the smartphone dilemma

Is it better to have a separate phone and a pda or is it betterto have a device that combines the two together.

On the surface, it seems like a no brainer. Why bother with twodevices when you can have one? It's more convenient to carry onedevice wherever you go. You need more pockets and get weigh downwith additional weight if you carry two separate devices.

Another cool thing is that you don't need to juggle with twodevices if you want to take down notes with someone on the phoneline. All in one devices make it convenient to make a mobilecall and take notes simultaneously. Just plug in the phoneearpiece and then jot down notes easily on the hybrid device. Ifyou have two separate devices, you need to hold the mobile phonebetween your shoulder and your neck while whipping out your pda to take down notes.

There's also no need to search for your telephone number in thepda and then dial it on the mobile phone. It simply slows youdown.

Finally, it's complicated when you have to make changes orupdate contact information. You need to sync the phone with thepda. If you have a single device , all your data and informationis found in one place and there's no need for synchronization ofthe pda with mobile phone.

But on the other hand, separates makes more sense. Working on aspreadsheet with a smart phone will easily drain or wipe offyour battery power in matter of minutes.

When your smart phone runs out of power, you are left with nomobile phone and no pda.

Secondly, a regular mobile phone is so much more affordable thanthose with pda functions. You can get a regular phone at zerocost provided you sign a contract with the mobile serviceprovider. Compare that against smart phone which can cost atleast an exorbitant USD 350 and go up to $ 800. Only a smallminority can afford such expensive smart phones.

Thirdly, the design of the hybrid doesn't serve its user verywell. Most smart phones are very bulky and heavier thanseparates. You look silly and find it uncomfortable to hold itagainst your face to make a mobile call. Also, the small screenmakes the smart phone/ pda phone difficult to view pictures andtext. The small keypad of a smart phone or pda phone makes itdifficult to input data.

The worst thing about a hybrid is that it ends up neither hereor there. Instead of a mobile phone that takes great photos andvideos ,you are faced with a smart phone that takesmediocre pictures and videos and run out of power if you try towork on spreadsheet. They have limited capability and serve onlybasic functions such as appointments, memo and contacts well .However, if you want to edit MS Office documents, surf the weband run other applications, you will find a pda does a muchbetter job than a smart phone.