't have many features, except all the ones from Tima Scientific have Newton OS 2.0. Ok, that's about all, I will say... Also, Tima sells eMate 300s for $250

[dricci]

Thanks for your input, everyone!

I may wait off on getting any PDAs for now, although I'm sure it'll never be a PocketPC. The Palms may be more reasonable for my use, although I may go for an eMate to bring a smile to my desk A newton would probably be nice for carying around a PDA, but I don't know if I need to cary a PDA yet. Maybe an eMate for the desk, and a palm for my palm ? hehe