worth it?

[liverabbit]

i'm considering gettin one, but are they worth it?
because they cost a lot, and i don't want to go waste money...
i could buy a laptop instead!
so is it worth spending the money on one?

[crystalgeyser2]

Well that all depends on if you're planing on using PDA programs on a daily or weekly basis.

Here are the pro's and con's of using a PDA

Pro's
PDA's are light-weight and very portable.
Free programs are very easy to get.
Start menu items are fairly customizable

Con's
Very easy for someone to steal.
Gets warm and sometimes hot!
Battery life *****.
Using Bluetooth or WiFi drains the battery very fast.
Not very easy to type or input characters.
If you're using a PocketPC, once your battery is drained, all your programs are erased.
You can't upgrade hardware such as RAM, ROM or the screen.
Cost about half as much as a decent laptop.
The fastest processor for PDA's is only 400MHz.

As you can see, the cons out-weight the pro's. If you really have that much disposable income, I'd say buy one. Otherwise, don't waste your money.
PDA's are mostly for businessmen, doctors, lawyers, etc. They're not designed for the average Joe. Take it from me, I have a desktop PC, Laptop, PocketPC, Sony Clie (Palm), and a Smartphone. The only one I use on a daily basis is the smartphone.
Don't buy a palm or pocketpc, get a smartphone. It's far more flexible than any device, besides I you can download the app's and games I posted . If you need to type or use internet, then go ahead and buy a laptop. They're very cheap these days. Especially the Dell's and HP's back to school sales.

[liverabbit]

thanks crystalgeyser2, very helpful.
well i don't have that much disposable income so yea i think i'll give a pda a miss and go for a smartphone or a laptop, i'll do some research and think about it..