Got
the Whole World in Your Palm
Sun Review October 21, 2000
You've probably seen the commercial: A man and a woman seated in trains travelling in opposite directions hold up their Palm Pilots and just as the trains start to move, they "beam" their business cards to each other. The message is that handheld computers, also referred to as PDAs or Personal Digital Assistants, can make your life easier and more productive. And yes, dating will never be the same again.
PDAs come in many shapes, sizes, and colours, and when you add in a variety of memory configurations, operating systems, and application bundles, choosing the right one can take some serious work. What Kind of User Are You? In order to choose the right handheld, you'll need to figure out what you'll be doing with it. If you are a seriously wired person who needs to keep in touch via e-mail and be able to access news, reference and e-commerce sites anywhere, anytime, a wireless solution is the key. If you are a small business person who wants to keep up to date with business contacts, appointments and tasks, but don't need to connect to the Internet, a more basic PDA will do. PDAs can also be handy for students to take notes and keep track of class schedules and assignments.
You'll need to make some critical choices to select the right device.
Firstly, how portable a device do you need? Most palm-size PDAs weigh from 4 to 10 ounces and are small enough to fit in your pocket. A handheld PC or a sub-notebook generally weighs 2 to 3 pounds and has to be carried in a briefcase or backpack. Both have a similar battery life of roughly 6-8 hours for colour models and 20-30 hours for monochrome models.
Secondly, what is your budget? You can expect to pay around $200-250 for palm-size PDAs with monochrome screens, and $550-700 for colour screens.
Thirdly, do you have any special needs? If your company requires a particular operating system, go with the standard. Palm (www.palm.com) now has 86% of the PDA market share in Canada, and about 70% of the market globally. An incredible number of accessories and programs are available for the Palm OS (more than 500 hardware add-ons and over 6000 software applications). If you require voice recording, it's much easier to select a PDA that already has this capability built-in.
Feature Checklist:
Which add-ons can really make a difference in your life? Again, it depends on your needs. You may want to invest in an extra stylus in case you lose the original, or if you don't want to grow one long fingernail to operate your PDA. It's a good idea to invest in a battery charger and 2 sets of batteries. Keep both sets of batteries charged and you should always be prepared.
You may also consider buying an extra cradle or data cable if you use a PDA in two locations - like your home and your office - rather than lugging the docking cradle between locations. If you'll be doing a lot of writing, editing or data entry, an external keyboard is very handy. Make sure your device comes with a protective carrying case - PDA screens can easily break if dropped.
Third-party manufacturers offer a great variety of "snap-ons" that you can add to your PDA to increase its functionality.
At Protocol Technology's Trade Show on Friday October 13th I met Azim Verjee of Palm Canada, who demonstrated several of these snap-ons. Azim turned his Palm Pilot into a digital camera with a tiny Kodak PalmPix snap-on, took a photo and sent it to his PC all in less than a minute. Needless to say, I was much impressed! Next, Azim attached a QuickLink pen, which you can use as a highlighter to scan lines of text, and voila, the text is automatically converted into digital, editable text straight onto your Palm Pilot. With Minstrel V from Novatel Wireless (www.novatelwireless.com), your Palm Pilot has true mobile Internet access. You can purchase other snap-ons such as GPS Streetfinder (www.randmcnally.com) to help you navigate anywhere on the globe, and you can even turn your Palm Pilot into a portable science lab with ImagiProbes from ImagiWorks (www.imagiworks.com).
Palm offers a range of handhelds to fit your needs. For value and function, check out the Palm m100 (suggested retail price $229 Cdn). To add more applications and increased memory, move up to the IIIxe ($379), or if you prefer a colour display and rechargable batteries, the Palm IIIc ($599) fits the bill. If size is an issue, the ultra-thin and ultra-light Palm Vx ($599) won't cramp your style.
Of course there are alternatives to Palm handhelds. Handspring (www.handspring.com) makes the Visor Deluxe, which bears a striking resemblance to the Palm IIIxe in both features and price. The Visor is available in 5 cool colours, utilizes the Palm OS and comes with 8MB of RAM which will let you store 12,000 addresses, 10 years of appointments and 6,000 to do items. The unique Springboard module allows infinite expansion so that your Visor can become a digital camera, a wireless modem or even a phone. The Visor is Macintosh compatible right out of the box, and also features fast and easy USB synchronization. Suggested retail price is approx. $379 Cdn.
For a Canadian solution, check out the BlackBerry (www.blackberry.net) from Research in Motion (www.rim.net). The Blackberry is your one-stop, no-compromise, wireless e-mail solution. It includes a small hand-held device with an Intel386 processor, wireless modem, 2 MB memory, docking cradle and integrated e-mail/organizer. The Blackberry promises to provide easy and affordable access to your corporate e-mail wherever you go, although if you're on the Rogers AT&T network, coverage is only available in Canada's larger urban centres. Approximate retail price: $400-600 Cdn plus monthly service charges ($25-$50/month), or lease for $40-50/month.
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