Guest TKP 123 Posted July 2, 2006 Report Share Posted July 2, 2006 Hi, I never have experience with PDA before, and I want to buy one for medical school. Could anyone recommend any good models/ softwares? Thanks a lot for your help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest wylie348 Posted July 3, 2006 Report Share Posted July 3, 2006 If you are a U of Calgary student you will get one, probably a Palm TX. I think the TX is probably the best one at this particular point - in my opinion only though. It has decent screen and memory, with built-in wifi. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jaegwon Posted July 3, 2006 Report Share Posted July 3, 2006 Yah, I agree about the T|X. I'm happy with mine thus far. In my opinion, the wi-fi is well worth having. If you want to save a bit of money, you can get a refurbished one on e-bay for ~$250. I think they retail for about $399. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest QMD2010 Posted July 3, 2006 Report Share Posted July 3, 2006 you can get one from CMA for $365.00 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest quebecboy Posted July 3, 2006 Report Share Posted July 3, 2006 The TX is very nice! My girlfriend owns one, it's nice and black, 128 MB memory, WiFi, Bluetooth, etc. I own a Lifedrive, which for now I'm pretty satisfied with, although it's heavier, has shorter battery life¸, slower and a little less stable than the TX (because of the hard disk). The LifeDrive allows you to add tons of pictures, mp3s, videos,... to your palm, but you can't use the 4Gb hard drive to add programs (which often must be installed on the memory, in which case the LifeDrive only has 64Mb). 2 weeks ago I bought a Bluetooth GPS receiver (100$ on eBay) and with the TomTom software, I can use my PDA as a navigation system, which is really nice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest UWOMED2005 Posted July 4, 2006 Report Share Posted July 4, 2006 I just bought a T/X a few months ago. No complaints. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest peachy Posted July 4, 2006 Report Share Posted July 4, 2006 I love my Dell Axim x50v, a fantastic PDA if you aren't committed to a Palm device. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Kenola Posted July 4, 2006 Report Share Posted July 4, 2006 I have a Palm TX which works great! My desktop PC has an analog to digital video converter(ATI All in Wonder) with coax input...so I can record any TV programs and put 'em on the TX....great for vegging out in the library at school, while on the bus, etc.... I also have Lexi-Drugs and 5 Minute Clinical Consult on my palm, which are great for quick lookups!! Kenola Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rubberoduck Posted July 4, 2006 Report Share Posted July 4, 2006 is palm OS better than the windows version? I read somewhere that people who have the Dell Axim also enjoy theirs. I think palm OS requires very little memory compared to the PC OS, because I have an ancient Palm IIIc that I treasure and it can run many useful programs with only 8MB memory. How will the platform affect what software you can use from CMA? Most websites give both versions, but I haven't registered for CMA so I have no idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest peachy Posted July 5, 2006 Report Share Posted July 5, 2006 is palm OS better than the windows version?These days, most software is available for both platforms. My impression, having owned both Palm and Windows PDA's, is that the Palm OS is much easier to learn and to use initially, but that the Windows is much more powerful. I much prefer my Axim to my old Palm. Pretty much everybody prefers whatever they own, I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest geekpunk Posted July 5, 2006 Report Share Posted July 5, 2006 Is a PDA all that useful for pre-clerkship? I'll just be starting med school in August and just got a laptop, so I wasn't even thinking about getting a PDA... until a friend of mine (who will also just be starting med school) bought one recently. I'll be starting at UofT... aka peachy, I'm expecting a fairly detailed, accurate response on why or why not I should buy a PDA now or save it until clerkship Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rubberoduck Posted July 5, 2006 Report Share Posted July 5, 2006 I've owned a palm since highschool, and found it really useful. it's much cheaper than a laptop, and with a portable keyboard it works just as well for taking notes, looking up vocabs and stuff. I'm ready to move onto a PC-version PDA. Peachy, since you owned a palm previously, how does the Axim compare to the palm (which version was it?). I'm pretty happy with Palm OS so far, but I'm also getting a keyboard, so I'd like something that is compatible with a reasonably priced portable keyboard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest scrubbed Posted July 6, 2006 Report Share Posted July 6, 2006 Hey there, I'll happily allow peachy to expand on this, but my take is that unless you plan to use it for other purposes, such as scheduling, you would probably be best to hold off until clerkship. From what I understand, U of T's clerkship PDA program requires a Palm OS, so keep that in mind. I had one this year, and with the free programs (Epocrates and Diagnosaurus) that I had, it was useful to look up stuff, such as drugs or differential diagnoses, during seminars, PBL, and clinical skills. Our lecture hall has wireless access, so you could use it to check email as well, though the computer lab is quite close by. Last year, at least, in our orientation package we had a certificate through the CMA for the free one-year use of PEPID Clinical Rotations Companion (CRC), but, alas, I failed to renew mine in time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest UWOMED2005 Posted July 7, 2006 Report Share Posted July 7, 2006 Save buying a PDA until clerkship. They'll be better and cheaper 2 yrs from now than now, and you'll probably just end up wanting to replace it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest peachy Posted July 7, 2006 Report Share Posted July 7, 2006 Save buying a PDA until clerkship. They'll be better and cheaper 2 yrs from now than now, and you'll probably just end up wanting to replace it.I agree that you don't need a PDA for medical stuff for preclerkship. But I like having one anyways, I use it primarily as an organizer (calendar, to-do list, etc) as well as for fun stuff (mp3's, movies, games, etc). Hopefully by the time I get to clerkship U of T won't be using Palm-only software... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest summervirus Posted July 7, 2006 Report Share Posted July 7, 2006 While I agree that PDA's are a great asset and that tons of students use them, I've never really used mine very much. I got one as a gift and used it quite diligently during my first rotation but haven't really touched it since. It's just sat in my drawer. I think I'm just old fashioned but I enjoy looking things up in a book more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rubberoduck Posted July 7, 2006 Report Share Posted July 7, 2006 I'm going to Mac, so I'm not sure if they require palm OS. I agree that it's best to hold off until clerkship, the price might not change much in a year. I'm asking this because a friend of mine wants to give me a PDA as a present. He initially suggested a Blackberry, but then I asked someone who has it and found that it's not really that useful except for checking emails. I read that CMA has a lot of good deals on computers, so maybe I should just wait until orientation week and join the CMA before I choose the PDA. On that note, if I have to get a PDA, is Palm better than PC? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest UWOMED2005 Posted July 8, 2006 Report Share Posted July 8, 2006 Excellent point on the Blackberries. . . unless something has changed and they offer Palm OS or Windows CE, they're not useful for medical software. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest scrubbed Posted July 8, 2006 Report Share Posted July 8, 2006 Hello rod, If you'd like to integrate a PDA (with data capabilities like the BlackBerry) with a phone, a popular option is the Palm Treo. As for CMA specific deals, with a three year activation with Bell, they were cutting an additional $100 off the price in addition to the price drop you would normally get going with a three-year rate plan, making it $189. There are also PocketPC based smartphones as well that do the same thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TKP 123 Posted July 8, 2006 Report Share Posted July 8, 2006 Hi Scrubbed, I just got a pocket PC. Do you suggest any more free medical softwares for pocket PC? The ones you mentioned a few posts before are good! Thanks a lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest blinknoodle Posted July 8, 2006 Report Share Posted July 8, 2006 Hey there, I found that McMaster has a very comprehensive list of medical software for PDAs. hsl.mcmaster.ca/resources...ources.htm I have an Axim x51v and I really like InfoRetriever with the 5 Minute Clinical Consult (you may have access to it through your university). I also like Mosby's Drug Consult which I got through MD Consult through the CMA. I am also looking into getting Uptodate, which is only currently available for PocketPCs and not Palms (I imagine Palms will become compatible soon enough though). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rubberoduck Posted July 11, 2006 Report Share Posted July 11, 2006 looks like there's more software for Palm OS than PC.. do you find that having a PC hinders your choice of software? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest scrubbed Posted July 11, 2006 Report Share Posted July 11, 2006 Hi TKP, I haven't come across any more useful free programs that can be obtained in a legitimate way. There are free trial (partial) versions of Harrison's and Five Minute Clinical Consult availble. Take care. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest peachy Posted July 11, 2006 Report Share Posted July 11, 2006 looks like there's more software for Palm OS than PC.. do you find that having a PC hinders your choice of software?Historically that was true, but today I think that there's pretty much as good a selection for either device. Imho, the Windows market is growing faster than Palm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest scrubbed Posted July 11, 2006 Report Share Posted July 11, 2006 Hi there, My take would be not really. Most, if not all, of the more recent and comprehensive programs are available for both systems. As the Palm OS was developed first and seems to be easier to make programs for, there are more programs for the Palm OS available. Many of these programs are small and supplemental in nature. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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