[new cruelty]

... a perception that PDAs are not yet capable of delivering sufficient return on investment.

Anyone here getting a good ROI on their PDA? RSVP : )

[junta]

Every person that I know of that bought one of these spends all their time fooling with it instead of working productively.

[NYS_Eric]

Long-time PDA user (original Palm, Handspring, IPAQ 3630, and finally my all-time favorite, the IPAQ 1910).

Couldn't live without one of these babies. My life is on there (all encrypted and hot-synched daily, of course!).

[Mr. Jeeves]

I've had an iPaq for a while and I use it every day. The wireless Internet was unreliable, though. When reliable broadband Internet access can be delivered for PDA's (inluding real-time video) sales will skyrocket. Most corporate users still prefer notebook computers at this point.

[Koblenz]

When a reliable device comes out that combines an iPaq with a cellphone, I might upgrade. For now, my palm is about 5 years old, and still uses AA batteries, when I take it out (almost never). My phone is still black and white, but I can get to my email and online address book, so it's the only thing I carry on a daily basis. It also gets me to news, stock quotes, and weather.

[cdefreese]

Notebooks are getting smaller, PDAs more integrated and feature packed, same goes with Cell phones. Pretty soon all 3 will merge. I believe that everyone who needed a PDA has one and until there is a reason to get another one (broadband), sales will remain relatively even.

[SamAdams76]

My company actually saved money last year by recalling all PDA devices, phasing out desktop computers and handing out IBM Thinkpad laptops. Those PDA devices were essentially worthless. With the laptops, you can do everything either from the office or from the field. We can even connect to the Internet with them using our Nextel phones so Internet is always available no matter where we are.

When you consider that most PDAs that are internet capable go for $599 (plus extra per month for connectivity) and you can now get state-of-the-art laptops for under $1000 with wireless connectivity using phones you already own, not to mention the money saved by eliminating desktops, converting to laptops is a no-brainer.

[George W. Bush]

It's astonishing how useful these devices really are. When I bought my 16MB Handspring Visor, I kept thinking "I might not really use it." But it is very useful. I'm quite surprised at the number things it can do.

I've read more books off it than I've read in years. I can take most any Acrobat document on it (I have a 256MB flash expansion on mine). I can subscribe to news sites and other web sites and download them all and take them with me anywhere. I put a KJV Bible and about 50 volumes of commentary and reference materials on it.

I even like playing FreeCell on it when I have a few spare minutes. I have Word and Excel compatible programs too. Another thing is that a lot of the programs are quite powerful but don't cost much. Another real strenght of all models of PDA is the ability to synchronize with M$ Outlook. All changes on either the computer or the PDA are resolved and updated when you sync. If you like Outlook's scheduling/to-do/task/contact management, the PDA will let you take it on the roard very easily.

I like the newer color models but can't quite justify buying one already. But I'm sure I will.

Especially interesting are the newer PDAs that are also cell phone (Sprint cell service). You get a color PDA with cellphone and wireless Internet in a single package though the cell/internet service is mostly metropolitan, not too useful for rural people.

If you're thinking of buying one, the industry is saying that PDAs will merge into cell phones. They may be right.

Over the next few years, look for PocketPC models to get even bigger than they are now. The Palm devices will be moving away from the old Motorola 680x0 family of processors and move to a newer processor, requiring all the programs to be updated, I expect. Have to wait and see but usually switching CPUs means updating all programs for the units.

I really use my PDA for phone numbers and addresses and appointment/calendar stuff. It has made me much more attentive to those things where I would never keep up with it on the computer or on paper. With the PDA, I can do some it when I'm out and about and some of the rest of it I can do if I'm watching the news during the commercials.

What is really going to make these things useful is when they get cheap Bluetooth networking. Then you can wire your house, your car, your office with Bluetooth access points cheaply and they'll be connected all the time. If I could figure out which PDA company was going to win the Bluetooth war, I'd actually buy some stock.

Another technology to watch is the TabletPC. Much more expensive but people are really starting to like those. They might kill off both notebooks and PDAs. Haul 'em around just like you would a notepad. Price is still too high right now except for geeks and corporate execs.

[razorback-bert]

I just bought a Palm iiic(moved to color from pocket PC), can someone recommend a good mapping program.

I have the lastet from Delorme on my desktops and notebooks, but the reviews of Xmap are bad.