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headerChoosing a PDA
Options to Consider When Choosing a PDA

 

Size
If you want to carry your gadget with you at all times, your choice is rather limited. Few devices are small enough to sit comfortably in a jacket pocket, although many fit easily into a handbag or briefcase. If your dress style offers only denim pockets, your choice is going to be further restricted. As size decreases, compromises must be made on the screen and keyboard. Some pocket computers allow the user to zoom in and out of the display area, making good use of the resolution available. The fixed font screens on the simpler machines can only display a limited number of characters and their small screens can be difficult to work with.

 
Keyboards
Pocket computers really need keyboards. Some manufacturers have made brave attempts to do without, but many buyers take up offers of an optional keyboard. Only a small number of products offer keyboards capable of sustained typing. Other devices, especially Palmtops, dispense with keyboards altogether and rely entirely on symbols and touch-sensitive screens, or a stylus and some advanced method of script recognition. Palmtops can get away without a keyboard because the concept behind them calls for most data to be entered via a full-size computer, and the pocket device is used mostly for accessing or editing downloaded information.


Memory
PDAs that offer PC connectivity are basically a receptacle for the data that you keep on your desktop computer. To replicate your data easily, without depending on a desktop computer, you'll need some independent and removable data media, and the PC card and CompactFlash card are the most popular of these. Cheaper devices, which are not designed to connect to a computer and come without removable storage, trap your data inside. If you lose them you lose everything inside them, too. This should be an important buying consideration. For storing a hundred or so names and addresses and a few diary entries, the 128k of memory found in the humblest of digital diaries will suffice. PDAs are designed to keep more complex records and the minimum capacity required is likely to be 2Mb – enough for several hundred names and complex to-do lists. If you then want to extend the data you hold, perhaps adding email, then a larger specification is necessary, say 4Mb of data memory. With the more expensive PDAs, memory upgrades are usually offered.

 

Connectivity
All of the more upmarket devices offer PC connectivity to allow you to transfer data between the PDA and a desktop PC, or indeed between PDAs. Most include IrDa (infrared) ports that beam information between PDA and printer, desktop, laptop or another PDA and many also enable serial or USB connection via either a cradle-like docking station or a simple cable. Most PDAs that do connect to a PC will include synchronisation software to keep information such as email and diary appointments up-to-date in each location.

 

Internet connectivity
A new range of PDAs has now arrived onto the market, aimed at those who need to keep an eye on the web and email while on the move. These connect to the Internet via either special GSM mobile phone leads or some form of external modem. For truly portable Internet, some of the higher-end 3Com Palm devices offer mini web browsers as well as fully functional email clients, and with a Pocket PC device there are basic versions of familiar Windows web browsers available.
view our selection of Palms here.