The facts are that:
1.I am a social worker in an incredibly busy emergency room
2. I realize a PDA - small enough to fit in my packet - would be a godsend to me. I need:
-a great calendar/date book - daily,weekly,monthly - with reminders.Perhaps, an alarm?
-storage/organizer for GOBS of names - for referrals, addresses/phone numbers, and spaces to write memos re: ea. agency
-voice memos for those times when I have NO time to write anything down
-this is not a must, but I'd love to be able to look up directions to give to my patients
-this is not a must, but I'd love to have IM/voice mail, as well
-Lastly, I have a limited budget.
Thank you so very much!
Irenelg3
Edited by Irenelg3 (01/14/06 10:46 AM)
Post Extras:
Jacob_Spindel
Moderator and writer
Reged: 11/21/05
Posts: 1202
Well, I don't know if this makes your decision easier or harder, but all PDAs have the first four items on your list.
The last two, directions and IM, will presumably require Internet access. Is your emergency room a WiFi hotspot? Does WiFi cause potential problems with medical equipment?
If WiFi is an option, that's the best way to go. If not, the only other way to get on the Internet from a PDA wirelessly is to get a combination PDA/cell phone, which will be considerably more expensive and probably require a long-term contract. I don't know if cell phones can harm medical equipment either.
That just leaves Voice Memos - some PDAs have it and some don't, but there isn't exactly a pattern. Among the current Palm line, only the Zire 72 and LifeDrive currently have voice recording. I would recommend looking into voice recording after you have narrowed down the field by taking your Internet requirements into account.
Sometimes it seems like it's so hard to find a PDA that's "just right" and also has voice memo, or even just to get a PDA's voice memo working the way you want it at all, that for some users, it might be better just to get a separate digital voice recorder. I'm not saying Voice Memo never works, but it can be more complicated than a standalone, especially if you try to multitask while recording!
-------------------- Chief iPod Correspondent
Senior Time Waster
Extreme Moderator
Moderate Extremist
Captain of the Planet Express
Assistant Jedi Librarian
--------------------
Previous
Index
Next
Threaded
Edit
Reply
Quote
