mmendo1
Member
Registered: Jan 2001
Location:
Posts: 125 |
Ok, you have a couple of options. First couple involve using your phone. You can connect your phone using an IR connection or by purchasing a cable that will link the two devices. However, with an IR connection, you have to just about remain still and have the devices resting on a table so you can have a stable IR connection. The cable allows for a little bit more mobility but not that much more as trying to hold the PDA and the phone while on the move is not all that easy. The upside to these methods are that they are both relatively cheap (only possible costs would be a cable, and depending on your wireless phone service provider, a few extra bucks a month to enable data service, some do it for free, some require no additional data option). It should be noted that by using either of these options, you will not be able to use an external keyboard at the same time. Also, these combos give a rather slow connection speed of 9.6 kbps (some providers offer 14.4 but not many). Finally, either of these two options will give you access to the widest coverage area of any of the options I discuss in this post (especially if your service provider is on a CDMA network)
The next option is the visor phone. The visor phone can act as 14.4kbps modem but there are some drawbacks. First, its not all that easy to get the modem working with some ISPs. While some have had no problems, many have gotten very frustrated trying to set it up. In fact, Handspring, in an interview, said they deliberately marketed the module as a phone and not as a phone/modem combo because they knew the modem's capabilities were not up to par with the module's phone side. Also, the cost/service of the module might be an issue. You must have or activate GSM service. If you already have GSM service, you simply remove the smart card from your phone and place it inside the visor phone. However, this means you will have to pay $500 for the module. Buy the module with service and you're looking at a cool $300. Also, you may or may not have to activate data serive with your wireless phone service provider, as noted in the above paragraph. Also, something that has kept me away from the visor phone but haven't seen much discussion on is the fact that it is a single band only GSM phone, meaning you cannot access the north american cellular network which blankets the US for voice calls (data calls require a digital network such as GSM, I believe ??). Out of the three digital wireless standards that phones use in the US (CDMA, TDMA, and GSM), GSM by far has the least amount of coverage. So no GSM network, no use of phone or modem. However, if you tend to stay in one area that is covered by GSM, this may not be a problem. Also, the visor phone supposedly has very bad voice quality (a higher quality headset might improve performance though). Another issue is if the visor phone is your only wireless phone, if you have to take the module out of the visor for some reason, you cannot receive phone calls (although your voicemail will take the message). Finally, a plus to the visor phone (in addition to the obvious that you get to combine your phone and PDA into one device) is that if you need access to your corporate email, this option will give it to you because the modem acts as a regular dialup modem.
Last option is the Minstrel S wireless springboard modem with service from either Omnisky, YadaYada, or Go America. This is the option I chose. First, the good. You get wireless access at 19.2 kbps (faster than all the other options listed). Since the modem is a springboard, it makes it very easy to get info on the go w/o messing around with a lot of things (as opposed to the phone + visor IR/cable connections listed above). Its just nice to hit a few icons on the visor and be on the internet in 10 seconds w/o having to hassle with dialups, cables, IR connections, etc. Now the bad. Its a bit on the expensive side. Service is generally around $40/month with the modem having an inital cost of $200 - $300. However, signing an annual contract can significantly reduce the price of both service and modem depending on the provider you choose. Also, the network the modem uses is CDPD, which has limited, spotty coverage in many areas. However, if you live in an area with good coverage like I do (Washington, DC/ Baltimore area), this is not an issue as coverage is excellent. Also, depending on your corporate LAN, you may not be able to get access to your corporate email since the modem does not provide a dialup connection but rather a direct connection to the internet.
So as you can see, no option here is perfect. I suggest figuring out how much your willing to spend, checking coverage in your area, read some reviews, then make your decision. Good luck!
Marty
[Edited by mmendo1 on 02-06-2001 at 02:18 AM]
|
02-04-2001 10:22 PM
Email This Page to Someone! |
Receive updates to this thread
]