Basic PDA recommendation
 

My wife insists on keeping her phone book in a (now 20 year old) paper book. Pages area missing, numbers are unreadable.

So...basic PDA recommendation for someone who is computer-averse. Handwriting input not a good idea. Low cost important. Color probably needed.

Don't need WiFi, bluetooth, e-mail, phone, camera, MP-3, AM-FM, etc., etc.

Did a search here, didn't find anything. But this group has proven to be really, really good on basic advice.

Thanks in advance.

It'll be hard (impossible) to find one that is both inexpensive and with a keyboard. However, with being able to enter the data from a PC and then syncing it to the PDA, is a keyboard really necessary if most/all of the action on the PDA could be looking up information? If you can give up the keyboard, great basic Palm PDA's are the Zire 31 ($150) and Tungsten E ($200) with some holiday deals available now.

Sounds like she needs a new paper book, not a PDA.

PDA's are nice and snazzy, but certainly not the solution for everyone...

Good point!

I'm hoping she comes to the same conclusion, and I'll take it over. ;)

Any thoughts, anyone, on Tungsten E vs. Zire 31? Worth the extra 50 bucks?

Just to note that you can get a foldable keyboard for most Palm One devices for under a $100 that makes a lot of text entry easier. But I agree that doing it on the computer would be best.

why doesn't she just get an electronic agenda-calendar-organiser thingy? keybord or not, they are significantly cheaper than PDAs.

My husband got me a Handspring a few years ago because I was "technologically challenged", which I "use", but not like he uses his (he is working on getting his company to purchase a new model for him, the Treo phone/Palm, so he can stop packing both devices).
I have post-it notes of phone numbers stickied inside the hard case, which I take forever to put into the system. I have phone #s programmed into my cell which still haven't made it into the PDA, and other people's Christmas card return address labels from several years in an envelope on my desk. I can graffiti pretty fast now, but I found a keyboard on clearance for about $10 at Staples once, but the computer does work better IF you actually put the handheld in the charger -- my computer tells me I last hot-synched on December 6, and won't likely do it again soon until the battery goes down.
She may find she likes it for other things, like the calculator feature, or downloads (calorie/recipe databases, hotel/airline/car 800#s database, e-books, Alaska Airlines timetable, and a springboard attachment with a lame but fun digital camera -- also found on clearance for about $20 -- are a few things I have on mine).
How big is the pocketbook she normally carries? I don't care much for them, pre-PDA and pre-cell I'd only carry a small "wallet on a string". I did solve that for the most part by buying a leather case for it which holds my drivers license and 2 credit cards, and a few bucks, so now I only take my regular wallet and a large pocketbook when I travel, but for daily use the phone, PDA and lipstick fit in a quite small handbag or usually my coat pockets.
That being said, will she really appreciate and use the technology, or would she be happier with a nice fancy DayRunner?