PDA as an MP3 player?

[The_Canuck]

I'm thinking about getting a PDA-sometimes I get these urges to spend money. I caught the bug last spring but managed to get over it, now I think I've got it again! Let's be clear about one thing-I don't NEED a PDA. I would use it to fool around on, maybe check my email while sitting on the couch, play some little games on it etc. At first I was looking at the Ipaq 210 (what a gorgeous screen) but then when I held one in my hands I realized it was huge and the screen wasn't very sensitive. I looked at the Ipaq 110 and thought that it was much nicer (despite the poor resolution.)

Anyways, I'm thinking about maybe getting a new MP3 player. My current Sony NHD-5 works just fine but it's 3 years old and as you can see I'm a bit of a geek with an impulse problem. Regarding MP3 players, I've decided that I'm done with wires. I hate reaching into my briefcase to pull out my Sony while waiting for the train and then spending the next two minutes trying to untangle my earphones. From now on out, it's Bluetooth or nothing baby! The only problem is that, the only MP3 player I know that has bluetooth (apart from the Iphone) is the Samsung YP2 which I actually didn't like so much when I got my hands on it and it's almost $300. So I figured, heck if I'm going to spend $300 on a new MP3 player, why don't I just get a PDA and get all those extra perks and then I can use MP3 player as justification for spending $300 on yet another toy!

Now to make a long story short-how are PDA's as MP3 players. I realize you have to buy external memory but I don't have a lot of music and memory is cheap now. Is it sort of a pain? I realize that a dedicated music player will always be much easier to use. Any recommendations? Advice?

[Dick Tracy]

Palm E2 and TX both have Bluetooth, installing Softick Audio Gateway adds the A2DP profile for Bluetooth headphones. The TX comes with PocketTunes while the E2 comes with RealPlayer. SD card limits to use SDHC cards can be overcome using a new application from PalmPowerups (which I have not tried). I've been using various PalmOS devices as mp3 players for close to 5 years.

I don't know about the iPaq. The iPhone lacks an A2DP profile so you have to add a bulky dongle for Bluetooth headphones.

[z22 2006 User]

A word of advice, though; the SDHC driver does NOT support SDIO, so, if you get an E|2, and you install the SDHC driver, the wifi card wouldn't be compatible.

[Ed Hardy]

The iPAQ 110 will make a decent MP3 player. You'll probably want a fairly sizable SDHC card though. You can get 16 GB cards for $30 - $40, and that's enough to hold about 3,000 songs.

There are some apps that will let you stream music off your PC over a Wi-Fi connection, too.
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[palmgeek5394]

Other good apps for the 110/111:
S2U2 (Or does that work on a standard PDA?)
S2P (Awesome iPhone-like mp3 player)
S2V (Good, yet slightly memory-hungry, iPhone-esque image viewer)
As far as I can tell, WM6 (And maybe WM5) can use most BT headsets.

[Konrad Pierce]

What is today considered a "low-end" PDA, say 300-400MHz 64MB RAM or so is plenty adequate for audio playback, plus offers the advantage (in comparison to feature-rich high-end devices) of great battery life. My iPAQ h2210 lasts some 12-15 hours per charge if used for just audio with screen (mostly) off.

[Silly Rabbit]

I've got a couple of iPod Nanos & love them (one 1st gen & one 2nd gen.) Not only are they easy to use, they are smaller than a PDA. I'd much rather use one of them when running, walking or at the gym.