Top 5 PDA-phones

By Jeremy Roche and Joseph Hanlon on 07 November 2008

update PDA-phones make life easier by combining the mobile organisational features of a personal digital assistant with the connectivity of a mobile phone.

Although it varies from model to model, input is generally through a QWERTY keypad or a touchscreen and stylus combo, either of which allows you to effortlessly write or type messages. Business users are usually attracted to push email capabilities of PDA-phones, where new inbox messages are transferred directly to the mobile device. To set up push e-mail, a Microsoft Exchange or BlackBerry Enterprise Server is usually required, although personal and other third-party solutions are available through network carriers.

The latest PDA-phones hitting the market support the now ubiquitous connectivity threesome of High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) and Wi-Fi for data transmission and an onboard GPS receiver for use with pre-installed mapping software, like Google Maps.

While PDA-phones can't compete with the processing power of a desktop PC, a high-speed connection combined with a zippy processor can keep workers productive when they're on the road — editing Office documents, catching up on email, taking photos on-site and sending them back to the office, watching a movie, etc.

Nokia E71 (Full Review, Specs, Images, Video, Where to Buy)

Mobile professionals who need a powerful but sleek messaging-centric smartphone will be well-served by the Nokia E71; just be prepared to pay a price.

Find the best Nokia E71 plans available.

Topics: treo, smartphone, blackberry, windows mobile, samsung, phone, pda, palm, nokia, mobile phone, dopod

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Comments (53)

  • D2K commented on 13/10/2009 16:03 Report abuse

    I use O2 from II-i series and now Atom Life. I love O2 very much..

  • Dinesh commented on 11/09/2009 23:09 Report abuse

    Hey all, does anyone have any opinions about the i-mate 9502?

  • dai abolical commented on 11/09/2009 05:11 Report abuse

    has anyone tried the sony ericsson x1 xperia, tried the toshiba tg01 today and gotta say it seemed pretty sharp, havent tried the call features on it but to be honest the win mobile 6 run really smoothly due to the 1gb processor. sweet

  • Ummi commented on 07/09/2009 13:03 Report abuse

    I used Qtek(Imate/O2XDA) for 6 years and love it very much. I never want to go back to non-pda phone. Recently my husband bought Samsung Omnia II for me and I would say it's excellent. Just like Qtek but with lots more features and great camera too. I really recommend it.

  • JohnS123456 commented on 31/08/2009 17:13 Report abuse

    I have to get a new phone - and want to incorporate the features of my PALM TX PDA, so that I don't need two devices.

    I am an Optus Mobiles customer.

    Any suggestions ?

  • hp Support commented on 16/08/2009 08:03 Report abuse

    n97,i have had a n97 for two weeks and found it a bad phone huge errors in design, to answer a call is to complex,or wake up the n97 does not wake up sometime, tied to apps you have to buy,as extras,lens scrached by lens cover installs dificult
    nokia trying to make money by restrictive software

  • matt blak commented on 11/08/2009 23:08 Report abuse

    I have had a Treo Pro for 12 months and it gets very good reception in most places and especially in country area's.

  • bf commented on 04/08/2009 22:56 Report abuse

    Does any one know if the Palm Treo Pro have good reception on the Next G network in regional areas?

  • AMC commented on 18/06/2009 11:45 Report abuse

    can someone tell me if Blackberry syncronises easily with Microsoft Outlook on PC. Currently have an old I MAte which was good as it worked off Windows Mobile but it has passed its use by date.Want to try a blackberry

  • dimples commented on 15/06/2009 22:37 Report abuse

    i have a celphone its called nokia n97 its cute and beautiful like me i can use it any where because im already 15 and i have a son named john michael anyway my cellphoneis sesitive if you're careless it can have a virus so advice be careful to where u put or hide cellphones specialy thoose who has pda or personal digital assastant

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