Sohail Hussain wrote:
> I currently use a t68i and REX6000 PDA to serve all
> my mobile telephoney and PIM needs. I keep them in
> sync with each other via my PC using Outlook.

Sohail, Ohmygosh... I was beginning to think I was the only one...
I use Rex6000 and T39m.....
I would dread the day I break my Rex. (only a few of us Rexers left)

This being an Ericsson group, an older phone might be the perfect one
for you: the R380. Cheap on ebay. Sync with Outlook. Most PDA
functions though not much memory (same as rex though if you have the 2Mb
version like me). The only reason I don't use it is because it does not
have bluetooth.

As far as one device to do the two primary things of Phone and
Organizer, the only other things I have seen so far that I was
interested in are all kinda pricey and/or bulky:
Palm clam-phones (Samsung SPH-i500, Kyocera 7135 or Treo's)
The Symbian SonyEricsson P800
The Treo 600
Microsoft phones like the SPV (but I stay away from MS stuff mostly)

Eric.

Eric wrote:
> Sohail Hussain wrote:
> > I currently use a t68i and REX6000 PDA to serve all
> > my mobile telephoney and PIM needs. I keep them in
> > sync with each other via my PC using Outlook.
>
> Sohail, Ohmygosh... I was beginning to think I was the only one...
> I use Rex6000 and T39m.....
> I would dread the day I break my Rex. (only a few of us Rexers left)

Hello Eric - nice to know that there's at least two of us :-)
If you ever do break it, there are second-hand ones floating around - I got
one off ebay.

> This being an Ericsson group, an older phone might be the perfect one
> for you: the R380. Cheap on ebay. Sync with Outlook. Most PDA
> functions though not much memory (same as rex though if you have the
> 2Mb version like me). The only reason I don't use it is because it
> does not have bluetooth.

It's interesting you should mention that. When the REX6000 first came out I
did a detailed tradeoff between getting an R380 and using a REX with a T28.
PRO's of using the R380 were:
- one device
- no need to buy batteries
- backlight
- not as fragile (retrospectively)
CON's
- heavier (164g) and bulkier solution
- no categories

It was the latter point that tipped the scales in favour of the REX for me -
all my contacts are organised into around 15 categories. The P800, which I
suppose is the R380's successor, does support categories, but there are
problems with it - see below.

> As far as one device to do the two primary things of Phone and
> Organizer, the only other things I have seen so far that I was
> interested in are all kinda pricey and/or bulky:
> Palm clam-phones (Samsung SPH-i500, Kyocera 7135 or Treo's)
> The Symbian SonyEricsson P800
> The Treo 600
> Microsoft phones like the SPV (but I stay away from MS stuff mostly)

After the replies to my original post (http://tinyurl.com/g11o if not on
your news server - thanks for all of those BTW) , I did some detailed
investigations of each of the solutions suggested, including trying each of
them out (thanks mainly to a patient salesman in CPW). The main disadvantage
was, as you mentioned, price and bulk. Here's what else I found about each
of these platforms:

P800 - Heavy (148g) and expensive (£280ish on Orange upgrade), but not too
bulky. Symbian7/UIQ OS still has teething problems- for example,
synchronisation is flakey
(http://my-symbian.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7856), although UI is very
nice. Also supports calling cards which I use a lot.

Treo 180 - Same weight as P800, much cheaper (£100 sim-free off ebay), but
even bulkier. Palm OS seems mature and probably will have no problems
synchronsing.

SPV - Smaller and cheaper (£30 on orange upgrade, although SPVx/Tanager will
be pricier) than the other two, but still quite heavy. Contacts and Calender
seem OK, but tasks don't seem to have due date, forget about start date.
Data entry will be a bit slow (using Tegic, as opposed to real/virtual
keyboard). Also I, like you, would prefer Symbian/Palm over the fledgling MS
Smartphone 2002 OS.

Grant and I discussed some creative use of non-smartphones to store the
data, but the solutions were not flexible enough to store all my categories
contacts, tasks, notes and calender entries.

In the end I bought, as mentioned earlier, another REX from ebay for £41. I
may be prepared to carry a smartphone in the future once prices come down
and their OS's mature - the prospect of one device is very tempting.

Sohail