subnotebooks: better than PDA for me?

[VJ]

Hello!

As some of you might know, I'm on the lookout for a PDA... and I have been for quite a while. This is my current configuration and their uses:

• Psion 5mx: Agenda, Contacts, Text editor (plain text to edit LaTeX files), Calculator (HP48), Mail client (but the mail software doesn't support IMAP over SSL, so I must use an SSH terminal: not convenient).
• Nokia 6260: Agenda, Contacts, mail (native support for IMAP over SSL), web (faster rendering than Psion)

Both the Psion and the 6260 are synchronized with a PC, so they hold the same data for Agenda and Contacts. When I'm not at a PC, I have to synchronize them manually (send items I have changed from one device to the other).

Initially, I thought about replacing the Psion with a more recent PDA (some Windows Mobile device), but considering my demands (which have changed since first getting the 5mx, another reason to upgrade), I'm wondering if I'm not better off with going for a subnotebook and optimizing the 6260 for portability. Here is what I'd like to do with the 5mx replacement:

1. flight planning & navigation (private aviation, also inflight in combination with a GPS)
2. advanced LaTeX editing (compiling files + previewing)
3. email, web, fax
4. presentation (projector)

The requirements are

1. keyboard
2. vga/video out
3. synchronisation capability with mobile (so I don't need to go via PC)
4. full support of my mail protocols
5. reading/writing CF cards and USB mass storage would be interesting

When I look at the existing PDAs, the main problems are the editing (keyboard - bluetooth keyboard isn't easy without a table, software), vga/video out, synchronizing with the phone and the CF/USB thing. Consequently, I have been looking at devices such as the upcoming new Flybook, the Fujitsu-Siemens P1510D and the IBM X41 Tablet.

For pure mobility, I can only carry the 6260, and have agenda, contacts, mail, web and fax. If I need to do more, I take both, which yields me much more options. It is less portable though... (I immediately admit that I don't always carry the 5mx due to its size, and when I carry a bag (no, not a manbag ), I don't see a big difference between putting a 5mx inside or a subnotebook)

Now, my first question is: how good would a subnotebook + Nokia 6260 be at replacing a high end PDA? (perhaps it could also read: what use is a high PDA - for my purpose - considering I don't have a laptop but I do have a smartphone?) Am I perhaps overlooking some obvious disadvantage in the above 6260+subnotebook scenario?

Any comments regarding working with subnotebooks? Things to look out for?

Of the above, the Flybook has the best featureset, but does anyone here have experience with it?
The first flybook has been on the market almost a year, and seems to get good reviews, as do the other two. The Fujitso lacks PCMCIA (which I find a downside for any portable), and the IBM is bigger in size (but has 12" screen instead of an 8.9" for the other).

Thanks!


Jörg

[lecter]

Well, if you can afford a subnotebook and already have a smartphone, by all means go for it, in this case a PDA is not for you.

I don't think you'd need a PCMCIA slot, the IBM is pretty big and the Flybook is made by (in my opinion) a manufacturer with much less tradition and experience, and it would make you pay for mobile WAN features which you probably wouldn't use since you surely carry your phone with you at all times. So, go for the Fujitsu

[VJ]

Well, I feel the PCMCIA is interesting for a number or reasons:

• reading CF cards: I have a PCMCIA adapter. This would also allow me to use my CF cards as a safer(?), removable medium for data storage
• future expansion (e.g. Wifi 802.11a - to do this via USB feels like a hassle)

While I'm typed this, it just hit me: the Fujitsu does have 802.11a built in and has both a CF and an SD slot. So this does make the lack of PCMCIA less of an issue (but perhaps if I want to add firewire... ).

As for the WAN features: yes, it is possible to use my phone as GPRS modem over bluetooth for this purpose (at least theoretically, I haven't succeeded in doing this from my desktop).


Jörg

[VJ]

Hmm, small problem: the Fujitsu-Siemens P1510 appears difficult to purchase in Belgium... My dealer is currently inquiring Siemens, as the normal information channels don't provide much info for this model.


Jörg