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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.

Great post! Thanks for the useful information.

There was a time when I was out in the field, flying around the country, and required constant use of a PDA. It came in handy for all the things you mentioned, plus, while waiting around with other business travellers at the airport, I would sometimes use it to give ad hoc demos of my company's products and services. So, I can see where the ROI would come into play in some instances. In my current postion, I get by just fine with a 100 page note pad, a cell phone, a laptop, and the ocassional use of a digital camera. My journada and ipaq are just collecting dust for now. My wife uses the palm pilot for her ob-gyn practice, storing patient history, scripts, and the physician's desk reference.

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

I know only two people with Palm/cellphone combinations (Treo and Samsung). Both said they're sorry they got them, because they outgrew the PDA function, and would like to get another Palm, but they're "tied" to the cellphone in it. They both said that next time, they'd get a separate cellphone and Palm. YMMV.