PDA Wifi/Bluetooth
 

Is bluetooth something that's useful in a pda?

Is it easy enough to work online (check stock prices, news, etc) with?

To go online, you might find built-in WiFi (802.11b/g) much more useful. To use BT to get online with a PDA, you would need to connect to your phone, using the phone as a dial-up modem. Most phones can access the net without using the PDA, so that is not nearly as useful.

Ah, i worded that wrong.

Is BT something that is highly useful in a PDA?

In general (using wifi), is it easy enough to go online with?

Oh, that is different. :)

1. Not really.

2. Very easy, and quite useful.

Bluetooth is awesome, if your other devices are equipped with it as well. Remember, it's only short-range (10-100 feet) from the source, so the only thing it's doing for you on the road is connecting to your car, or Nav, or headset.

I use it every day to transfer contacts between cell phones, file transfer with PC, and headset for almost every call, as well as sending destinations to Nav. Very handy if you use it. If you don't, it's just another bell or whiste.
As for checking stocks, I assume you mean WiFi. Provided you're near a network, you can do almost anything you'd use a PC for online.
Instead of WiFi, I use full data service, which works almost everywhere with Sprint/Nextel, and regularly surf the web or check email (5 accounts) all away from a fixed network. Great for business trips, etc, doesn't require any extra software, & unlimited data is $15/month. There hasn't been a month it wasn't worth it in over 2 years....
HTH.

Sprint/nextel has full data service for $15.00 a month?? Which PDA are you using.

This is in the running for a mother's day gift. My mom is very much into finance, and complains that she can't always be sitting in front of the computer following the markets/news. We have wifi, at home, so I figure this would be useful for this purpose all with general organizational purposes. Think it should work well?

This is what I'm looking at:
http://reviews.cnet.com/HP_iPaq_rx19...?tag=pdtl-list

Looks like a nice device.

Maybe. But here's a consideration. The bad: Unfortunately, the HP iPaq rx1950 lacks Bluetooth and has low onboard memory and out of a score 1-10 it's only a 6.5. Not very highly rated IMHO.

I read that, but I'm looking at the user's needs. She's not going to be doing a lot of data sync'ng, hardly if ever. In terms of memory, whatever memory is used for calendar/memo/to-do/email/etc is all that will be required.

Per CNET:

HP spruces up its entry-level handheld line with the HP iPaq rx1950 model, a slim and light PDA that doesn't cut corners on performance or battery life, with class-leading results. Armed with the latest Windows Mobile 5 operating system, the rx1950 can be a pocket office on the road but skimps on a few features here and there, most notably Bluetooth. At $300, however, the rx1950 costs half that of high-end business PDAs, so if you're on a budget and you're OK with the lack of Bluetooth, then the HP iPaq rx1950 is a perfectly capable handheld.