As for your questions; A, B & C.

A/. I use the GPS unit with the PDA because it wasn’t just the best value option but is a superb solution. The Sirf STAR 3 unit cost just 47 UK pounds and I already owned the Fugawi mapping software.

B/. Pay attention !I never said I have a camera phone - I have a very basic Nokia supplied by my employer. For taking quality photographs, I need a fully manual controllable large CCD area camera. I have therefore already invested in a very good digital camera again with no compromises.

C/. I use SD cards for all of these devices (Camera, PDA & phone). My memory card investment has always been in MMC/SD so compatibility is a purchase prerequisite for any new gadget. However, even if I decided to dump my SD cards, how would I use a standalone storage device with my camera, phone or PDA or were you just kidding me

I kind of agree with you on the convergence point BTW, i.e you could argue that the ancestor of the PDA was a pocket calculator and the mobile phone a pager and anyone hoping to incorporate a good camera into either was always onto a loser. I think you also understand my point though that no manufacturer has yet made an all-in-one that doesn’t compromise PDA functionality in favour of form factor or pocketability.

Not sure how being a European has any affect on this topic but just to clarify are you talking about BEING a European or being IN Europe?

I personally believe that the people that are against the “all-in-one” devices are not really against that as such but do not want to live with the compromises such devices require at the present. I mean if you find a device that can do most of what you want, it most likely doesn’t have a good battery time, or then doesn’t have a decent keyboard (if any) or it just doesn’t perform the tasks you need/want at a good or efficient level.

Now don’t get me wrong here but why do you:

A) Use a GPS in your PDA instead of a STANDALONE GPS device?
B) Use the camera in your phone instead of a STANDALONE CAMERA?
C) Use CD/SD cards instead of standalone storage device(s)

Do you really never use the address book, calendar, alarm, calculator etc etc on your mobile phone, ever? Would you prefer to have a digital planner, alarm clock or and calculator in your pocket(s)?

Point being if these “all-in-one” devices serve us well and without any SERIOUS drawbacks, I think we ALL like and embrace them, and even get to the point of not even thinking of them as ALL IN ONE devices, we very easily forget that our mobile phones didn’t use to have cameras, calculators and address books.

I already have a mobile phone and a very good camera. Why would I want to compromise my PDA ?

Well done HP, great effort !

some people drop in to the internettablettalk.com forum ever so often to ask/complain about why the nokia tablets dont have a built in pim suite.

the ipaq 214 is by design a pda, and by legacy those where basically a digital version of the good old organizer.

funny thing is that these never really took of in europe, where the fast growth of the digital mobile phone networks resulted in people having phones with much the same features.

its yet another of those subtle differences between usa and europe…

as for finger vs stylus. the only thing i can think of is that you do not have something to misplace or drop.

that, and i think one of the design features of the iphone was that it would be free of any lines. even the sim card slot is hidden in the seam between display and back plate in such a way that one need a bent paper clip to get access to it…

but i got to say, next to the mouse, the stylus allows more precise control. it also allows one to fit more stuff on a smaller screen. hell, even with a stylus i find some web site elements to small in default size on my N800. having to blow the page up 200% or more to be able to select between elements with a finger, and then scale it back down again to be able to read most of the text without having to scroll very two lines becomes bothersome, fast.

“Why is the media player unable to play a wide range of formats and bitrates required for high-quality viewing?”
See above. Video is not relevant to work for most business users.
“Why is the user interface pen-driven and not finger driven?”
Obviously an iPhone driven point, and I’m not sure why the inference that “finger” control is superior to “stylus” control (note that any stylus action can be carried out by a finger with practice).Despite what Apple thinks, a stylus system allows for touch controls and some text entry. Don’t forget that the “finger” system depends on an onscreen keyboard for text entry with the iPhone.
“Why do I need a contacts, address book and calendar when my phone handles this just as well?”
How about the larger screen? How about syncing with a desktop easily? How about easier data entry? How about not draining my typically weaker cellphone battery?
“Why can’t I access the Internet on the go?”
Because many work sites have WiFi.
“Why is the user interface so old-school and so boring. ”
Matter of taste.

The PDA still survives in the workplace due to the ease of reading, battery life, and data entry advantages relative cellphones (including iPhone). These issues are resolving in cellphones with time, but as the issues with battery life in iPhone 2.0 show, they have yet to be resolved.

But yes they are only skins (though acting as a UI to some extent)

-netfront 3.5
-Coreplayer

and maybe : resco explorer, resco picture viewer, Diamond adobe pdf reader, mobipocket

wm6 is boring and old fashioned, but it does its job: starting programs

You WILL need third party software to do anything usefull with a windows mobile device, but there are lots of them…