Interoperability
We looked at connectivity, including bandwidth/carrier support and items such as Bluetooth.
Futureproofing
We looked at feature set, performance, and third-party application support.
ROI
We looked at features vs price vs value to business.
Service
What comes standard, extras, and what you get for those extra $$$?
What to look out for?
What to look for when buying a business phone really depends on what angle you approach from. Do you want a PDA, and all its inherent functionality, with mobile phone capabilities? Or do you want a mobile phone -- convenient size and form factor with some handy PDA functionality?
- Size: Whichever view you take, the phone must be as small and light as possible without sacrificing functionality or usability.
- Display: The bigger the better -- particularly if you intend to manipulate data or access the Web.
- Keyboard: No matter what the form factor, inputting large amounts of data on the move needs an efficient input system. The size and spacing of the keys is very important.
Extensive data input is really beyond a standard phone keyboard. A QWERTY-style keyboard, or robust handwriting recognition is a more reasonable option. - Performance: If you only use the calendar and address book then most of the phones will be fine. If you happen to use applications such as Pocket Word, then the faster the processor the better. Look for memory expansion capabilities if your data requirements are large or expected to grow.
- Battery life: With any phone, battery life is important. And with extended functionality comes a greater drain on battery power, so a unit that won't need charging so often will definitely prove handy.
- Connectivity: Finally, if you do need to surf the Web frequently or upload and download data regularly, look for one of the faster connections such as 3G or EVDO.
Although it is not quite available yet, you must also check out the next HP iPAQ 6500 - it is the size of a Blackberry 7230, but so much more capable; quad-band phone with EDGE, 1.3Mpix camera & LED flash, Bluetooth (no WiFi), GPS!!!!, and the usual PPC2003SE stuff (hopefully upgradeable to WindowsMobile5.0 in Oct or so).
http://www.brighthand.com/article/iPAQ_hw6500_Coming_in_September?site=SmartPhone
http://davesipaq.com/news/ipaq_hw6500_comparison.html
And here is a link to some recent forum comment about the size (smaller than a normal iPAQ), battery life (better than a normal iPAQ, not as good as a Blackberry!) and built in keyboard (very similar to Blackberry).
http://davesipaq.com/forum/showthread.php?p=35358#post35358
It is already released in Germany & UK (in theory at least!) and I'm hoping to see it in Australia in Aug or Sept..