The following text is devoted to a purely technological subject and for that reason its appearance here violates this web site's hidden agenda. Nevertheless, because it was written originally as a present for someone it therefore has a few redeeming phrases and an occasionally entertaining clause or two embedded amongst the otherwise horrifically geeky material.

A. WELCOME MESSAGE

Welcome to this report. Herein will be presented a number of seemingly unbiased facts all boasting appropriate corresponding source materials (where we have remembered to keep note of our research) which will culminate in a few sweeping generalizations and one or two prejudiced preferences masquerading as dispassionate technical analysis and ultimately relying on the logic of either "but everybody else is doing it" or "possession of this device will get you laid" except not in so many words. In fact, this report will use far more words than those terribly succinct tropes.

B. BOLD ASSUMPTIONS

This report assumes, perhaps erroneously but who cares, that the reader is interested in pocket-sized devices rather than the more gauche pocket-compatible devices. For that reason we have excluded the wide range of 3x6-9" technoweenie HPC toys. (Jargon Note: HPC refers to "hand" PCs which normally boast teeny keyboards while PPC refers to "palm" PCs which do not have teeny keyboards. This report concerns itself only with the PPC platform.) A partial list of the most current HPC doodads which will be ignored is as follows:

Apple Newtwon 2100
Apple eMate 300
Hitachi HPW-200EC
HP 620LX
NEC MobilePro 750C
Novatel Wireless' Contact
Phillips Velo 500
Psion Series 5
Sharp Mobilon HC-4500
Sharp Zaurus ZR-3500X
Toshiba Libretto 100CT

Additionally we find no reason to acknowledge the existence let alone the improbable utility of the input-resistant Rolodex Rex.

This report will also be ignoring 2-way pagers insofar as they are found to be entirely lacking in any functionality save the much-time-delayed transfer of minuscule ASCII data painfully pecked out on keys which are barely big enough to provide our proverbial angels with adequate ballroom space.

Lastly, this report further assumes that the reader has a reasonable grip on his or her sanity and will not in fact be caving into some misguided james bond dream and dishing out for the Nokia 9000 and it's bastard offspring.

C. INSPIRING MISSION STATEMENT

In the ideal world the palm-sized, pen-based digital assistant would integrate cellular telephony, email, the internet, cd-quality music and video conferencing into a form factor which served as a one-handed chorded keyboard for situations where confidentiality might prohibit utilizing the built-in voice recognition all decked out with GPS, credit information and uplifting messages from mom. But this is merely 1998 so we must settle for what is offered and draw the line somewhere.

In short, it is this author's belief that anything which does not fit conveniently into an evening bag might as well be running NT.

A. PRODUCTS THIS REPORT HAS REVIEWED

The following products reflect the newest models offered by a given manufacturer which meet this report's criteria as outlined above in Section I.B.

Casio Cassiopeia E-10
Everex Freestyle
IBM Workpad
Palm III
Philips Nino 300
Sharp SE-500
TI Avigo 10

B. PRODUCTS LISTED IN II.A WHICH CAN BE RULED OUT INSTANTLY

1) IBM Workpad

"The IBM WorkPad (is) a product that differs from the PalmPilot Professional only in case color and company logo." Now, in truth, with the easily accessible 1MB upgrade and the equally easy Palm OS 3.0 upgrade the PalmPilot Professional or IMB Workpad would be identical to the Palm III in terms of system functionality. However, insofar as The PalmPilot Professional is no longer the newest version of Palm product it is clearly the inferior, unhip model.

This report feels that a number of mostly esthetic reasons still give the Palm III an edge. The heavier, metal stylus, better backlighting, detachable protective cover and improved port connections make the Palm III the clear choice among the three highly similar products for anyone not on a severe budget.

However, a product can only be upgraded so many times. For this reason we choose to blithely dismiss the IBM Workpad as well as the PalmPilot Professional as being unviable options for today's would-be PDA purchaser.

2) TI Avigo 10

In a field where size does matter, this too-long, 5.5" PDA lacking both handwriting recognition and serial ports is an embarrassment to its owners.

3) Sharp SE-500

In a move of stunning boldness, a slow, proprietary OS (sans handwriting recognition no less!) which Sharp refuses to release to developers makes this the Titanic of the PDA market.

C. PRODUCTS UPON WHICH THIS REPORT WILL NOW ELABORATE

1) WILDLY INFORMATIVE CHART

2) VARIOUS UNIQUE ATTRIBUTES BOTH POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE

CASSIO E-10

• Widely touted for its "one-handed functionality."

FREESTYLE

• Vibrating alarm option in preparation for CF (Compact Flash) pager cards.
• The reviewed 4110/66 chip performed much slower than the Palm III's system.
• Optional rechargeable batteries.
• Portable collapsing docking cradle (standard).
• The models and price differences can be accounted for as follows: The A-10 has an older, slower processor (VR4102/55MHz) while the A-15 and A20 both have a VR4111/66MHz. The A-20 is bundled with a 33.6 modem.

NINO 300
(The Nino is just bursting with crazy unique features.)

• Novel side placement of application buttons make for easy one-handed operation. Collect phone numbers in a bar while never having to set down your cigar.
• Never be able to see if you've entered those numbers correctly because there's no backlighting.
• Talk to the hand! (Voice recognition hopefully launches your applications.)
• Rechargeable batteries.
• Soft T-9 keyboard (say what?) for anyone interested in mastering yet another input language.
• RAM expandable to an astronomical 23 MB (all of which will some day be gobbled up by a Windows CE "upgrade" but right now it certainly seems cool doesn't it).
• Killer rubber strip detailing makes it unbearably hip looking.
• The models and price differences can be accounted for as follows: All three models have the same chip but the 301 ships with 4 MB RAM while the other models ship with 8 MB. The increased cost of the 320 reflects the inclusion of a modem.

PALM III

• Three (oooh!) interchangeable (as in "on the fly") display fonts. (Right.)
• Standard, detachable hard cover (far, far handier than one might imagine).
• 63% (SIXTY-THREE PERCENT) of the standard (PPC+HPC) handheld market (1997).

3) AUDIO

The Casio E-10's audio speaker is supposedly "slightly better" than the Freestyle's speaker. The Nino has a fledgling voice command system so they're obviously paying attention to audio. The Palm III is mute.

4) DISPLAY

The Casio E-10 has the best screen of the CE devices with supposedly better contrast and backlighting than the Freestyle and a "slightly" clearer display than the backlight-lacking Nino. However, one reviewer claims that the monotone Palm III is better than the grayscale Casio and ilk.

This report's perception is that they are all so darned small to begin with what can really be expected? This report is also willing to bet that you, the reader, are a computer geek and have pretty messed up eyes to begin with so nothing is really going to make much of a difference.

5) HANDWRITING RECOGNITION

"... though Jot's Natural Character Set is closer to standard printed characters. This makes Jot easier to learn but a little slower to use, because it involves more stylus strokes. (For a more Graffiti-like experience, you can use Jot's Simplified Uppercase Character Set; but although these characters include fewer strokes, more study time is required to learn them.)"

"I've found the character recognition program of the Palm OS to be more difficult to learn than the JOT program. But once you master it, the Palm OS's writing style goes much faster. Although I mastered JOT much more easily, I find it frustrating."

"The character recognition was simple to use and forced us to learn far fewer special characters than does Graffiti, the recognition language used by the PalmPilot. We also found that recognition worked more quickly here than with that device and that the smart completion sped up input considerably."

Lordalmighty! Who the fuck *knows*!

6) CONNECTIVITY

Well, all these machines have modem options and offer a variety of dorky MS aps and of course the CE machines naturally have the ability to receive "Channel" info from IE4 (thereby going down as the first potentially meaningful use of that particular ap) and blahblahblah. It is this report's belief that if you are going to be near a RJ11 jack then you can damn well use a real computer.

If you're looking for built-in TCP/IP then a) you are a incurable dork and b) get the Palm III.

Now then, this report is not going to elaborate on various email program compatibilities on the assumption that its readers will be using their mothership systems for the really complex stuff while reserving their PDAs for simple ASCII notes which any of the built-in sync software can handle smoothly.

However, should some proverbial out-o'-box integration with LotusNotes be of concern the reader would be wise to note that LotusNotes has yet to offer a version of EasySync for the CE platform though obviously they can be counted on to fead the beast its required bone at some point in the near future.

7) BUNDLED SOFTWARE

All the devices have lots of cutesy little specialized software. If you're looking for teeny versions of your favorite MS aps obviously a CE device will be compatible with all the cult regulars. For further integration issues you are on your own as this report does not really care about your unique, individual needs.

8) SUMMARY POINTS

• Fewer keystrokes are need to accomplish standard tasks on the Palm III.
• The Palm III devotes 1/4th of its screen real estate to Graffiti input entry and is therefore far, far smaller in effect than those of the CE devices.
• Out of memory errors are common (what? with Windows?) because unlike Palm OS Windows CE leaves applications resident in the background.
• Win CE is about as intuitive a "user experience" as you'd expect from Microsoft while the Palm OS is about as elegant a GUI as you'd expect from Apple. Oops. I mean 3Com.
• In the land of cellphone users, the one-handed PDA is king.
• The Nino is the coolest looking but the 10-12 hour battery life might be annoying (although in practice this is probably about 10 days of standard use). Then again, if you commute you can avail yourself of the auto-adapter and remain fully charged at all times while the others are just going to gobble down harmful, toxic, non-recyclable batteries.
• Between all the Win CE devices the Casio E-10 was always "just a little better." Display quality, display size, speaker sound, form factor, length of battery life, etc. But this report has been around the block a few times and has found that "just a little better" is not the same as noticeably better.
• There are infinitely more applications already available for the Palm III. Particularly in the totally-unnecessary-but-doesn't-this-rock-! category.
• A huge number Bay Area folks will be using Palm IIIs if only because they are already loyal to the platform or because as likely ex-apple users they have been waiting years for another chance to get in bed with a non-Windows product. In this light, if exchanging data like Star Trek officers is a high priority, the IrDA compatibility issues should be taken seriously.
• The slight size variations might in fact make a huge difference if you have small pockets or small purses but in general it is this report's belief that all other things being equal, cuteness counts far more than size.
• Geeks on c|net and the windows fans at Windows Source go for the Casio E-10 without hesitation while the more conservative users at PC World definitely prefer the Palm III. The Philips Nino was not released into the shark infested review waters early enough to compete head-to-head with the Palm III. In any case, the world loves duality so the public debate has so far tended to be E-10 versus Palm III.

First off: The Freestyle isn't up to snuff. This report can just *tell*. It will no doubt be the Dell of the PPC world but that is hardly a recommendation.

Handwriting recognition is awkward at best and if Jot is in fact more difficult in use than Graffiti then it could be significantly tedious to say the least. However, in practice, voice recording (16 min/MB) would allow one to put off complex data input chores until the device is safely tethered to a keyboard-bearing PC.

There is much to be said in going with the industry standard. And there may be even more to be said when that industry standard is something other than Microsoft. Nevertheless, the continued availability of abundant applications will not be a problem for either platform.

Honestly, the single thing which pushes the Win CE PPCs over the edge is the CompactFlash slot standard. Within a year there will certainly be an inexpensive CF card offering two-way pager technology which will guarantee affordable, wireless email. And that, as they say, is that.

This report wishes with all its cold, absent heart that it could recommend the beautifully conceived, ground-breaking, industry-altering Palm Computing device. But it can't. The functionality and the future lies, for now, with the CE devices. Unless the reader has reason to prefer side buttons, or can afford to accommodate the extra volume (1.5+ sq. in., 3+ cu. in.) or really, really needs to launch applications by uttering freakish, crowd-gawking voice commands at an electronic minion then the smartest PPC choice as of right this very minute (quick before I change my mind again) is the Cassiopeia E-10.

A. ARTICLES

Windows CE 2.0 Handhelds PC Magazine (5/98) http://www.zdnet.com/products/content/pcmf/0529/320182.html

Win CE or Palm III ZDNet (6/98) http://www.zdnet.com/products/pdauser/columnist/hh980622.html

Why I'm Giving Windows CE A Hand Windows Source (7/98) http://www.zdnet.com/wsources/content/0798/fob_outlook.html

Are PDAs the Wave of the Future? c|net (7/98) http://www.news.com:80/News/Item/0,4,24187,00.html?owv

How to Choose the Right Handheld Device ZDNet (7/98) http://www.zdnet.com/products/pdauser/columnist/hh980716.html

PDA Wars: MS Challenges PalmPilot PC World (3/98) http://www.pcworld.com/hardware/portable_pcs/articles/mar98/1603p060.html

12 Handhelds Reviews c|net (3/98) http://www.computers.com/reviews/comparative/intro/0,23,0-2001-257773,00.html? st.co.jim..cri257773

B. REVIEWS

CASIO CASSIOPEIA E-10

• ZDNet - PC Magazine (5/98) http://www.zdnet.com/products/content/pcmf/0529/320184.html
• c|net (5/98) http://www.computers.com/reviews/justin/main/0,30,0-1084-639453-639454,00.html
• PC Week (5/98) http://www.zdnet.com/products/content/pcwk/1520/316093.html
• ZDNet - Windows Sources (7/98) http://www.zdnet.com/products/content/wins/0607/319721.html
• PC World (5/98) http://www.pcworld.com/news/daily/data/0598/980518170830.html

EVEREX FREESTYLE

• ZDNet - PC Magazine (6/98) http://www.zdnet.com/products/content/pcmg/1712/317614.html

PALM III

• ZDNet - PC Magazine (5/98) http://www.zdnet.com/pcmag/issues/1709/302236.htm
• ZDNet - PC Magazine (3/98) http://www.zdnet.com/products/content/pcmg/1705/283049.html
• c|net (4/98) http://www.computers.com/reviews/justin/main/0,30,0-1085-632520-632521,00.html ?st.co.cat.hl.palmIII
• ZDNet - Computer Shopper (7/98) http://www.zdnet.com/products/content/cshp/1807/318629.html
• PCWorld (7/98) http://www.pcworld.com/current_issue/article/0,1212,3856,00.html

PHILIPS NINO 300

• ZDNet - PC Magazine (6/98) http://www.zdnet.com/products/content/pcmg/1712/317615.html
• PC World (7/98) http://www.pcworld.com/pcwtoday/article/0,1510,7623,00.html

MISC

• Freestyle vs. Cassiopeia E-10 - PC Week (4/98) http://www.zdnet.com/pcweek/reviews/0406/06ce.html
• Four Leading Handheld Computers - NYT (5/98) http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/05/circuits/articles/14hand-side.html

C. PRICING

From c|net's price comparison lists:

Casio E-10 ($338-$399) http://www.computers.com/reseller/list/0,16,0-624665,00.html?st.co.ji.lp_fp

Freestyle A-15 ($399-$399) http://www.computers.com/reseller/list/0,16,0-628268,00.html?st.co.pd.lp_sp

Nino 301 ($355-$399) http://www.computers.com/reseller/list/0,16,0-633612,00.html?st.co.sbcat1084.e p

Palm III ($298-$399) http://www.computers.com/reseller/list/0,16,0-626719,00.html?st.co.pd.lp_qf

D. SPECS

Casssio E-10 http://www.computers.com/product/item/0,31,0-20-624665-2,00.html?st.co.pd.nav. specs

Freestyle A-15 http://www.computers.com/product/item/0,31,0-20-628268-2,00.html?st.co.pd.nav. specs

Nino 301 http://www.computers.com/product/item/0,31,0-20-633612-2,00.html?st.co.pd.nav. specs

Palm III http://www.computers.com/product/item/0,31,0-20-626719-2,00.html?st.co.pd.nav. specs

E. COMPANY SITES

Casio HPC http://www.casiohpc.com/low/pressrelease5.html
Everex Freestyle http://freestyle.everex.com/
Philips Nino http://nino.philips.com/about/index.html
Palm III http://www.palm.com/products/index.html#palmiii

F. GUIDES

PC World's Mobile Computing Page: http://www.pcworld.com/workstyles/mobile_computing/index.html

ZDNet's PDA User Page: http://www.zdnet.com/products/pdauser/index.html

c|net's Handheld Page: http://www.computers.com/cdoor/0,1,0-20-2,00.html?st.co.jim.unav.cd20

PC Magazine's P/PC Page: http://www.zdnet.com/products/content/pcmf/0529/320183.html

Excite's PDA Link List: http://www.excite.com/computers_and_internet/hardware/personal_computers/palmt ops_and_pdas/

Yahoo's PDA Link List: http://www.yahoo.com/Computers_and_Internet/Hardware/PDAs/

c|net's Two-Way Pager Page http://www.cnet.com/Content/Gadgets/Guides/2WayPage/ss05.html

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