3Com's Palm III: The latest version of one of the most successful PDA products.
(CNN) -- The personal digital assistant (PDA) has become THE information gadget of the 90's. The devices help busy people keep track of the ever-increasing amounts of intelligence in business, school and home environments. Designed to fit in pocket, purse, or briefcase, they are light on raw computing power but heavy in the ability to organize the minutiae of daily living. PDAs come in all shapes and sizes, and with so many competing devices on the market, it's important to find the one that fits your personal needs and style. This article will look at the most compact class of machines.

People looking to buy their first PDA or wanting to upgrade from an older one to a lighter, smaller desktop connected device, need to consider just two types of machines: The Palm and Pilot PDAs from 3Com and the new generation of palm-size PCs that use the latest version of the Windows CE operating system.

The Palm/US Robotics/3Com organizer

Those that haven't heard of the PalmPilot organizers must have been hiding under an analog rock for the past three years. This digital marvel was the first to break the "shirt pocket" size barrier by taking away a too-small keyboard and some of the more computer-like features of its larger, heavier predecessors. It found quick success and an impressive following of over 1.5 million loyal customers. It was also the first to offer easy connection and simple synchronization to desktop computers, making it easy for users to share data gathered away from the office.

The success of the Palm family of products has led to some corporate wheeling and dealing and several name changes. Palm Computing, Inc. originally developed the device, calling it the Pilot. US Robotics wisely bought the company and introduced a more powerful version called the PalmPilot. 3Com later acquired USR and just recently introduced the latest incarnation.

The 3Com PalmIII is the third generation of Palm organizers. Like the others, it is less than five inches tall and weighs just six ounces with both AAA batteries installed. Its Palm operating system offers users quick and easy access to date and address books, a to-do list, memo pad, calculator, expense records and offline reading of e-mail. Its "HotSync" one-button synchronization software is easy to set up and a breeze to use.

PalmPilot users will be immediately impressed with the new Palm III. It has an improved ergonomic design that is thinner and fits better in the palm of your hand with a hard, flip-up screen cover instead of a cumbersome leather case.

Some obvious design improvements have been made to the Palm III. The screen contrast control wheel is now protected underneath the side of the device so your screen doesn't get "tweaked" when you don't want it to. The metal connectors that make contact with the cradle that connect the Palm III to your desktop are now protected by a spring-loaded cover. Users can select from different fonts to make reading the screen easier, and the device now includes infrared data transfer capabilities. The amount of available RAM has been doubled from one megabyte to two. 3Com says that users can now store about 6,000 addresses, five years of appointments, 1,500 to-do items and memos and about 200 e-mail messages. Even with the unit's RAM full of data, the Palm's operating system is impressively fast as it retrieves information.

The plastic stylus has been changed to a metal pointer that has a better weight and feel, but it has been placed on the back of the device, making it harder to get. Another drawback: The Palm's easy to use infrared feature is designed to share data only with other Palm owners.

Those who already own one of the older Palm PDAs, can upgrade to 2 Megs of RAM and add the IR port for much less than the cost of buying the Palm III. An optional "MacPac" connection kit makes any of the Palm organizers compatible with Apple computers. Macintosh users are flocking to the platform since Apple dumped its bulky Newton machine.

3Com boasts that 7,500 developers are creating applications for the Palm platform. Business apps, utilities, games and even books are among the tons of free and share-ware programs to be found on Palm related Web sites.

There are a number of software solutions that let Palm users synchronize with most popular time and contact management software products. 3Com has also formed a number of significant relationships with business software vendors so that mobile employees can access enterprise-based information.

Windows to go

The Microsoft "Windows CE" operating system was developed to control a wide variety of information appliances. It's used in embedded devices (specialized machines designed to do specific applications), operate Microsoft's new Auto PC and other consumer devices like set-top boxes and even Sega's new Dreamcast video game console.

"Windows CE" was first introduced to consumers several years ago with a new generation of take-it-with-you-everywhere PDAs. The Windows machines were "handheld" as opposed to "palm-sized" and were about the shape of a checkbook and only about an inch thick. Quite a few hardware manufacturers jumped on the "Windows CE" bandwagon with devices that followed one set of specifications. All looked and functioned almost identically. Many consumers found them a bit cumbersome and power hungry. The first generation of "Windows CE" hand-held computing was not a big success.

In its second try at the PDA market. Microsoft designed specifications for devices that permitted manufacturers to differentiate from each other. As a result, the present generation of CE devices is much more diverse. Computer makers recognized the popularity of the palm-sized device. Using the new version of "Windows CE," Casio, Everex, Palmax, Philips, Uniden and others all have products that capitalize on the success of the PalmPilot.

Cassiopeia/Windows CE

The Cassiopeia E-10 uses an upgraded version of Microsoft's "Windows CE."
One of the first new palm-size PCs on the market was the Casio Cassiopeia E-10. It's size and shape is very similar to the PalmIII. While many of the second-generation handheld PDAs offer horizontal color screens, it features a bright, backlit monochrome screen with a vertical format.

The Cassiopeia can be used with one hand. It has a rocker switch on the left side that lets users navigate through already entered data. There is also a button designed to exit from applications and another that launches the voice recording software. This is a useful feature for those who want to take some quick dictation or make some digital voice notes. There is also a built-in earphone jack for private audio playback.

On the front side there is a power button along with launch buttons for the calendar, contact manager and to-do list software.

The Cassiopeia's "Jot" software takes handwriting recognition to a next level. It's very intuitive, recognizing several styles of writing for each character. The software also includes a word prediction capability with a dictionary of 14,000 words. For those used to other handwriting recognition software, chances are you will get right up to speed with Jot. If you've never used it before, it is probably the most easy to learn. The E-10 also lets users draw text or diagrams directly on the screen.

The Casio boasts four Megs of RAM. While that's twice the amount of the Palm, about half is taken up just to run the operating system. It's not surprising that CE also suffers from Microsoft's bloated approach to software development. The Cassiopeia's reliance on its graphics-intensive, icon-based OS makes for slower speeds when the RAM is full to the brim with data, hence the need for a compact flash card slot for added data storage. The slot can also be used for communications devices.

The Cassiopeia features an infrared port and is compatible with the wide variety of other "Windows CE" devices on the market. It also comes with a connection "cradle" and its synchronization software is easy to install and constantly updates changes made to "Microsoft Schedule +" and "Outlook" as long as the PDA is turned on. The software will let users read e-mail offline and will automatically download information from Internet Explorer channels off the Web.

Microsoft also boasts a long list of third-party software developers with a catalogue of over 100 applications that will work with the palm-size PCs.

The Cassiopeia and other "Windows CE" palm-size PDAs are very strong alternatives to the Palm organizers. They are surprisingly good products compared to the lackluster devices represented by the first generation of CE machines.