I own both (and am selling both, if you're interested) and there
are some important comparisons that I'll get to after your
original questions. . . .
> The OmniGo appears to be a physically rugged design. But
> its also bigger and heavier.
The OmniGo is actually not that heavy, but it is larger and
thicker--paperback book rather than wallet size. It is rugged
enough to rarely need any sort of case if you're going to be
careful and carry it in a briefcase or bookbag or similar.
> The pilot is smaller and lighter, but I've seen several
> posts about people dropping their pilots and having the
> thing crack.
The Pilot has a much smaller form factor, but there are several
trouble spots. First, it has no built-in screen protection, so
you're going to need some sort of case, which thus kinda cancels
out the beauty of the form factor. Second, folks have reported
screen cracks ($100 repair) from various causes, from dropping
units to sitting down with Pilots in pockets. Third, something
about the design (yet to be determined) has been producing case
cracks around the tunnel for the pen. Fourth, the screen seems
to be more liable to scratches than the OmniGo screen (I base
this solely on posts, and may have more to do with who buys what
than anything physical.).
> The pilot also appears to be more responsive to user input
> and has a longer battery life.
Somewhat faster, particularly between apps. And the battery life
is spectacular. However, you have to assess how heavily you'll be
using the machine and whether battery life is a significant issue.
For light users, the difference between 4 weeks and 8 weeks barely
seems to be worth mentioning. Neither machine has an AC adapter.
>If anyone can add to this that would be great.
> How much does it cost to get the software development kit
> for the OmniGo or Pilot.
I'm not sure of the current GEOS/Ogo pricing. Note that there's
IZL, a third-party product, that's very reasonably priced. I
believe IZL allows you to program directly on the OmniGo. I am
not a programmer, so forgive my fuzziness here.
For the Pilot, you program in Metrowerks CodeWarrior on a Mac; a
Windows version is promised for the fall. Price is $299 for the
programming tools; $499 gets you the tools plus a Pilot 5000.
Some shareware/freeware programming hacks are beginning to show
up for the Pilot.
> Is it possible to use the Pilot with non-DOS machines to
> sync the data in the PDA?
Nothing official. Folks are busy in sharewareland, but everything
at this stage is theoretical or worse.
> From stuff I have seen on the
> internet the omnigo can export/import its data as a simple text
> file. So I'm pretty certain that I could use the omnigo with
> a unix machine (my primary platform). How hard would this
> be with the pilot?
Someone is trying to hack together Mac and Linux utilities, I dunno
how far along the project is. But the Pilot only works out of the
box with the Windows HotSync and cradle.
>Any other comments or ideas would be great.
The name database on the Pilot is much more sophisticated than that
of the Ogo; essentially the Pilot's is stolen from the Newton. I
still cannot believe that the Ogo doesn't give you separate fields
for first and last names.
Scheduling/todos: I rate this as a toss-up, but this is a very personal
area. I've already crafted too long a message here, so I'll just
ask you to single out personal needs and ask questions about them.
Notepad: Toss-up.
Database, bookreader, spreadsheet, jotter: Not available on Pilot. If
these apps are important to you, you need the OmniGo.
HotSync: Both machines feature routines from Palm Computing, now part
of USR. The OmniGo version was written first; the Pilot version is
a refinement. Pilot wins. If what you will do is enter data on a PC
then transfer to your PDA, Pilot wins very big.
Other thoughts:
The Pilot seems to have caught public fancy, and mailing list, newsgroup,
and third-party development activity are snowballing. I don't know if
this will hold up, but it may be significant in predicting the future
of the machines.
HP is rumored to have a backlit model coming soon. No rumors of new
Pilots yet. Hard to say what each company expects.
Both machines are definitely version 1 beasties. The Pilot needs much
more work on ergonomics; it *feels* flimsy. On the other hand, the
Ogo screen visibility sucks. Your call on this comparison.
Ask more questions. . . .
-Ezra