pda in paris
 

by wifi at mcdo
PDA in Paris
Salut Robespierre. Merci beaucoup mon ami. Une verre de vin rouge a vous.
I leapt in and bought into the PDA thing whole hog before this trip. My kids laughed at me -'you will never use it; Dad and his toys'. Wrong kids.
This thing has been great. In 3 days so far:
- listened to my music (MP3 format) in the airport and on the plane
- played games (solitaire and Dell's Jawbreaker) in the airport and on the plane
- read from a downloaded book 'Madame Bovary' in French (fun but a little ambitious for my command of the language)
- consulted a downloaded French-English dictionary
- used, many times already, my free Metro program - this little baby is amazing - to tell me which Metro (or bus or RER) line to take, where to change trains. If you have taken the Paris Metro you know the value of this program
- consulted my downloaded Paris notes - most from you great people at this forum. Restaurant suggestions, sights to see, etc. etc etc
- checked my calendar and notes for my itinerary, and contacts list for addresses and phone numbers(I also have downloaded copies of my confirmations and car rental agreement)
- used my purchased iFodors Paris program. This one has been much better than I first thought. The map of Paris (zoomable) works well. We have also used the routing function - just type in your location and destination and a detailed (detailed to the number of feet for each part of the route) is given. The guide also gives you a brief synopsis of sights, restaurant, etc. (no Fodors aren't paying me for this testimonial)
- followed the Passages Walk that I copied
- consulted my Patricia Wells Menu Reader
- wrote my journal and trip reports in Word
As yet I have not found a WiFi sight to access the internet or used the GPS program
Unexpected use - when BA wanted a hotel address for our lost luggage, I pulled it up from my notes

Robjame; which one did you get? I'm thinking of buying one too. Sounds like a good purchase for a traveler!

<i>Le balon, s.v.p.</i> Glad you're enjoying it.

Did you know that if you are reading a foreign-language e-book in Microsoft Reader (and you have a dictionary of that language loaded), you can touch a word and its translation will pop up?

<i>Sant&eacute;!</i>

I have an IPAQ 3715, I love it. It does all the stuff robjame mentions - and email &amp; surf web from hotspots - plus, it takes pictures.

And here I thought this was going to be about public displays of affection and whether they were appropriate in Paris.

Are you kidding? The sight of <i>les amoureux</i> was <u>invented</u> in Paris ;)

I have a Dell Axim x50v and it is more than I need or can use. I accessed the WiFi at McDoo (free) with it to post the message above.

Where did you get the free Metro software? We'd love to have it for our trip later this month...

Robespierre is the guru
Try
http://www.freewareppc.com/travel/metro.shtml

The very latest version (and a free update notification service) is at <b>http://nanika.net/metro</b>

I made the leap 2 months ago and now use the Blackberry 7100. Broke out my laptop very rarely last trip to London and will carry only this device when go Spain, France, Germany in June/July

While guess this is not exactly a PDA, it has everything I can imagine needing and quick access to everything else I might not think of. WiFi is so iffy, as learned the hard way, so very liberating to not need any sort of connections. Also love can use the same phone in US and Europe. It took a little practice to master typing on such a teeny keyboard but now used to it. Don't know why I waited so long!

PS: Thanks, Robespierre, for one more great link for my file.

I know I am going to catch hell for this one but what is a PDA. Is it a Palm Pilot?

<b>P</b>ersonal <b>D</b>igital <b>A</b>ssistant.

They started out about 5 years ago being handheld electronic phone book/scheduler-calendar/note pads. But in the last few years, they've turned into full-featured palm-sized computers. In addition to the classic PDA functions, they are also cell phones and wireless internet terminals. There are two operating systems, Palm OS and Windows CE, and most applications can be had in both flavors.

Google <b>pda</b> for 138 million articles about them.

I have a Tapwave Zodiac and love it- the screen is huge- have the metro program loaded in, as well as Fodor's, also the Rough Guide interactive map of Paris- all my notes on WordSmith- tons of books from eReader, and In-Flight French on the MP3.
Not to mention address book, lots of family photos, my favorite music, my calendar, an alarm clock, my recipe file, audio books, Mah Jongg, Solitaire, pinball, bowling, mini golf and Scrabble. It's got BlueTooth, and soon will be WiFi capable when the card arrives from Amazon. I'm so in love with this thing- misplaced it under the seat of the car yesterday and almost had to go to what we call in the south the Nervous Hospital.
I'm trying to figure out how to program it to massage my feet.

RobesPierre - thanks. I will read up on it. It's something I would like and sounds like so much more than just a palm pilot.

Another use - used the tape recorder to catch a minute of the noon day music in sacre coeur

Do any of the following products have an edge over the others, or a drawback?
If I got one, I'd mostly use it for internet connection, email, trip documents, maps... not so much for music/video/photo and don't care about a built-in camera. As a new user, would the iPAQ1955 suffice, or would I really need to pay for the extra memory/speed..?
Anything remarkably different or better between IPAQ and AXIM?

&lt;&gt;installed rom / speed / OS /mfg price
HP IPAQ RX1955
- 64mb 300mhz W-Mobile 5 $299.99
HP IPAQ HX2495
- 128mb 520mhz W-Mobile 5 $399.99
DELL Axim X51v
- 128mb 520mhz W-Mobile 5 $339.99@ on sale (normally $399)

Thank for your experience / input..

Hi Travel,
Mine, that I reported about, is a Dell 50v - probably 1 generation before the one you have listed. I bought the best - most memory - that they were offering at the time. It did and continues to do all those things that I listed above and I am very happy with it. I added an additional battery, rhino (hard aluminum) case, GPS plugin. I would certainly recommend extra battery, hard case, an easy travelling battery charge system. Good luck.
Bob

The thing that I get the most utility out of is the memory expansion capability.

I use a Pharos GPS that plugs into the CompactFlash (CF) socket, and simultaneously I have auxiliary memory in the Secure Digital (SD) slot.

Each SD card I carry is for different purposes, <i>e.g.</i>, in-flight (music, books, games), navigating and sightseeing (M&eacute;tro, pdf maps, Rough Guides and Fodor's threads), navigating on the road (Michelin Maps and Route Planning, AutoRoute) or flying (PocketFMS, Pocket METAR), and so on.

I don't think CPU speed or even onboard memory is nearly as important as &quot;how many places you can plug things in.&quot;

Oh, yeah. Some of the iPAQ features are nice - like a USB stand that charges both batteries simultaneously. That way I can head out with a full charge and a spare. Some PPCs don't even provide for changing batteries without tools.