Fancy spending £500 on an electronic Filofax? Sounds like a bad deal? It is, but a surprising number of people invest in a personal digital assistant (PDA), either a Palm or Pocket PC-based computer, then use it as a notebook with a couple of extras thrown in.
Partly to get around this, Orange is offering to hook up people with PDAs to the internet with equipment they own, if possible. Otherwise, the mobile network operator is offering a deal on an iPaq 3870 PDA and Ericsson T39m mobile phone, includ ing a GPRS connection and Bluetooth communication between the devices. The shop assistants will set up a suitable email account and configure the devices so they work together immediately after it's charged up. The hardware will cost £499, with the Orange contract on top. If that sounds expensive, then bear in mind the iPaq by itself normally sells for £560 or more (from the link below and numerous online and retail outlets).
The joy of Bluetooth, the wireless network that glues the devices together, is that it gets around the need for a fiddly infrared connection. Mobile phones such as the Nokia 7110 have built-in modems and infrared connections that can communicate with all but the most basic PDAs, but in spite of claims made by manufacturers, infrared isn't the most robust communication for your equipment. If you have a flat surface and can keep reasonably still, then it's fine. But if you are stuck on a train, it can take a few attempts before you get all the emails waiting on your server. Bluetooth is a truer network and will keep the devices linked whether they are in different rooms or simply in your jacket pocket.
Email is certainly quicker through the system, although Orange's boast that the little box can also pick up the web requires a degree of selectivity about which sites you want to examine. Anything with too many graphics or objects will slow the system; I could order a book through Amazon but so many bits were download ing so slowly it became very frustrating.
Emails zip along, although under a GPRS contract you pay for the amount you download rather than the time you're on, so the speed won't bring the cost down.
Buying the top-of-the- range option isn't obligatory, although going back to anything else once you've tried it is nigh on impossible. PDAs with expansion slots can take a Bluetooth card that will come with the software, so as long as the phone and contract are Bluetooth and GPRS compliant, the performance will be the same. Bluetooth PCMCIA cards combined with a Bluetooth phone will likewise connect a laptop to the internet.
The infrared connection remains serviceable for GPRS and non-GPRS accounts on any mobile network, and most modern laptops will have an infrared port to allow this to happen, but looking at websites becomes incredibly slow. You are restricted to 9,600kbps with anything other than GPRS, which itself is slower than an ordinary modem connection.
It has been said that GPRS needs to become cheaper before it is any real use, and there is some justification for this, particularly for the casual user. But for those who can lose business by leaving the emails until they get back to the office, this package is well worth considering.
