The choice of operating system for a personal digital assisant (PDA) is effectively down to two— Palm OS or Pocket PC—but the variety of choices for the handheld itself is very impressive. We test three of the best, and see what’s coming up soon.
PDAs are definitely not just digital organisers. Some of the latest PDAs can run applications that you once thought could only run on your desktop PC. These days, one of the hardest decisions you have to make is deciding which OS (operating system) is going to best suit you.
Lately we have seen the two main players, Palm OS and Pocket PC, converging in many respects. Although Pocket PC took a lead in multimedia features, Palms now sport colour screens, feature voice recorders, allow you to edit Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files, and can even play MP3 files.
With the right software and peripherals you can extend your PDA’s capabilities. Having Bluetooth built into your PDA and a Bluetooth-enabled phone you will be able to send and receive e-mail and surf the Web wirelessly. WiFi (802.11b) allows you to stay connected across a wireless LAN.
Secure Digital or CompactFlash type cards allow you to extend the PDA’s memory capacity using flash memory cards. In the case of CompactFlash, microdrives can significantly extend your memory capacity, though with a corresponding toll on battery life.
The biggest drawback to these PDAs is price: although lower-priced options are available, these are mostly targeted at consumers and have limited features. The PDAs we received—which are targeted at business users—cost between $1099 and $1548, which is fairly standard.
Other than the initial cost, accessories also tend to be expensive. You can choose from a wide range of cases. There are also functional additions like docking stations, flash memory (as we mentioned previously), network adaptors, barcode readers, modems, keyboards, digital cameras, and GPS receivers.
Palm or Pocket?
The essential question to ask yourself when choosing the OS for your handheld is whether you want a miniature version of a desktop PC or something that doesn’t have all the flash, but is faster and more efficient.
There are two platforms that dominate the PDA market: Palm OS from Palm, and Pocket PC from Microsoft.
Until recently, the choice of handheld vendor determined the choice of operating system and—subsequently—applications. Palm OS is used on Palm handhelds as well as those from Handspring and Sony, while HP, Toshiba, NEC and others use Pocket PC. Acer’s recent entry into the handheld market with both Palm OS and Pocket PC devices may shake things up a little.
The advantages stem from the differences in design philosophy; it can almost be said that it’s similar to choosing between a PC and Mac. Pocket PC aims to replicate as closely as possible the look and feel of a Windows desktop environment, while Palm OS was designed from the ground up for handhelds. As a result, Pocket PC takes up significantly more memory and processing power than Palm OS, but generally has better multimedia features and is easier to integrate with your Windows desktop system’s contacts, appointments, and so forth. A lot of work on Palm OS over the last year or so has evened out these advatanges to an extent. Palm OS also has a much larger library of third-party software available.
Display Size
Pocket PC devices typically have offered larger screens, typically 320 x 240, while Palm OS-based PDAs typically have had 160 x 160 pixel screens. The new Palm Tungsten T has a 320 x 320 colour display that supports over 65K colours. Several Palm OS-based Sony Clie models also feature high resolution and colour depth.
Ease of Use
As we have mentioned earlier, Pocket PCs are a scaled down version of your desktop PC. That means you will pretty much navigate around applications in a similar way. With Palm OS-based PDAs on the other hand, you can assign any applications to a button. That means you don’t have to go through all sorts of menus to get to your favourite application.
When it basically comes down to it, if all you want is fast access to information, then a Palm OS PDA is better in this regard. However, Pocket PC based PDAs can run multiple applications simultaneously, which also has its advantages.
Compaq iPAQ H3970
The Compaq iPAQ runs Pocket PC 2002. Like the Toshiba E740, it uses a 400MHz Intel Xscale PXA250 processor and has 64MB of RAM. It features 48MB of Flash ROM compared to the Toshiba’s 32MB, which means you can store more files or programs safely in the non-volatile area. It also features built-in Bluetooth, unlike the Toshiba.
One thing missing from the iPAQ is a slot for a CompactFlash card. However, you can buy an expansion pack that will then enable you to use Type I or Type II CompactFlash cards. Other expansion options include a dual-slot PC Card expansion pack (two Type II or one Type III), the SPS 3000 expansion pack for barcode scanning, a Bluetooth wireless pack with CF slot, and a wireless pack for GSM/GPRS networks. There is also an array of leather and plastic cases and covers.
Adding wireless capabilities to this PDA is quite expensive—you need to buy the add-on sleeve and then fork out at least another $200 for a CompactFlash wireless network adaptor. This not only bulks up the cost, but adds considerable bulk and weight to the unit itself. The next model after this, the H5450, will have Bluetooth and Wi-Fi wireless built in, but will be considerably more expensive.
Another option is to buy the PC Card sleeve. This is even bulkier than the CompactFlash sleeve, but may be useful for companies who have already invested in PC Card adaptors for their notebooks, or who need to use a single vendor’s products for security reasons.
The iPAQ has a beautiful screen and was the pick of the lot in terms of sharpness, brightness, and contrast. The voice recorder and speaker weren’t any better than Toshiba’s, but that wasn’t too much of a concern for us. The iPAQ doesn’t have a removable battery and the manufacturer claims battery life is up to 14 hours.
Palm Tungsten | T
The Palm Tungsten T was the only Palm OS-based PDA that we received for testing. Sony and Handspring also use Palm OS, but they decided not to submit any PDAs as they were in between replacing their older models.
The Palm was the smallest of the three PDAs. It weighs only 157 grams and measures 15 x 77 x 102mm. However once you slide open the PDA to unveil the Graffiti writing area, the length increases to 122mm.
This is quite a sleek and innovative design. The “convertible” cover for the Graffiti area means you can easily store the PDA in your pocket, and can access a lot of the functionality while the cover remains closed.
This Palm features a Texas Instruments OMAP1510 processor, which is an enhanced ARM-based processor. It only sports 16MB of RAM of which 14MB is used for actual storage. The Palm doesn’t need as much RAM as a Pocket PC-based PDA. It OS doesn’t take up much space and neither do most of the applications that run on it. However, we still feel it should have come with more memory, especially for the price.
The Palm has a built-in Bluetooth chip. The 3.5in screen has a resolution of 320 x 320. Palm has added a few firsts in the Tungsten, including a record button, a built-in microphone, and a stereo headphone jack.
This PDA also uses stamp-sized SD/MMC expansion cards, which are sold separately, allowing you to instantly add software and additional memory. There’s also a Palm Universal Connector, which will let you add optional peripherals such as a portable keyboard. You can also purchase sleek covers that protect your screen from scratches.
And just when you thought you couldn’t use Microsoft Office applications on your Palm, think again. By installing Documents To Go by Data Viz, which is free and takes up only 1800K, you can view, create and edit Word, Excel, and Powerpoint files on your Palm. You can also view Adobe Acrobat files by installing the software from the CD supplied.
Toshiba Pocket PC e740
Toshiba hasn’t taken long at all to make a good name for itself in PDAs. Its latest release, the Pocket PC E740 comes with a 400MHz Intel XScale PXA250 processor, built-in WiFi (802.11b) wireless networking, and both SD/MMC and CompactFlash slots.
Despite its built in Wi-Fi and expansion slots, the E740 still remains quite light and small. It weighs 183 grams and measures only 80 x 125 x 16mm. Its design is quite simple and elegant.
The E740 has nearly double the clock speed of Toshiba’s first generation of Pocket PCs, like the E570. However, it’s not twice as fast. One of the main reasons for this is that the Pocket PC 2002 operating system is not optimised for the XScale processor, though we expect this to change in later versions.
Like the E570, it comes with 64MB of SD-RAM. We should note, however, that even though the specs tell us there’s 64MB of RAM available, the operating system says it only has 58MB of RAM.
The 3.5in TFT is capable of displaying 65,000 colours. The display is sharp and colours are nice and bright. The display also works well in all sorts of lighting conditions. There’s an integrated microphone that lets you record digital voice memos, however when we played them back via the built-in speaker, the sound tended to be quite muffled and not very loud.
The E740 has a removable battery that offers up to 72 hours protection of your data in the event of your primary battery going flat. In normal use, Toshiba claims you should be able to get nine hours of battery life. With the optional high capacity battery, you can expect up to 25 hours of battery life.
In October 2002, Toshiba recalled e740s bearing serial numbers 72014641L through 92041620L, because of a defect in the circuit board that prevented the back-up battery from charging.
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