Asymmetrical Information

I don't know about the overseas capabilities, but I'm a huge fan and recent convert to the Treo. It gets great reception, has tons of functions and an incredible array of add on software. I have the 600, but the 650 is even fancier. I'd recommend either to anyone.

My only caveat is that the keyboard is a little more awkward than the blackberry, but I got used to it pretty quickly.

Wait till you friend finds out where she is going.

I also love my Treo 600, would like a Treo 650, and in gneeral highly recommend the PDA/phone option. (Why carry two devices when you can carry one?)

I'd guess that the Treos from the US GSM providers (anyone but Sprint and Verizon I think) would be able to work overseas, although probably not conveniently with a US plan, but I'm not sure (I use Sprint, so it's out of the question).

Also, neither the 600 nor the 650 has built in WiFi or will either even support a WiFi SD add-on card (not enough power to the SD slot, or some such thing...I'm only certain on this as regards the 600).

As PDA's go, I've used both the Palm OS and the Pocket PC OS, and strongly prefer Palm. So does my 20 year Microsoft employee college buddy.

I can't say anything about Symbian or Blackberry, other than that they look cool, but I want the ability to have the extra apps that a true PDA allows.

Depends on where "abroad" is I guess. I'm going to assume Western Europe or a place like Hong Kong or Singapore. (Japan and Korea have different cell standards.)

First, I think the PDA-only option is a waste of money.

Next, 802.11b and 802.11g are a worldwide standard. In London, Paris, and major cities in Germany and Switzerland, you'll find good coverage, though it is more expensive than it is here. (Currently the best deal to be had is to sign up for a data plan with T-Mobile Hotspot, and then roam abroad. But it depends specifically where you'll be.)

I would get something like the Treo or Blackberry. Get the GSM models (i.e., from T-Mobile or Cingular, *not* Sprint or Verizon) and all she'll have to do once she's in Europe is get a new foreign SIM card and put it into the phone.

BTW, I concur with the recent Slate article about the brilliance of the Blackberry 7100 keyboard.

What exactly does she want it for? What features does she need, want, think would be nice, etc.?

If just for e-mail, then yes, a stand-alone PDA is a waste (and I'm a happy Palm T3 owner). Just get a cell-phone with that capability. I dunno anything about how things work overseas, though.

I'd recommend a standalone PDA. I prefer to keep my cell and PDA separate for maximum gadget flexibility. Budget will also play a big role here. If she can spring for it the Treo would be nice but she'll have to sign a contract that she might not be able to honor very soon thereby making an expensive piece of hardware even more costly.
If she's going to Europe or Japan she'd probably enjoy checking out the phones there that we'll never get here in the US.
If she's leaving the US for business, her new collegues will be a good source of info and can help her save time and money on the cell side of things when she arrives.
Has she ever used a PDA before? If so, what?
I've used just about every brand and design of PDA and there's good and not-so-good things about all of them.
My advice: Get a used Sony Clie (T665 or TG50) on eBay for under $150 and see how she likes it. If it doesn't work out she can dump them back on eBay and break even.
Good luck!

What is the goal here? To purchase a PDA then decide what to do with it?

I don't think we have enough information to give a specific recommendation. However, as a strategy it would be wiser for her to purchase abroad since she's moving and not simply travelling. The US isn't necessarily the least expensive place to buy electronics and there are many cooler toys elsewhere. She can always learn what others use when she's there and then make an educated purchase. In the meantime, there is always the trusty internet cafe...

802.11 is everywhere, but we don't know if it's free and ubiquitous where she'll be going so shouldn't gamble on a wireless feature purchase. Since she evidently doesn't have a laptop (or she'd send email from there) then even a Bluetooth enabled PDA becomes useless.

Interesting. I have a related question: if you have a PDA with 11g, and you use a VOIP phone at home, could you use that VOIP number at a hotspot in Europe to make calls (via headset, or whatever)? Paying, I assume, only for the cost/min. of hotspot use.

FWIW: I have neither, but I'm thinking about both.

The thing to investigate is whether a multi-band GSM PDA is available with function on the band where she is going, and then to buy it from a PDA vender rather than a cellular provider. Then she just gets GSM/GPRS accounts here and there, and swaps Subscriber Identity Modules in and out of the device. In most of the world purchase of the phone is completely seperate from the account and the SIM is all you get from your provider.

GSM Treos are quad-band (and so far there are only 4 GSM bands), so they will work anywhere there is GSM coverage (which is pretty much all of the world except maybe Korea and Japan and even they may have second-tier GSM providers - I don't recall). The trick would be to get an unlocked GSM Treo (which will cost somewhat more) so that your friend can easily switch to a (cheaper) local plan after moving.

802.11 in its various varieties has made its way across the pond (and they are on the same standard as us except for some minor nonsense about which channels are allowed for use. but not so serious that I couldn't use my laptop everywhere I went in Europe last March), but...

Most of the 802.11 coverage I saw was for-pay and geared towards laptops. Particularly if your friend is already going to have a cell phone anyway something like a Treo will probably be more economical and usable. The other alternative is for your friend to wait until they actually get to Europe. since Europe often gets cooler cell-phone-like gadgets before the US anyway.

I am a U.S. expat living in London and love my Treo. It works whenever I visit the states, all around Europe and some friends just used theirs in Asia. I would think your friend could get a Trion in the US and switch out SIM cards once she arrived in the new country to get best local rates.

As others have said, I believe that the GSM Treo 650 is the best choice if you want a combo device. The 650 community has written drivers that allow you to use the Palm SDIO WiFi card, and I know they're working on integrating it with Vision on Sprint, and will probably get it working quickly on the GSM model when it comes out.

That said, my problem with the 650 is cost. You can spend $300 to buy a much better PDA than the 650's PDA part, and then get a better phone for free or low cost. The cheapest you can get a 650 for is $450, and it has some significant limitations as a PDA versus the Zire or Tungstens (not to mention the non PalmOne Palm devices).

The Treo 700 may fix all of this, but that's quite a ways away... And the check is in the mail. :)

Best to get one of the new MDA/XDA's (different name in different markets).

http://www.phonescoop.com/phones/phone.php?p=569
For outside USA
http://www.myxda.com/product/template/Products.vm

Fantastic...and it workd on the GSM system...so great for the rest of the world!

Dave

Remember, there's always bluetooth for linking your devices.

My Blackberry worked very well in France... at least well enough to make phone calls back to the US and make reservations for dinner. And my emails all came in too with no problem. FWIW... I use the T-Mobile network.

Last I heard, GSM is in more countries than McDonalds, but not all GSM providers offer data services. The provider I'm contracting for right now gets continuous complaints from customers who can't access data services when out of town and using our roaming partners. Just another detail to check.

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