Palm or Pocket?
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Vertical PDAs:
Introduction 1. Palm or pocket? 2. Compaq iPAQ H3970 3. Palm Tungsten | T 4. Toshiba Pocket PC e740 5. PDA Comparison 6. New releases 7. Editor's Choice About RMIT Test Labs |
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
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.
What to look for
Operating System (Microsoft or Palm?): The operating system determines how your device runs and what types of programs and add-ons you can use. See the table below for a comparison of features.
Battery Life: Batteries need to last the distance—you would at least need to be able to make it through the day without using a power supply. Also make sure your PDA protects your data even after its batteries go flat.
Protection: Like most small things, we tend to drop PDAs on the floor. Find a case that protects your PDA from shocks.
Connectivity: Bluetooth and Wi-Fi (802.11b) connectivity are increasingly being built into PDAs. Do you need wireless connectivity now, or would you prefer the option of adding it on later?
Display Resolution: A high resolution is important because it determines how sharp and clear the picture will be.
Memory: The amount of installed RAM determines how many programs you can carry, as well as how well they run on your PDA. Palm OS-based PDAs generally aren´t don´t require as much system RAM as Microsoft Pocket PC PDAs.
| Feature | Palm OS 5.0 | Pocket PC 2002 | ||
| Address book | Yes | Yes | ||
| Calendar | Yes | Yes | ||
| Note pad | Yes | Yes | ||
| Yes | Yes | |||
| Calculator | Yes | Yes | ||
| Handwriting recognition | Yes | Yes | ||
| Connectivity | ||||
| Works with PC | Yes | Yes | ||
| Works with Mac | Yes | No | ||
| Office Applications | ||||
| MS Word | Optional | Yes | ||
| MS Excel | Optional | Yes | ||
| MS Powepoint | Optional | Optional | ||
| Adobe Acrobat Reader | Optional | Optional | ||
| Voice recorder | Yes | Yes | ||
| Internet | ||||
| HTML browser | Optional | Yes | ||
| Instant messenger client | Optional | Yes | ||
| Terminal client | Optional | Yes | ||
| Entertainment | ||||
| MP3 playback support | Optional | Yes | ||
| Video playback | Optional | Yes | ||
| Display | ||||
| 16-bit color support | Yes | Yes | ||
| Screen resolution | 320x320 (Sony offers 320x480) | 320x240 | ||
| Software Support | ||||
| Third-party applications on download.com | Over 1800 | About 400 | ||
