What accessories should I get?

[Weazelll]

Three days ago I was thinking I'd buy a used Jornada 568. Two days ago I was thinking about a Toshiba e740. Now I'm convinced that an Axim Advanced is the way to go.

I'm about ready to order but I'm wondering what accessories I should order with it - if any? I'm considering an extra battery and screen protectors but am I wasting my money? What do you think is essential?

Thanks for the insight!

Peter

[imported_Covert]

I opted for the cradle (which most people think comes standard with the Advanced, but it is possible to order an Advanced without the cradle). I would definitely recommend getting a screen protector, but not from Dell. Get the G2 screen protectors or WriteRights. I'd recommend getting a storage card too - at least 64 MB, SD or CF.

You probably won't need an extra battery, since the Axim can go quite a few hours on a single charge.

[TheNewSteve]

The Screen Protectors are a must- i recommend WriteShields, although I've heard the BoxWave are of similar quality and you can purchase them in singles (WriteShields come in 3 packs).

With all the media and such that you can play with on the axim (you can rip dvds into .avi and play them in pocketdivx, play .mp3s, .wmas, .oggs, etc), you will likely want some more memory than the axim comes loaded with (kind of interesting sidenote, the new toshiba model has 128MB built in, although i've read that for all of it's other cool features- small size, removable battery, built in wifi, dual slots like the axim, now it has a nicer screen like the axim, it's small- the battery life is awful, especially with the built in wifi- some wifi cards use MUCH less power than the built in one it has). I have a 256MB SD card right now. It's full of songs and stuff mostly. It's a good idea to use the SD drive for memory even though it's a little more expensive than CF memory, because the other peripheral accessories (wifi, bluetooth, etc) use the compactflash slot. so if you want to listen to music while on AIM, the SD drive is a good place to keep it (the axim also has about 19MB of built in storage you can use in addition to the RAM), a 256MB SD is nice, the 512SD is even cushier. Hopefully before the end of the month i will be able to take advantage of the special amazon.com has going on 1gig CF cards, $234-$50rebate=$184).

I have the extra battery as well, it's good to have when you're low on juice and don't want to sit by the outlet or if you're on a trip or long pda day (or use wifi or overclocking, which will use extra juice).

i also ordered an extra ac adapter. before you do this, know that they don't tell you that the cradle has an identical unit that plugs into the back of the cradle. so if you want to charge in 2 places (bedside table, desk, or office), then that's fine, but if you just want to charge it at your desk with the case on, you can take the power cord out of the cradle and plug it directly into the bottom of your axim. also, i'd consider getting a usb charge/sync cable if you're big in the case. i will say the cradle charges really fast and can charge the extra battery at the same time, so make sure you get the cradle if you spring for the extra battery.

get some earbuds or headphones for music.

get a case... i feel much better about the axim now that it's in a case ( http://www.senacases.com ). i also just bought a Piel Frama case ( http://www.pielframa.com ) from a guy as part of a bundle, the big difference between the two (besides one being black and the other tan) is that the PF case has a cutout for the CF slot. Not a big deal for memory cards, since you'd probably have the flap open when dealing with them, but wifi and most bluetooth cards have a protruding antenna. so you can at least close the case with these. you can't really turn the wifi card off without pulling it out, but for bluetooth it'd be nice.

wifi cf cards are nifty. many coffeehouses have free wifi (all of them are free here in nashville except starbucks), one of my teachers is putting up an access point in the music building, so it should work for the whole building and atrium where we hang out outside, and i got a wifi router (which also let me not have a bunch of cables going from my room to my roommates, in addition to being able to use the PPC wirelessly). if you get a wifi card, you will need an access point or wifi router (the router may seem unnecessary if you have a router already, but they are usually less expensive than an access point, and you'd have less hardware to your system). wireless syncing is supposed to be much faster than syncing through USB (so keep this in mind before you buy a sync/charge cable), although i have yet to be able to sync any faster with mine or maintain a connection after sync occurs- it just cuts off. it's some setup issue i have wrong in the settings somewhere. i use the symbol wireless networker, which along with the identical socket wifi card, has the smallest antenna and the lowest power consumption (wifi will be a big reason you'd need a 2nd battery!). the card works great for internet and IM and stuff. I've seen pictures of combination wifi and memory compactflash cards, which is cool as well, but i don't think they're available yet and don't know about the power consumption.

bluetooth cards have uses as well. they don't compete as a standard with wifi, but their uses overlap. if you have a bluetooth adapter for your PC, you can use the internet like a pass-through connection via activesync. they also have bluetooth printer adapters, although i'm not sure what software you'd need to print from your PDA (i know it exists, but never used any). the most popular use for bluetooth in your pda is with a bluetooth cell phone (i have a t68i). I just purchased a billionton bluetooth card ($40), which has a very small antenna. the smallest is the socket bluetooth card, which has the antenna built in, so it doesn't protrude at all. i would have gone with that one, but it's more expensive (for the price of the socket, i got the billionton BT CF card, Piel Frama case and an extra USB sync cable), and i figured if i could get the new case within that price and i already have one card that has an antenna sticking out that would warrant the case, it wouldn't be a big deal to have a bluetooth card that protrudes a little. If you have a GPRS data service plan (through T-Mobile or AT&T), you can connect to the internet with your phone in your pocket via the bluetooth connection. you can also use dialup, although i think the service providers are making this option not available or deathly slow (it is slower to start with). Sprint has a bluetooth phone that is supposedly coming out soon with their service as well.

I also have a 3-way pen/mechanical pencil/stylus, which is nice since i take a ton of notes in PocketWord and while I like the Dell stylus OK, it is very tiny and I was getting hand cramps. I have the PaperMate Phd Multi. It was like $7.

Another thing to consider is maybe a small case for accessories. i was looking at some small accessory cases on the case-logic website until i found that i already had something that would be great. i have some messed up hearing condition where i always hear a high pitched tone, but anyway i have a pair of Westone fitted ear plugs for concerts (sound like someone just turned the volume down. they came with a little leather case with a squeeze opening (flexible metal) that fits my wifi and will fit the bluetooth card just fine, and there is a small outer pocket that sort of fits my earbuds.

Some people think a keyboard is a necessity, and that depends. I am a very fast typer, but the Letter Recognizer function for inputting text is very fast for me and it wouldn't really be worth the cost of a keyboard. I might crack someday, but it's hard to touch type at full speed on the smaller ones. I take notes in class in real time for lectures with the letter recognizer. Plus it's less obtrusive writing into the screen than typing with a keyboard setup.

also, there's a post http://www.pocketpcpassion.com/forum...threadid=30387 here with a lot of recommendations for freeware utilities and such.

Hope this helps some (sorry for length),

-Steve

[Raynne]

I think the Write Shield screen protectors are a necessity, and a memory card. Other than that, an extra battery or the extended battery is always nice.

[imported_Covert]

Originally posted by TheNewSteve
(kind of interesting sidenote, the new toshiba model has 128MB built in, although i've read that for all of it's other cool features- small size, removable battery, built in wifi, dual slots like the axim, now it has a nicer screen like the axim, it's small- the battery life is awful, especially with the built in wifi- some wifi cards use MUCH less power than the built in one it has).

The e750? It has 96 MB built-in, not 128. It also has SD I/O (vs. the regular SD of the Axim). The problem is that it's still using a 1000 mAh (or is it 1100?) battery, instead of the 1440 mAh one the Axim uses.

On-topic, I tried WriteShields and didn't care for them. I guess it's a personal preference.

[gdaswani]

Originally posted by TheNewSteve

I have the extra battery as well, it's good to have when you're low on juice and don't want to sit by the outlet or if you're on a trip or long pda day (or use wifi or overclocking, which will use extra juice).

get a case... i feel much better about the axim now that it's in a case ( http://www.senacases.com ). i also just bought a Piel Frama case ( http://www.pielframa.com ) from a guy as part of a bundle, the big difference between the two (besides one being black and the other tan) is that the PF case has a cutout for the CF slot. Not a big deal for memory cards, since you'd probably have the flap open when dealing with them, but wifi and most bluetooth cards have a protruding antenna. so you can at least close the case with these. you can't really turn the wifi card off without pulling it out, but for bluetooth it'd be nice.

bluetooth cards have uses as well. they don't compete as a standard with wifi, but their uses overlap. if you have a bluetooth adapter for your PC, you can use the internet like a pass-through connection via activesync. they also have bluetooth printer adapters, although i'm not sure what software you'd need to print from your PDA (i know it exists, but never used any). the most popular use for bluetooth in your pda is with a bluetooth cell phone (i have a t68i). I just purchased a billionton bluetooth card ($40), which has a very small antenna. the smallest is the socket bluetooth card, which has the antenna built in, so it doesn't protrude at all. i would have gone with that one, but it's more expensive (for the price of the socket, i got the billionton BT CF card, Piel Frama case and an extra USB sync cable), and i figured if i could get the new case within that price and i already have one card that has an antenna sticking out that would warrant the case, it wouldn't be a big deal to have a bluetooth card that protrudes a little. If you have a GPRS data service plan (through T-Mobile or AT&T), you can connect to the internet with your phone in your pocket via the bluetooth connection. you can also use dialup, although i think the service providers are making this option not available or deathly slow (it is slower to start with). Sprint has a bluetooth phone that is supposedly coming out soon with their service as well.

TheNewSteve bought my piel frama, bt, usb sync combo

As for the Piel Frama vs Sena - the Piel Frama definitely has better workmanship and leather quality..

I'll throw in my two cents, some sort of leather case is definitely a good idea (unless you like a scratched up axim). A brando workshop screen protector is also a good idea (unless you like a scratched up screen). A USB Sync Charging cable is also a very good idea when using a case (unless you like taking off the AXIM from the case everytime you snc)

If one has a Bluetooth phone (like a T68i) and you want e-mail access on the road - the Bluetooth Card is definitely a great idea. You can also use it for LAN access as the WIDCOMM stack supports the LANP profile (if your PC has a Bluetooth USB card and has ICS enabled, or if you have a Bluetooth WAP - no need to wirelessly activesync in order to the use the internet).

I have both the Socket and the Billionton CF card - both work great on the AXIM - the former doesn't have an antenna, the later does but considering the AXIM has a slightly deeper CF port - the Billionton card looks pretty darned good with the AXIM and only sticks out 1/4" off an inch. The Billionton CF card is better than the Socket in a sense that it's Bluetooth stack is much better, supports alot more profiles (identical to the BT stack of the h5450). When the billionton is coupled with the peil frama case which has a CF cutout, you don't even have to remove the cf card in order to open and close it.

here's a pic..

BTW, to properly get the Billionton and other WIDCOMM Based Bluetooth CF cards to be detected by the the AXIM - check this thread. out, the installer mistakingly installs the CF bluetooth UART on COM5 - it's supposed to be COM 7 (simple registry fix - it only does it on the AXIM's).