This RootsWorks article begins a series of articles describes PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) hardware, software, genealogy uses, accessories, and everything else. The PDA experience starts and ends with the hardware. You might decide to take a pass on some kinds of software, or some peripherals, but if you don't have a computer in your hand, the rest is just like the movies: it's shiny and pretty, and it's not happening in your life.

Before you can buy a PDA, you have to make a choice. Well, it's more like saying you have to make a bet. It's hard to know which PDA you like best until after you buy it and suffer through the disappointment of all of the things you didn't already know. The choice I'm referring to is the choice between a Pocket PC and a Palm. Those are the operating systems that different PDAs use. Microsoft makes Pocket PC (formerly Windows CE), and PalmSource makes the Palm OS.

PDA manufacturers make devices that run only one or the other. Most software developers make software that runs only on one or the other (although that is changing every month). Your initial choice of operating system will limit all of the choices that you make afterwards.

If you choose Palm, you will be able to buy only a device made by PalmOne. (Well, you might find a Sony Clie for sale.) You won't be able to buy Dell, HP, or Toshiba. They run only the Pocket PC operating system.

If you choose Palm, you won't be using Pocket Office to do your word processing and spreadsheet work, but you will have Documents to Go--which in some ways is more compatible with your desktop version of Microsoft Office.

Don't take my word for it--here are several links where you can explore this issue for yourself:

“Palm vs Pocket PC, The Great Debate”

“Palm vs Pocket PC, Which One Is for You?”

“Mobile Computing: Palm vs Pocket PC”

PalmOne shows a biased comparison to their competitors

After I read that last one, I got a Palm T3.

The Documents to Go compatibility was enough for me. No matter what handheld computer you buy, when you use it, you'll have to deal with the important choices--memory, connectivity, ease of use, display, and price.

They make more built in memory than we've seen in past years. My old Palm V had 8 megabytes of RAM. The Tungsten T3 has 64 and an expansion slot that has another 64 megabytes. I was able to buy a 256 megabyte expansion card from Amazon for about $40. You have to shop for memory expansion cards, but I seem to find links to the best deals at BargainPDA.com (www.bargainpda.com).

A PDA is more useful if it has some kind of Internet connectivity. There are several kinds. The kind for you depends on what you would want to do. If you want to surf the Internet at Starbucks, you'll want WiFi. If you have a Bluetooth enabled phone, you can send text messages, instant messages, and even send and receive e-mail using a Bluetooth connection. I have a Bluetooth GPS receiver. With that in one pocket, I can walk a cemetery and make “waypoints” for the graves of interest to me.

Last summer, Sony decided not to sell their Clie PDA line in the United States any longer. The main reason was ease of use. Americans are obsessed with it. Sales of the Clie, an innovative line that was the first to put a camera into a PDA, had fallen by 25% from the prior year. Sony realized that, whereas Japanese customers might be happy to wear their PDA manuals on a string around their necks, Americans refuse to read manuals. Configuring WiFi on the Clie required drilling down several screens. Ease of use does matter. Try using with the PDAs you're interested in before you buy--you can borrow them from friends or look at them in stores.

All of the PDAs are now in color. No one wants a monochrome one. That's not the issue anymore. It's size that matters. Many PDAs today are 320x240 pixels. The T3 has a sliding section that exposes a Clie-like 480x320 pixel screen. It's great for surfing the web and showing pictures. I know a guy who has a 512 megabyte memory card, puts full movies on his PDA, and watches them, listening through headphones. That would be a nice thing on a long bus ride.

One of the key features is the price. PDAs come in three basic groups: Chevy, Buick, and Cadillac.
- Chevy ($200 and less). These are great for note taking, phone numbers, and appointments; your basic organizer or PIM (personal information manager).
- Buick ($400). These are good for running PDA applications, like MS Office, and genealogy programs.
- Cadillac ($600 and up). These options are wireless and have lots of memory, better add-ons, and bigger screens.

In future articles, we'll cover software, genealogy, and other uses for PDAs.

More Information
For links and more information about PDA accessories, please see the RootsWorks site (www.rootsworks.com/pda2005). If you want to discuss your PDA challenges, please drop by the RootsWorks Forums (www.rootsworks.com/forums). Registration is free, and I'd be interested to know what kinds of issues you are facing.

Beau Sharbrough is a product manager at Ancestry.com. His articles contain his own views and opinions and do not reflect any corporate policy or statement by the company. The RootsWorks series of articles focuses on genealogical applications for generic technologies. Stop by www.rootsworks.com/forums and discuss this or any topic related to the use of technology in family history. Tell us about your experiences. Please note that Beau cannot assist you with your individual computer and genealogy problems. Visit the RootsWorks website (www.rootsworks.com) for links to previous articles and Beau's lecture schedule (next stop: Phoenix, Arizona, in January 2005).

Copyright 2004, MyFamily.com.