PocketPC vs Palm for a Mac?

Hey guys,

Need a little advice here. I have a really old Palm Vx I barely ever use, it's so old the dock connects with serial and so obviously not to my mac. I'd like to get a new PDA soon, colour screen with 802.11 wireless and so on and preferably bluetooth for easy file transfer and sync. But I just need some advice. I really like the look of the PocketPC PDAs, since they run Word and things like that. But how does that work with a Mac? First off do they even work with a Mac? Like the iPaqs and such? I also like to run a lot of third party programs so not sure which is a better option. I mean just even crappy programs like games or what not. For Palm I can download lots of them just wasn't sure what PocketPC is like. I have Office:mac 2004 so would that sync with the office on the PocketPC? Thanks for your help!

You'd need a third-party driver like PocketMac (http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/12564) or Missing Sync (http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/20268) to sync a PocketPC (or even some Palms and other devices) with your Mac.

Some Palm units (The Tungsten line, for example) can also read Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files, though compatibility might not be as good as with PocketWord and the like.

I have an iPAQ 2215 Pocket PC, I was able to easily connect to my PB with Bluetooth, although my Powerbook recognizes it as a computer rather than a PDA. I have not bothered with any sync software for the mac, although I've heard that "The Missing Sync" works quite well. If you put a Word file on your pocket pc, it should be able to read it. There are many many many Pocket PC freeware sites. I'd say that as of today, there may even be more downloads for PPC than Palm out there. I use almost entirely free third party software on my PPC, games, document viewers, utilities, everything. I've never owned a Palm, although I've used them, my personal preference is PPC all the way.

Here are just a few pocket pc freeware sites that I visit:

http://www.pocketpcfreewares.com/en/index.php
http://www.ipaqsoft.net
http://www.ppcforall.com
http://www.pocketdownload.com
http://www.freewareppc.com
http://www.pdagold.com

Also, check out www.pocketpcmag.com
they have a great forum, as well as buyers guides, reviews, etc.

Check out there "Best Sites" page for a listing of numerous PPC sites, sorted by category (News, Reviews, Downloads, Et.)http://www.pocketpcmag.com/_top/bestsites.asp

Also, check out http://www.ipaqabilities.com , they have numerous reviews and also a smaller message board, but one where you are guarenteed to get personal replies to your questions, and some very knowledgable PPC users (and soem Palm converts).

I think that the only problem you might run into is that it is somewhat more difficult to install programs on a PPC from a Mac then it is on a PC. PPC programs many times come on installers that work only in windows and must use activesync to install. Otherwise, you have to aquire a .cab file, transfer it to the PPC (either directly or place it on a memory card and put that in the PPC), and then execute it for install.

I have a tungsten t that I use with both my Mac and my pc. I have no issues with word or excel documents because of the included Documents To Go program. Just ell it what you want to sync and it does it no problem. I much prefer Palm OS to the pocket pc os for ease of use and just available add ons both free and paid for. Just my $.02

good point, although somewhere I saw a freeware utility that would convert an installer to .cab for .cab installation. Don't remember where it was though...

hmm.. like.....palm...tungsten c is good..i got my tungsten e to work with a wifi card sandisk ..and then its wireless....so far so good

See this thread, too.