PDAs and pocket PCs - Buyers Guide

Home Office Computing, Nov, 2000 by Holly Aguirre

Replace your organizer, check your e-mail on the road, and step into the 21st century

TIRED OF JOTTING NOTES ON THE back of your phone bill or missing appointments when sticky notes fall off your calendar? Get organized! You can manage all your contacts, arrange all your appointments, and even answer your e-mail with a device that fits in the palm of your hand. Whether you call it a personal digital assistant (PDA) or handheld PC; prefer Microsoft's Pocket PC platform or the popular Palm (still frequently called by its former name of PalmPilot); or want just the basics or a plethora of add-on applications whatever your needs, there's a PDA with your name on it.

The best way for home-based workers to choose a handheld is to identify the tasks for which it'll be used. Highly mobile types will want the lightest available model; third-party software junkies will want ample RAM, others will crave add-on expansion slots or wireless e-mail and Internet access.

Display type will play a role in your decision, too. Most Palm OS-based organizers have monochrome, 160 by 160-pixel LCDs with four shades of gray, while some Pocket PCs boast more than 65,000 colors at 240 by 320 resolution, but pay a penalty in battery life. All PDAs can synchronize data with your desktop or laptop PC (though Microsoft models won't talk to Macs), but some do so via faster USB instead of serial cables.

Disposing of any preconceived notions, we rolled up our sleeves and got to know eight PDAs--three Palms, a Palm-compatible Handspring, three Pocket PCs, and one of Research in Motion's BlackBerry gadgets. Using a Micron Millennia Max desktop test bed, we synchronized all eight units and took them to task, loading them up with contact names, numbers, appointments, alarms, and (when possible) e-mails. We used them indoors and out, both day and night.

Casio Cassiopeia EM500

We were dazzled by the stunning 65,536-color, active-matrix screen of the Cassiopeia EM500 Pocket PC, but what Casio calls a "mobile multimedia tool" seems more suitable for MP3 music fans than home-based workers.

The USB-compatible, 16MB EM500 uses a rechargeable lithium-ion battery pack; it has three buttons and a data wheel that makes scrolling through programs easy. Like other Pocket PC products, the Casio also comes with software for note-taking, keeping your agenda, organizing contacts, and sending and receiving e-mail though no modem is included.

Besides playing MP3 audio files, the 8-ounce EM500 also functions as a reliable voice recorder. An optional, postage-stamp-size "multimedia memory card" holds up to 64MB of movie and sound clips. Unfortunately, these enhancements slow down the unit's performance.

Available in cute colors and designed to take advantage of the increasing amount of digital content on the Web, the sleek Cassiopeia isn't necessarily the best deal for people who just want to keep their schedules and check their messages. But if you're Looking to have fun in between keeping in touch with clients on the road, and you've got $500 to spend, the Cassiopeia is a stylish option.

[up arrow] Bright screen; excellent multimedia

[down arrow] Sluggish performance

Compaq iPaq H3650 Pocket PC

A color PDA will set you back a penny or two. At $499, the 6.5-ounce iPaq H3650 Pocket PC is one of the pricier models in our roundup, but you get a Lot out of the unit and even more in the box. Though we initially experienced minor alignment problems with the touchscreen, a simple adjustment got us up and scheduling in no time.

The iPaq's shiny silver case makes it the most stylish handheld we tested, as well as the sturdiest (good) and one of the heaviest (bad). Its 4,086-color, active-matrix screen is bright and sharp, though the display plus the speedy 206MHz Intel StrongARM processor and ample 32MB of RAM give the Compaq a noticeable appetite for battery power.

We became fans of QMenu right away; this Compaq addition to the Pocket PC operating system Lets you switch among applications quickly and easily. A supplied tutorial is helpful, though PC synchronization took some trial and error.

The rechargeable lithium-batteried iPaq has voice recording and MP3 capabilities, but our base model doesn't come with any expansion slots--bulky, slide-on option packs provide CompactFLashmemory, modem, or PC Card expansion. Still considering its useful business applications, we think the iPaq would make a great companion for the home-based vagabond.

[up arrow] Tons of bundled applications

[down arrow] Heavy; pricey expansion options

Handspring Visor Deluxe

At $249, we think the Visor Deluxe is a fine choice for those in need of an expandable handheld compatible with the huge array of Palm OS applications--though it's a no-frills choice compared to some of its more colorful or feature-packed competitors.

The 5.4-ounce Visor also felt a bit cheaper than others--when removing the snap-over cover, we feared the device would break--and its instruction manual is a bit skimpy. The unit comes with 8MB of memory; you can add more storage, a modem, or other options via a proprietary Springboard expansion slot, though the selection of Springboard modules has been thinner than was expected at Handspring's debut a year ago. You'll also need to buy an AC adapter if you want an alternative to the Visors AAA batteries.