low cost PDAs ?

[wowiesy]

Hi guys,

Any of you guys know of locally available low cost PDAs that:

- have data (GPRS or WIFI) capabilities
- open for application development
- locally available
- affordable (for deployment to sales fleet)

[ghosthunter]

Hi guys,

Any of you guys know of locally available low cost PDAs that:

- have data (GPRS or WIFI) capabilities
- open for application development
- locally available
- affordable (for deployment to sales fleet)

You might be able to find a few HP iPAQ pdas in the local stores but they will still cost at least P15,000 each. You will have better luck checking out Amazon.com.

At that price, you might be better off going with the alternative of using netbook PCs. You can find units being sold between P13,000 to P15,000 that have six-cell batteries (for longer battery time) included instead of the 3-cell batt pack for most entry level netbooks.

[wowiesy]

You might be able to find a few HP iPAQ pdas in the local stores but they will still cost at least P15,000 each. You will have better luck checking out Amazon.com.

At that price, you might be better off going with the alternative of using netbook PCs. You can find units being sold between P13,000 to P15,000 that have six-cell batteries (for longer battery time) included instead of the 3-cell batt pack for most entry level netbooks.

option ang netbook.. although dapat may inverter nakakabit sa trak para sure na may power lagi...

in the scenario na FMCG distributor ako... i have sales group and delivery group.. doing Ex Truck operations (selling to Sari Sari stores talaga, instead of just the big buyers per locality).. I am thinking of a system na up to the minute ang reporting.. like for customer A, nakabenta ng 5 shampoo, 5 sabon, 10 chichirya, 10 na sigarilyo, etc..

para by the end of the day, alam agad kung yung agent is hitting the targets / goals set by the company...

kung manual kasi.. like write a report when nag report by end of the week sa office... by the time na encode yung information from the report... 2 - 3 weeks na nag lapse... difficult na to call the attention of the agent concerned to find out the issues / challenges na nangyari 2 - 3 weeks ago...

The old Palm Pilots would've been okay... although it would've needed to dock and sync bago ma send sa servers yung information... I've seen sa brother ko in Aus where he was in the distribution business na may PDA (windows CE ata) that he uses.. sync lang to download the set route for the day.. as he makes delivery per outlet, update lang sa PDA... by the end of the day updated na lahat and ready to replenish stocks in the truck... the PDA he used needed to be syncd on a base, and yet it also had GPRS / WIFI capabilities..

now with PDA phones... maaari na.. 1 problem is the hardware selection... the other is the application development... since medyo customized yung application... saan maaaring magpagawa or bumili?

most of the apps available are more of games and general productivity...

the lower cost alternative may be to use text... (keyword then data) but the keyword and the data need to be properly formatted and that brings up a lot of issues....

alternatives?

[ghosthunter]

alternatives?

The reason I suggested netbooks is because they are more flexible for you to use. Also cheaper with lots of models to choose from and easier access to repair or even replacements than PDAs. You don't even need to have the same brand and models since they all work typically the same way. (If you got PDAs, you need to train your people for them and a change of PDA might end up incompatible to your custom softwares or hardware.

Netbooks with six cell batteries can typically last 4 to 5 hours on a full charge while those with a 3-cell battery pack will last about 2 hours.

As for charging them in the field, car DC/AC inverters are common and you can adapt them to run on 24volt truck systems if needed.

As for your system, I was thinking of simple spreadsheet forms that your field people will just fill in the blanks with sales information. And then he will send the file back to the head office via 3G-internet and email. Of course, this will mean a full time job for at least one person at the head office who will compile all the individual sales reports as they arrive to a single sales report per salesman.

Given that, you can see by the end of the day or next morning the performance of your field sales people.

Overall this would be simple to setup and only requires minimal training for your field people to know how to do data entry into software like MS Excel (or open source equivalents).

[digitalron]

I would recommend making your applications web-based, then you can use cheap 5,000 peso Android tablets with 3G capabilities (you can check in Sulit). You then only need a browser, no special development work needed at the hardware level. The beauty of this is that if you build the application properly, it doesn't matter if it is accessed by a tablet, netbook, PC, or smartphone: as long as the application is web standards compliant, you can access it with a web browser. Pair it with a 1,000/month 3G data plan and you're set.

One advantage of this approach is that if you have updates or changes to your application, you only need to update the web server files: no need to install into individual devices, and no need to recompile for different operating systems/processors/platforms... your staff will instantly see the updates wherever they are.

[wowiesy]

I would recommend making your applications web-based, then you can use cheap 5,000 peso Android tablets with 3G capabilities (you can check in Sulit). You then only need a browser, no special development work needed at the hardware level. The beauty of this is that if you build the application properly, it doesn't matter if it is accessed by a tablet, netbook, PC, or smartphone: as long as the application is web standards compliant, you can access it with a web browser. Pair it with a 1,000/month 3G data plan and you're set.

One advantage of this approach is that if you have updates or changes to your application, you only need to update the web server files: no need to install into individual devices, and no need to recompile for different operating systems/processors/platforms... your staff will instantly see the updates wherever they are.

pwede din... although web apps are a bit a challenge in the area of GUI options... kung netbook ang hardware nila.. i suppose it will do...