Content provided in partnership with

Pocket secretaries

Men's Fitness, August, 2003 by Michael Cahlin

IF YOU TOLD your buddies a few years ago that you owned a personal digital assistant, they might have envisioned a hardwired amanuensis with a D-cup and high heels. While making the same claim today won't inspire such vivid imagery, owning a PDA will let you get all your stuff in one great-looking sock. And with companies like Sony, Dell and Toshiba pumping out handhelds for every lifestyle and budget, buying a PDA has never been easier, cheaper--or trickier. Here's how to Goldilocks the best one for you.

BEST FOR THE MULTIMEDIAC

Most Popular Articles in Health: Fuel your workout: exercisers who eat before they work out have more energy ...; Soothe a dry, itchy scalp: 5 easy expert solutions; Cocktails and calories: Beer, wine and liquor calories can really add up. ...; The sour truth about apple cider vinegar - evaluation of therapeutic use; The, six best supplements you've never heard of: these secret weapons can ...; More »

At $799, Sony's CLIE-NZ90 costs as much as a small notebook. On the flip side, the Palm-PDA delivers high-end audio and video, a remote control for MP3 playback, a digital camera, and Bluetooth wireless networking. Speaking of flip, twisting the color swivel display reveals a two-thumb keyboard.

CONS: Price, weight.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

BEST FOR THE CORPORATEER

Owning Toshiba's e770 Pocket PC ($599) is like toting a tiny, lightweight Windows desktop. This enterprise-level PDA boasts a big, beautiful color screen for indoor and outdoor use, features a monster Intel 400-megahertz chip, and comes with more standard memory than any other handheld. Jammed with Microsoft software and such extras as a removable, rechargeable battery, expansion slots and wireless networking.

CONS: Does not support Mac.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

BEST FOR THE BUDGETEER

With all the high-end, "best in its class" features packed into the Palm Zire 71 ($299) and Dell Axim X5 Pocket PC ($199), it's crazy to call them entry-level. The Zire is thinner and sexier, and houses a secret slide-out digital camera. Souped-up configurations of both models are available.

CONS: Dell does not support Mac.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Pocket secretaries

Men's Fitness, August, 2003 by Michael Cahlin

Find Research Guides for:

Find Featured Titles for: News

Most Popular Articles in Health

Most Popular Publications in Health