Who uses a PDA with their Mac?

[yadmonkey]

I'm looking into getting a PDA for my Mac to get my IT business organized and I'm hoping for some suggestions. Here's what I'm imagining...

I want to be able to create invoices for customers on the fly, track my mileage, manage contacts and calendar schedules, and sych these things with my main Powermac at home. This leaves me with some quesitons:

1. It looks like the Palm software is capable of synching with both iCal and Entourage for Calendars. Is one better than the other for this purpose?

2. Can anyone recommend PDA software for invoicing and tracking miles, etc.? Would Filemaker Mobile be up to the challenge, keeping in mind that I am fairly proficient with FMP?

3. How do other consultants do this, other than lugging a powerbook everywhere? I don't have an up-to-date powerbook and I don't have the money to invest in a new one.

If you've been doing these sorts of things, I'd love to learn a thing or two from your experience. Thanks!

Adam

 

[T-Stex]

I can't really tell you anything about the software or lugging a PowerBook around, but I've got the Palm T|X, and would definitely recommend it to you. It's got everything you'll need, including built-in WiFi and Bluetooth. I use it with my PowerBook with no problems at all.

 

[yadmonkey]

Thanks for the feedback - that's the handheld I'm looking at. Do you sync it with iCal or Entourage? Curious about how well that works.

 

[pimentoLoaf]

I use an ancient Palm Tungsten T (the kind that slides open and closed) with Entourage, with Documents to Go for connectivity to MS Office.

Might upgrade soon due to RAM limitations, as FileMaker Mobile won't fit.

 

[captainbeefheat]

I also have the T|X you can sync it with ical I'm not 100% about with entourage though. I rarely use the email side as I have an ibook but if I do want to get email on my palm for whatever reason I have the e-mail setting in their and download threw bluetooth or wifi.

But isync is defiantly compatible with it which does your to do list and calendar. It doesn't work straight out of the box with it, you got to do a little setting up but it's not difficult.

Palm OS comes with a program called expense which is probably what you want. But if not there is a ton of software for, loads of it free too.

One thing to note which annoyed me is if you wish to log into a VPN network with it it is possible but it doesn't come with the software you got to get a third party client which is a bit annoying.