How to Buy a PDA
Ready to get your life in order? Then maybe it's time to get a personal digital assistant. These small, lightweight devices can keep track of your appointments, phone numbers, and to-do lists, usually syncing with Microsoft Outlook or other desktop organizer software. Today's PDAs can also keep you amused with games, music, and video; a growing number have built-in cameras, and a few newer ones integrate GPS receivers as well. Even entry-level PDAs now have color screens, and all but the most inexpensive models also let you track e-mail, browse the Web, and send instant or text messages via built-in wireless Internet connectivity--Bluetooth (for connecting via a Bluetooth cell phone), Wi-Fi, and/or (in the case of PDA-phone hybrids) cellular networks. At the high end, a couple of models support two or three modes of wireless connection, so you can enjoy broadband speeds at Wi-Fi hotspots and increasingly speedy cellular hookups almost anyplace else.
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The Big Picture
PDAs range from simple, unconnected devices designed primarily to replace pocket address books and calendars to powerful devices with lots of memory, wireless connectivity, integrated cameras and keyboards, and graphics muscle for playing music and video. Here, we'll discuss the main issues you need to think about, such as PDA operating systems and how much memory you need.
PDAs range from simple, unconnected devices designed primarily to replace pocket address books and calendars to powerful devices with lots of memory, wireless connectivity, integrated cameras and keyboards, and graphics muscle for playing music and video. Here, we'll discuss the main issues you need to think about, such as PDA operating systems and how much memory you need.
The Specs Explained
We'll address the CPUs used in handhelds, screen resolution, and internal versus external memory--and tell you how important each feature is to your purchase.
We'll address the CPUs used in handhelds, screen resolution, and internal versus external memory--and tell you how important each feature is to your purchase.
PDA Shopping Tips
How much memory does your PDA need? What about the different operating systems? Find the answers to these questions and more in PC World's buying advice.
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How much memory does your PDA need? What about the different operating systems? Find the answers to these questions and more in PC World's buying advice.
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The Big Picture
Formerly just handy pocket secretaries, PDAs have become ever more versatile. Modern PDAs can handle wireless e-mail and instant messaging, digital photography, music, and even video. Increasingly, businesspeople who spend a lot of time on the road are replacing standard cell phones with PDA-phone hybrids such as a Palm Treo, a RIM BlackBerry, or a Windows Mobile-based model. (If you're interested in such a device, be sure to read "How to Buy a Cell Phone" as well.)
While PDAs of one type or another have been around for about a decade, technological advances have made them more versatile at the high end and more affordable at the low end. And these days, all PDAs, regardless of price, are thin, lightweight, and generally small enough to fit easily into a pocket.
The processors that power PDAs are faster than they used to be, so PDAs can now handle digital music and photos with ease. High-end models now sport mobile graphics processors that enable gaming and video playback without a huge sacrifice in battery life. At the other end of the price spectrum, even lower-cost units come with color screens. And a growing number of mid- and high-range units sport integrated mini-keyboards (also known as thumb keyboards), a welcome development for users who want to use their PDAs for e-mail or messaging and feel slowed down by styluses and handwriting-recognition software.
The ability to communicate wirelessly enhances a PDA's overall utility. Many of the midrange units incorporate 802.11b or the faster 802.11g Wi-Fi for accessing home or work networks or commercial hotspots. Even more PDAs are equipped with Bluetooth, which can connect to desktop or laptop PCs, to peripherals (such as headsets or printers), or to the Internet through a suitably equipped cell phone. One of the latest trends in PDAs is the inclusion of integrated GPS receivers and software that allows the handheld to double as a navigation device, either in a car or when you're walking around an unfamiliar city.
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