1. What PDA and/or mobile phone do you use today? Lg8300

2. Are you locked into a mobile carrier (i.e. Verizon Wireless, Sprint PCS, etc.), or do you prefer a particular carrier? Do you know if one carrier has better coverage in places that you need to be? (PLEASE SEE THE CARRIER NOTE BELOW)Yes Verizon

3. Where are you based? Do you stay in one place or travel a lot? Do you travel internationally... how much and where? Do you intend to use your PDAPhone there?Arizona

4. Do have a preference of Palm, Pocket PC, Symbian, Smartphone OS, Blackberry, etc.?No

5. Are you likely to run it the way it came out of the box, or do you intend to load a whole lot of extra applications and stuff on it? Do you know of anything now that you will need to run?Out of box

6. How important is wireless data access, and for what would you use it? (i.e. Web browsing, VPN, Remote termnial Access, Instant messaging, etc)?Would like web brosing

7. Will you need to view Microsoft Office documents on the PDAPhone? Will you need to edit them?no

8. Will you need access to an email system?Help??
a)Is it corporate (Exchange, Groupwise,Lotus, Other?) What Version? Do you want email wirelessly or do you want to do it in the office with a sync cable/cradle? Can you get your Corporate email configured for mobile access or do you need to run a desktop redirector?
b)Is it Pop3/Imap? Who is the service provider?

9. Do you do SMS messaging a lot (telephone to telephone messaging)? No

10. Do you want to use a GPS with the PDAPhone for mapping and navigation? Yes

11. What is your size preference.. very close to the smallest cellphone, or you don’t care.. function over size? small but phone # buttons easy to use

12. How will you carry it... pocket, belt, purse, etc.? Purse

13. Do you prefer a particular form factor… flip-phone, candy bar, etc? No preference

14. Do you prefer a QWERTY keyboard, numeric dial-pad, or stylus?No prefernce

15. Do you want to play a lot of video games on the PDAPhone? What kinds - puzzles, strategy, action adventure, etc.? none

16. Do you want to listen to music on the PDAPhone? What kind... mp3, streamed, etc.? Yes Have I-pod would like to replace so all in one deivice.

17. Do you want a camera on the PDAPhone? yes

18. Do you have any other hardware you intend to use with the PDAPhone? Do you intend to use any Bluetooth devices? What types of devices? no


19. What kind of battery life do you need?(Always near a charger, battery life is not an issue or Need the battery to last several days) charge everyday How many hours do you expect to spend talking on the phone? 2 hours How many hours of data?(Web browsing, push email, VPN, IM etc) 1 or 2 hours

20. What are your budget limits (PDAPhones range in price from below $100 for older used models to nearly $1000 for high end models without a carrier subisidy)? $200 or less


After you post your answers, we will do our best to help you pick the right PDAPhone. This is a shortcut to doing the research at PDAPhoneHome to find all the details. Obviously, we are not responsible if you are not happy with the PDAPhone we recommend, so don't come back and shoot us if it doesn't work out. We are just trying to help!

The answers here are from our team of volunteers, so sometimes it takes a few days for us to get an answer in. In some cases, this is because we are doing some research, and in others we just haven't gotten to it. Be patient, we will answer everyone that has posted answers to these questions.

Most of our support team is US based, so our best information will be available for US carriers. But our total user base is global, and in most cases, other members of PDAPhoneHome will jump in and help if you are posting about another country.

The more information you can provide, the better we will be able to give an opinion.

CARRIER NOTE - Many people ask us to recommend a carrier. It is nearly impossible for someone on a forum to give a credible recommendation for a carrier to you. The reason is that coverage varies widely from one mile to the next. It is best to talk with your friends about what carrier they have, and what kind of coverage and satisfaction they have with it. Some things to consider when speaking with them are what carrier they use, where exactly it DOESN'T work well, where it doesn't work at all (dead spots), how many bars they get in places that would be heavily used by you, what kind of customer service they receive, where they bought their phone. Given this information, you can make an informed decision where YOU will get the best coverage. Don't listen to anyone on a forum about carrier preference as it is completely useless information unless they know exactly where you live and work.

1. What PDA and/or mobile phone do you use today? - IPAQ 6315

2. Are you locked into a mobile carrier (i.e. Verizon Wireless, Sprint PCS, etc.), or do you prefer a particular carrier? Do you know if one carrier has better coverage in places that you need to be? (PLEASE SEE THE CARRIER NOTE BELOW) - TMobile, but will change for the perfect unit

3. Where are you based? Do you stay in one place or travel a lot? Do you travel internationally... how much and where? Do you intend to use your PDAPhone there? - Based in CA, travel throughout the US a few times a year. Not sold on using the PDA as a phone. With my IPAQ 6315, I used a secondary phone but it was not a comfortable phone for me.

4. Do have a preference of Palm, Pocket PC, Symbian, Smartphone OS, Blackberry, etc.? - - Pocket PC/Windows Mobile

5. Are you likely to run it the way it came out of the box, or do you intend to load a whole lot of extra applications and stuff on it? Do you know of anything now that you will need to run? - - Will load apps but nothing specific comes to mind.

6. How important is wireless data access, and for what would you use it? (i.e. Web browsing, VPN, Remote termnial Access, Instant messaging, etc)? -- definitely web browsing, IMs on AIM, Yahoo, ICQ & MSN - likely simultaneously.

7. Will you need to view Microsoft Office documents on the PDAPhone? Will you need to edit them? - - Possibly but not imperative.

8. Will you need access to an email system? Yes, non-corporate. AOL and other Pop3/Imap.
a)Is it corporate (Exchange, Groupwise,Lotus, Other?) What Version? Do you want email wirelessly or do you want to do it in the office with a sync cable/cradle? - - Preferably wireless.
Can you get your Corporate email configured for mobile access or do you need to run a desktop redirector? n/a
b)Is it Pop3/Imap? Who is the service provider?

9. Do you do SMS messaging a lot (telephone to telephone messaging)? Yes, a lot.

10. Do you want to use a GPS with the PDAPhone for mapping and navigation? Would be nice but not a deal breaker.

11. What is your size preference.. very close to the smallest cellphone, or you don’t care.. function over size? -- Prefer function over size. Prefer larger screen. Due to joint problems, I really need a stylus and handwriting recognition.

12. How will you carry it... pocket, belt, purse, etc.? - - Purse

13. Do you prefer a particular form factor… flip-phone, candy bar, etc? - - No preference

14. Do you prefer a QWERTY keyboard, numeric dial-pad, or stylus? - - Definitely stylus.

15. Do you want to play a lot of video games on the PDAPhone? What kinds - puzzles, strategy, action adventure, etc.? Definitely games. Puzzles, cards, casino. That kind of thing.

16. Do you want to listen to music on the PDAPhone? What kind... mp3, streamed, etc.? Unless the sound can rival my ipod, it isn't necessary.

17. Do you want a camera on the PDAPhone? Preferred but not mandatory.

18. Do you have any other hardware you intend to use with the PDAPhone? Do you intend to use any Bluetooth devices? What types of devices? -- Bluetooth headset, wireless printing.

19. What kind of battery life do you need?(Always near a charger, battery life is not an issue or Need the battery to last several days) charge everyday How many hours do you expect to spend talking on the phone? 2 hours How many hours of data?(Web browsing, push email, VPN, IM etc) -- Battery issue is important as I IM and email a lot. Will likely not use as phone often if at all. Wifi is important. The unit will be busy and I may not be able to charge it as often as I'd like. So, a heavy duty battery would be helpful.

20. What are your budget limits (PDAPhones range in price from below $100 for older used models to nearly $1000 for high end models without a carrier subisidy)? - - $400 - $600. May consider more if the unit will live a few years

Notes - I would rather have "more" than "less". I hate spending good money on things and suffer through regrets. I'd like to have expandable memory, if possible and it would be great to be able to assign buttons as I did with my other unit.

Thanks so much for your help!