Running log of info on PDA's:
10-9-2003 - Extensive PDA comparison site.

Tungsten E - Downside: 126 MHz processor, lack of Universal Connector, no vibrating alarm, no microphone. Upside: Notes can be bigger, updated Documents to Go included. $200.
Tungsten T3 - Bluetooth uses lots of battery power. Contains everything the E lacks. $400.

10-9-2003 - The Sony TJ35 does not have a voice recorder. It has an MP3 player and uses a standard headphone jack. It also allows one to turn off the screen while playing songs. It uses PicselViewer to display files in Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint formats, as well as Adobe Acrobat, TXT, GIF, and JPEG. 5-hour battery life. It does not come with a cradle, and since the TJ's are wider than older Sony PDAs, it does not fit in many cradles. $250 and a $30 rebate.

8-20-2003 - There's a review of the new Garmin iQue 3600 GPS handheld that runs Palm OS at Brighthand. It comes with lots of software, including roads for the entire U.S. It also lets one locate a contact address by clicking on it. It must be popular, as all vendors listed have it either on backorder or are taking pre-orders. None had it in stock. The street price is around $550. Amazon has it for $511. Too bad the battery life is so poor, running out after about 3 hours of GPS use.

Requirements: Documents to Go, SD or CF memory, MP3 player, Remote keyboard

Tungsten T has 1-bit path from memory, T2 and Zire 71 both have 4-bit
T uses OS 5.0, T2 and Zire 71 use 5.2.1.
Zire 71 does not come with Documents to Go
T2 screen is not so great outdoors.

Maybe a Pocket PC isn't such a bad choice. The HP iPAQ h1910 is a pretty basic, bare-bones unit selling for $200. right now, and it meets my above requirements. Documents to Go isn't needed because it comes with Office compatibility. Unfortunately, it looks like the foldable iPAQ keyboards only work on the 2200 series and above.

The Toshiba e355 is also on sale now for $200, and USB keyboards work with the unit. It's not pretty but is very thin and has just about everything I need.

posted by Bruce Wright at 4:33 PM #