Review: Palmtop Computers
Dec. 1, 2000 -- Glowing with luminous color, the new breed of palmtop computers plays games, finds restaurants and shows off your digital photos.
One thing’s for sure: They’re no longer just electronic day planners. Sure, they still help you organize your life, boiling all of those little pieces of paper that swirl through your world down to a convenient handheld brick. And they’re still not truly independent computers — you still have to connect them to your PC regularly to recharge batteries, synchronize schedules or download new software.
But these hot little machines are slowly maturing into real computers. For as little as $149, you can have pocket-sized power that can take the boredom out of your daily commute and maybe make your life a little more orderly.
To help you sort out which palmtop might work best for you, we’ve taken a subjective look at some of the hottest products in the field and offer our findings below. We look at some of the issues that affect all the units, then walk you through each of the palmtops itself. For a concise clickable version, check out our interactive palmtop guide by clicking on the interactive icon to the right.
Expand Your Hand
Palmtops mainly vary in three ways: memory, screen type and expandability.
New palmtops nowadays have at least 2 megabytes of memory, which is enough for a social whirlwind of phone numbers and appointments, plus one or two extra fun applications like the Vindigo city guide. But if you really want to load up your Palm with tons of games, e-books and such, you’ll need a more expensive 8-meg model. (Palmtops that use Microsoft’s PocketPC system usually have much more memory, like 16 or 32 megabytes, although PocketPC programs typically take up more room than programs on other palmtops.)
Color screens are easier on the eyes than grayscale, but you pay in battery life. Some palmtops have larger screens than others.
Handspring’s Visor palmtops are expandable with “Springboard” attachments, little cards that provide anything from memory expansion cards to a wireless modem to an MP3 player to a cell phone. No other palmtop is quite that flexible, though there are modem, MP3 player and camera add-ons for the Palm machines, and Compaq’s iPaq accepts standard PC cards for extra storage and communications through a special “sleeve” that fits around the handheld.
One Palm In Your Pocket ...
Once you’ve chosen your favorite features, you’ll still have to take sides in the Great Palmtop Debate. For in the world of palmtops, there are two competing superpowers: Palm OS and PocketPC.
The Palm OS operating system is used by about three quarters of palmtops, according to IDC, a Massachusetts-based research firm specializing in technology — Palm, Handspring, and Sony are the major manufacturers. Palm machines have long battery life, are very easy to use, and have lots of free software available. But they’re lousy with multimedia — the 160x160 screen resolution is too low for high-quality video, and they have little or no audio support. Palm OS machines are also your only choice if you have a non-Windows computer. For data entry, they use Graffiti, a stylized writing system that takes a little while to get used to, but is close to foolproof once you do.
PocketPC is Microsoft’s third attempt at cracking the palmtop market. After two failed operating systems — both called Windows CE — the software giant may have gotten it this time: PocketPCs offer fabulous graphics, a streamlined but Windows-like interface, and terrific drag-and-drop integration with desktop PCs. (Your docked PocketPC appears as a hard drive on your Windows desktop.) But that power comes at the expense of cash and energy — PocketPCs are expensive and need to be recharged often. They can use either an onscreen keyboard or handwriting recognition for data entry as long as you have very neat handwriting.
PocketPCs also have bigger, higher-resolution screens than Palm OS, giving a more pleasing picture.
Smaller players include Psion, whose palmtops with keyboards are very popular in Europe, but are pricey; Franklin, whose eBookMan has a built-in MP3 player; and Xircom, with the credit-card-sized Rex organizer. All are fine for their purposes — Franklin’s is designed for people who like to read e-books and Xircom’s is physically tiny — but none of them is compatible with the masses of Palm and PocketPC machines on the market.
In general, if you’re looking for an electronic organizer or plan to take your little gadget on long trips, go with a Palm OS-compatible. If price is no object and you want the flashiest technology available, there’s a PocketPC out there for you.
From M100 to iPaq
We looked at some of the newest, hottest palmtops on the market. If price is no object, the Compaq iPaq and Handspring Visor Prism will fit handily in a holiday stocking. More frugal shoppers should grab the Handspring Visor Platinum.
Compaq iPaq 3630/3650 The $500 iPaq is the powerhouse of palmtops. (It has two model numbers for the same machine.) The silvery case is space-age, and the innards are just as cutting-edge: a fearsome 206 megahertz processor, 32 megabytes of RAM memory and a gorgeous color screen which shows 4096 colors. Two expansion sleeves, sold separately, let it accept either PC Cards ($150) or CompactFlash cards ($40). CompactFlash cards are data storage chips often used in digital cameras and MP3 players, so you can save more information or transfer files between your camera and your iPaq; there are also CompactFlash modem cards. PC Cards come in a dizzying array of features, from hard drives to networking and wireless modem cards. Unfortunately, the iPaq burns fuel like the jumbo jet it is, needing a recharge after a little more than two hours of heavy use. And the expansion sleeve makes this PocketPC just a little too large to fit in a pocket.
Visor Prism The $449 Handspring Visor Prism is the beefiest of the Palm OS machines. A 33 Mhz processor makes it noticeably snappier than its 20 mhz high-end Palm Computing cousins, and its 16-bit color screen provides startlingly photorealistic images. It’s a little thicker than a Palm Computing device, but still smaller than the iPaq, and Handspring promises six hours of continuous use before the built-in battery needs a recharge.
Yes, the iPaq’s processor chip is technically 10 times as fast as the average Palm, but the Palm operating system is vastly more efficient than PocketPC, so it makes up for much of the difference. The iPaq feels faster, but not by a factor of 10.
Palm IIIc You get some color for less with the $329 Palm IIIc, but there’s less of it — 256 colors means you don’t get the photo-realistic images of the iPaq or the Prism. It’s still livelier and more readable than a black-and-white screen, and the machine comes with a paint program, eBook reader and some extra games. Tests give the IIIc a manageable 8 hours of battery life with the brightness control set to medium, and up to 16 hours at low brightness before it needs a recharge.
Palm VIIx Palm seems to have an odd number for every desire — their models come in III, V and VII versions. The $400 Palm VIIx, their flagship device, comes with built-in wireless Internet. Sort of. The Palm can’t really surf the Web — it does e-mail and “wireless clipping applications,” which are customized bits of functionality from about 400 major Web sites, delivered real-time.
The Internet service costs from $9.99 a month for very light, occasional use to $44.99 a month for unlimited use, and considering it doesn’t let you surf freely, it’s more of an executive toy than a portable Net surfboard. (The Palm VIIx will be compared to other wireless Internet solutions in an upcoming review.)
Sony CliéPalm VxHandspring Visor Platinum
Sony’s Clié battles it out with the Palm Vx and the Handspring Visor Platinum for the top end of the non-color, non-wireless Palm market. The slender, $349 Clié has a powerful 8mb of memory and accepts memory sticks, Sony’s expandable memory media. (The competing Palm Vx is more expensive, with no ‘stick.) The only downside with the Clié is its lack of support for Macs and Windows 95. But the Visor Platinum wins the day here, with its speedy 33 mhz processor, Springboard expansion slot, Mac and Windows compatibility and $299 price. The Platinum uses removable AAA batteries; the Palm Vx and Clié have built-in rechargable batteries. All run for about two weeks of normal use before needing a charge.
Palm M100Handspring Visor
Up in the cheap seats are the $149 Palm M100 and Handspring Visor, both 2 MB Palm-compatible machines that run for weeks on two AAA batteries. Both make for a great personal organizer, and both have some room for extra programs. The M100 is round and cuddly, with colorful faceplates you can buy (shown), but the Visor (which looks just like the Visor Platinum, above, though in dark gray rather than silver) is a better choice because of its Springboard expansion slot.