Handhelds/PDAs - Palm vs Zaurus vs others - Opinions? Experiences?

[Travis Roy]

>
>  That's not all I'm getting at (though it is part of it).  I object
> to the whole attitude wireless carriers have.  They want everything
> locked in to them, owned by them, controlled by them.  Ideally, they
> want to charge me every time I press a button, take a picture, or
> think.  It's Microsoft all over again, but with annoying ring tones.
> I don't care if you can sometimes find a solution that doesn't
> automatically stab you in the eye.  I want no part of it.  I vote with
> my wallet.

Okay, then what cell phone carrier are you currently using that  
doesn't do that? The actual phone you're using really doesn't matter  
if you are still giving them money for phone service. Having a  
regular phone, or a PDA phone matters zero if you're trying to "make  
a point".

>>
>> Get something that uses a SIM card.
>
>  Neat in theory.  Not so good given all the mutually incompatible
> networks out there.  For example, the phone I have from work is
> Nextel.  Swapping SIMs between Nextel *models* doesn't even always
> work.

I know people with cingular and/or t-mobile phones and swapping sim  
cards between their phones and networks works fine across all phones  
they've tried. Nextel is a fairly proprietary network, both for  
hardware and frequencies used. It's hard to use you're specific  
example across more broadly compatible phones. Its also possible to  
buy "unlocked" phones online that do not have bastardized carrier  
specific firmware.