How to Choose a PDA - for travelers
PDAs are probably the greatest thing to happen to technophile travelers in the last 50 years. The thing is that we travelers tend to put a lot of different strains on technology that perhaps other users wouldn’t. As such there are a lot of things that we should be aware of when choosing that technology. Here are a few of the things you will need to watch out for when buying your next PDA.
Toughness - Very few people treat mobile technology worse than frequent travelers. Bumps, scratches and rinsings are all part of everyday life for technology on the road with a traveler. It’s therefore pretty important to make sure the gear you buy is going to last in a tough environment. For travelers, this can actually mean being patient about buying stuff. If you buy something that has just been released then you are buying it on faith. If you wait 6 months and then do a bit of research, you will be able to find out if there are any problems with a particular model standing up to a hammering. If you really must have the latest model, then make sure its predecessor had a good reputation for toughness.
CPU - Do not skimp when it comes to raw computing power or you risk becoming very frustrated when you need your PDA to work fast. If you plan to utilise your PDA for all of its multimedia purposes then faster is always better. For Palms, don’t go any lower than a 416MHz chip and for Pocket PCs, XSale 400MHz are the lowest numbers you want to be looking at.
Batteries - For us travelers it can be pretty long between recharges so make sure your device has the longest possible battery life. You should always get a device that has replaceable batteries - that way you won’t be found wanting when you are in the middle of nowhere and your PDA runs out of power (because you will buy and pack spare batteries!).
Connectivity - A lot of PDAs don’t come with Wi-Fi which is uncool. If you can, you want to stick with devices that offer both Wi-Fi for connecting directly to the internet in hotspots and BlueTooth so your PDA can talk to all the other BlueTooth friendly devices. Making sure your device can also connect by USB cable to your computer is a given, though this is pretty standard for most models.
Memory - You are going to fill up the memory of most PDAs pretty quickly. 64MB of RAM is generally the least you want to be look at (easpecially for Pocket PCs). Personally I wouldn’t bother leaving home without 128MB. Much larger storage devices are becoming available regularly and they are well worth considering.
Screen - If you are going to be doing a lot of stuff outdoors (and most travelers will be) then look for something with a transreflective screen so you can seem the damn thing. Also, the bigger the screen, the better. 320×240 pixels is standard for Pocket PCs, but some go much bigger.
The thing that makes it slightly different for a traveler choosing this technology are basically the trying conditions that we use it under. Waiting an extra few seconds for your PDA to complete a task might not seem like such a big deal when you are in your nice warm living room at home, but when you are rushing through bad weather to catch your connecting inter-city train, it can bee a real pain in the ass. Same thing with having your device die from low power or squinting to see what that small logo is on your screen. Being in an uncomfortable position as you often are when traveling magnifies your frustration.
It’s for these reasons that you may want to really consider the above advice when it finally comes time to choose your next PDA.