Tips on Buying a PDA

laarni080 · 01-29-2007, 03:26 AM

Pricing
Palm devices have been out the longest and have the biggest following. Pocket PC/Windows Mobile devices, however, are gaining in popularity. In general, Palms devices are cheaper than Pocket PC's. Obviously you can find expensive exceptions to this, but in general it holds true. As with most things, you'll pay more for extra features. Things like WiFi and Bluetooth will add to the price. Palm devices tend to be cheaper in part because the Palm operating system has been honed longer. That means Palm device can have less RAM and don't need to have processors that are extremely fast.
So, Palm devices will tend to be less expensive, but not less powerful. If you try to compare a Palm device to a Pocket PC it will be like comparing apples to oranges. The Pocket PC need more RAM and a faster processor to be competitive with a Palm device.
Weight and Size Considerations
Again, features will have an impact on both the weight and size of your device. In general, Palm devices are slimmer and lighter than their Pocket PC counterparts. Gradually, I've seen the size and weight of Pocket PC devices coming down. Even some of the Windows Mobile "smartphones" are very trim.
In my opinion you should look for the features you want first, and then deal with the size and weight. Remember that we aren't talking pounds of difference. In this arena we're talking ounces. So, unless space is a major consideration, pick the device you want to give based on its feature set.
Battery Life
Some of my first Palm devices were powered by either AA or AAA batteries. When those wore down you just popped in some new ones. Of course, back then the displays were all black and white and you didn't have things like Wi-Fi or Bluetooth to draw power. All of the most recent Palm and Pocket PC devices tend to come with Lithium ion batteries that are rechargeable. Yes, there are variations as to how long a charge will hold, but in most cases it's nothing major. If the device is sitting in a pocket or a purse it's going to last a fairly long time. For those who are concerned about running out of power there are a wide array of chargers that can work with USB ports, electrical outlets, and in your car. You can also adjust power setting to give you the most from each charge.
In general I'd say that Palm devices tend to get more time out of a charge than do Pocket PCs. In part that's due to the faster processors used in Pocket PCs. Once again, there are a variety of ways to recharge a device, so battery life shouldn't be a huge concern.
Software Considerations
This is the one area that might prove to be a deal-breaker depending on what you're looking for. First I'll talk about the Pocket PC's. Because they're based on Windows, the Pocket PC/Windows Mobile devices tend to have Pocket versions of Windows programs like Word and Excel. They'll also have Pocket Outlook which is a decisive factor for some users. Because Pocket PC devices are setup to run with Outlook, it makes it easy to synchronize with Outlook on your computer.
Palm devices came out first and they found themselves in a world dominated by Windows. So, there is Palm software to handle basically everything Windows. There are products that can deal with Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and Outlook. Growing up in a Windows world Palm devices adapted through excellent software. For the most part you can find Palm software to handle any Windows-related problem.
Both Palm and Pocket PC/Windows Mobile devices are very good when it comes to calendars, tasks, to-do lists, and contacts. Both also have a wide range of productivity tools available as well as games. You can find software to tell you the weather, find a street, or find a recipe.
Miscellaneous Considerations
In my opinion you'll find more Pocket PC devices with support for wireless and Bluetooth. They also tend to have better support for multimedia. Both Pocket PC's and Palms are tending to provide space for extra storage. This is usually support for Compact Flash (CF), Secure Digital (SD), or even mini-SD cards. I have a mini-SD card the size of a postage stamp that holds 1 gigabyte. So, if you want your handheld device to carry music and photos, this capability will be something to think about.