My company recently banned camera phones/pda's. So I'm shopping for a cell phone/pda which I can sync to my lotus notes calender and address books.

1. What PDA and/or mobile phone do I use today?
Sony t616 mobile
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?
Cingular is current provided, but open to others.
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?
Mostly one place. Prefer National Coverage due to work travel.
4. Do have a preference of Palm, Pocket PC, Symbian, Smartphone OS, Blackberry, etc.?
no preference
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?
run out of box.
6. How important is wireless data access, and what would you use it for (i.e. web browsing, email, remote terminal access, AOL Instant Messenger, etc.)?
somewhat important
7. Will you need to view Microsoft Office documents on the pdaPhone? Will you need to edit them?
not necessary , but a nice feature to have
8. Will you need to access a corporate email system? Will you do this while in a cradle (or via a sync cable), or do you need to do this while you are out of your office?
mostly sync cable
9. Do you do SMS messaging a lot (telephone to telephone messaging)?
none
10. Do you need a GPS for mapping and navigation?
none
11. What is your size preference.. very close to the smallest cellphone, or you don’t care.. function over size?
don't care, smaller the better
12. How will you carry it... pocket, belt, purse, etc.?
belt
13. Do you prefer a particular form factor… flip-phone, candy bar, etc?
prefer flip, but bar is also OK
14. Do you prefer a QWERTY keyboard, numeric dial-pad, or stylus?
needs dedicated dial pad.
15. Do you want to play a lot of video games on the pdaPhone? What kinds - puzzles, strategy, action adventure, etc.?
not really
16. Do you want to listen to music on the pdaPhone? What kind... mp3, streamed, etc.?
not really
17. 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 a must
18. 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)?
prefer to spend less than $500

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JKH

You are going to need an add-on software app like Lotus Easysync to get things to Lotus Notes. I use Easysync and it works pretty good, but there are others.

A device without a camera.... hmmmm.... you didn't have a lot of requirements that pushed a particular device over the other.

Go with the SX66 at Cingular. It is an awesome device... Bluetooth, WiFi, GPRS, and slide out keyboard... and no camera. Not sure if you can get it in your price range, but you should with a contract. It doesn't have a dedicated dialpad though.

If that doesn't meet your fancy, then you should checkout the Smartphone OS devices... Motorola and others... I'm not as current on which of those have Bluetooth and no camera.

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Mike - Been Converged?