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This is related to cameras ...very loosely...

I have a friend who wants me to bring an "i-mate JAM" PDA/low res camera for him O.S.

Any suggestions of alternatives AND legitimate online/real shops that stock these things would be appreciated.

EDIT - I would also appreciate any information as to the recommended amount to use the TRS. There was a change the last time I went through and the TRS guy suggested amounts over 900 or so aren't worth claiming for... I'm a little confused.

whooops ...feel free to move this to the relevant section Gary...

Heath,

What, actually, does your friend want?

A camera?

A PDA?

A phone?

One of each?

Remember that cameras attract no duty, and low end cameras are quite inexpensive as it is, to the point where it's rarely worth compromising any DF allowance you might use.

Thanks for moving it Gary.

I'd say that he mainly wants a PDA with a phone, but the camera is a bit of fun - he already has a decent Sony 5MP point and shoot.

I think he's mad, and destined for disappointment. The PDA + phone combo simply doesn't yet work all that well. It's more a desire of stupid marketing dweebs to empty their pockets.

He should get a good PDA, and a good phone, perhaps with a camera in the phone.

Well I'll tell him that - he may be unaware. He is not the kind of guy who wants to be ripped off.

Thanks for your time.

gstark wrote: and a good phone, perhaps with a camera in the phone.

And interchangeable lens

If he has to have a PDA/phone combo I'd suggest he also have a look at the O2 range of phones (review of XDA IIs here) and the HP Ipaq h6365 pda/phone

Thanks Peter I'll send the links to him to take a look.

Hi Heath,

the two that Peter suggests are PocketPC based, ie Windows. There is also the Palm platform and their Treo 650 is also a great PDA/Phone combo. Have a look at
http://www.palm.com/au/

Something to keep in mind, if your friend can get the unit on a plan, they can work out to be pretty good "value", if he/she has the usage patterns to justify the monthly calls allowance.

As Gary mentioned, getting two devices is an option. I prefer having two devices. I have a Sony/Ericsson phone and a Palm Tungsten PDA. With bluetooth, when the two devices are together, they can work as one. The PDA/Phone combinations do tend to be bulky(for me anyway) so that's why I prefer having both. When I go out and just want a phone, it can fit in my pocket.

The units above come from the PDA side and have morphed to also have a phone. There are also offerings that come from the other side, such as the Sony/Ericsson P900.

HTH,

Radar

The Ipaq is probably the most reliable of them all especially with HP / Compaq's proven track record and the fact that they'll be offering upgrades to Version 5 of their OS for their users.

But where OS is your mate because, depending on his location, the bands the said phone uses might not work as well as one bought where he lives.

(Unless it's Europe or the Middle East or Asia (which if it's Asia, it's cheaper for him to buy it...))

He is in Mauritius - electronics are expensive there

Hi I have both the SPV e200 (I-mate in Australia) and the XDA MiniII.

Camera is useless comapered to $60 P&S but ok for wasting 5 minutes.

The two are different in a major way....no matter what MS say the imate and variant smartphones are just a phone with outlook. Not really worth the money. I can find 98% of fuctionality I use on most mid to high range phones that are not MS Smartphones.

The Mini XDA (is good for me) - saves me from carrying a phone. I use my PDA a lot so combineing the two was great. (also did not pay for it)

well this my two cents worth

I have the XDA MiniII and I'm very happy with, although i will admit that i have only ever taken maybe 1-2 pictures with the camera (just to test it). The camera itself is a 1.3MP unit which is not too bad for a phone. The unit itself as a phone/PDA is excellent. I went with this because the form factor was good for me and also because I was already a Windows PDA user and therefore had the software to go with it. Another key item to consider with these units is a blutooth headset. Very useful and to be perfectly honest save the screen getting messed up from being against your ear.

cheers,