I was good and Santa brought me a new toy: an Orange SPV C500. It's the latest Windows Smartphone.
I've concluded that PDA's aren't for me. It's just the wrong form factor and there's no compelling application for me on it. Ideally, I need two devices: a combined phone/camera/mp3 player and a ultra compact laptop. I like the idea of a single device that is first and foremost, a phone. And it's got to be a good phone or forget it. Easy to use, decent battery life and comfortable in a pocket. Next, the key apps are a contact list and my appointments which are mostly read-only.
The big bonus is if this device could be great MP3/WMA player and a reasonable camera. Of course, each of those should probably be seperate devices but it would be cool if it could be done by one. The Orange SPV C500 is a pretty good attempt. I doubt a phone camera will ever be great but I don't see why a phone shouldn't be a superb music device. It just needs enough memory and a good D/A convertor and amp. Unfortunately, mini SD cards only go up to 512K at the moment. I'd also like such a phone to be the primary music source in a car audio system.
I'm not convinced I need or want Internet access, email or chat on a phone. However, I admit it is pretty nice to read the BBC News website on the phone when I'm out of the house and stuck waiting around. I'm also eyeing the Pocket GPS systems you can get for the Smartphone. Very nice. A GPS should travel with you and not be bolted into a car.
For my second device, I want the smallest possible laptop on which I could have a decent QWERTY keyboard and touch-type without turning into a hunchback. This device would have some decent storage. I would see myself using it to do email, blog, surf the net, store photo's and music and watch a DVD. And, of course, something that was rugged and convenient to travel with.
I figure those two devices would offer the best mix of mobile solutions.