Toshiba e310 Pocket PC

Rating:
Summary: Great PDA
Review: This PDA has been a faithful friend for over two years. I never thought I would keep a PDA for two years. Technology moves so fast, but this has kept up. It syncs my email & contacts easily so that I can refer to them on the road. It also syncs top news stories from the internet, that is fun. The display is great, easy to read, and has withstood the test of time. And with Pocket PC it is very intuitive and easy to use. The battery keeps its charge for several days. (Which is good because I forget to cradle it sometimes.) The only problem is when you let the battery die completely you have to go through the set up routine. But that hasn't happened to me in over a year now. I might get a new one just because I want wireless internet capability. But they have come out with a SD compatible wireless card. So when I first got this wireless was not an option. Now it is. Great!

Rating:
Summary: Some problems to consider
Review: I've had an i-310 for over two years now and although I like it and it preforms well for my use (mainly calander and contacts) I've found several problems. These may be inherent in all PDAs, I don't know.
First it interferes with my computer if I leave it connected all the time. I usually put in on the cradle to sync once a day, and then cradle it in the evening after shutting down my computer to charge the unit.
Second, the unit loses it's ablility to turn off manually. It still shuts off automatically, but you can't physically turn it off. This continues to happen, even though I have downloaded the software updates. The main issue this cause is battery use.
Third some of the buttons are sloppy. You push them once and they click twice, so can't use the button short cuts and have to use the stylist all the time.
Fourth, and this is the biggests for me, is the battery is wearing out. You can only get a new battery by sending it back to Toshiba. They quoted me today a price of $120-$170. So you might as well consider this a disposable unit that will last about 2.5 years. This is a big issue, because if you aren't careful this can screw up your info on your PC, and you will also have to resync (no big deal) and re-download all updates if you get it repaired.
If you have the budget I would highly recommend buying a unit with a replaceable battery.