Maximize your PDA's effectiveness

Vishnu K. Mahmud, Contributor, vmahmud@yahoo.com

With retail cellular phones constantly being improved and enhanced with facilities such as MP3 players and digital cameras, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) may have become sidelined to a certain extent, and sales have fallen gradually.

Yet, many still prefer these hand-held pocket computers -- which started off as electronic daily planners, storing appointments, phone numbers and "To Do" lists -- instead of a multipurpose cell phone.

Have you ever watched anyone record a meeting schedule on their cell phone or input notes with a keypad in class? While it may not be as stylish and colorful as a cellular, PDAs still offer significant value and practical assistance in our daily lives.

The PDA market is divided into two main camps of operating systems: the Palm Operating System (OS) and Microsoft Windows Mobile. Companies such as Casio, Hewlett-Packard (HP), PalmOne and Sony produce PDAs installed with one of these systems. Check out www.palmone.com and www.hp.com for the latest PDAs on the market.

Each PDA has a stylus, or pen-like tool for the touch-screen to access various programs, while some have a keyboard. Some even come with a built-in mobile phone, such as PalmOne's Treo or a few HP iPAQ models.

Each have their own unique strengths and functions such as Wi- Fi, color screens, digital cameras, voice recorder and memory capacity -- and there is a wide selection of PDAs for users at any level, from university students to business executives.

More importantly, accessories can be added to maximize the value of a PDA. It doesn't matter if it is a Palm OS or Windows Mobile-based device, since countless accessories are on the market.

One of my favorite accessories is the fold-out, portable keyboard. Ideal for those who have terrible penmanship or those who are hopeless in using the stylus, the portable keyboard can be used to input data just like a computer -- albeit on a smaller scale. Targus has many selections of keyboards for both the Palm and Windows PDAs, which allows users to substitute laptops with a PDA for meetings, lectures and trips. Check out their products at www.targus.com.

Finally, a PDA must-have is software, as with any computer. Apart from the basic diary, note pad and address book functions, PDAs can also be used for video games, storing and displaying photographs and run a variety of other programs.

For the most part, PDA software can be found and purchased online. PalmGear HQ, at www.palmgear.com, is one of the premier sites for Palm-based software, while www.handango.com is an excellent source for Windows Mobile applications.

Where can these gadgets and their accessories be purchased locally? Previously, they were only available in the U.S. or Singapore and had to be imported, but nowadays, you can find them in various mid- to upmarket Jakarta malls such as Mal Taman Anggrek, Ambassador Mall or Ratu Plaza.

Popular stores such as Triyaso Telekomindo and C-Palm also have a wide selection of accessories. Visit www.triyaso.co.id and www.c-palm.com for up-to-date information.

Don't forget, you can also get help and advice from online groups. At least two local Yahoo groups discuss PDAs: ID-Palm, at id-palm@yahoogroups.com -- perhaps one of the largest Palm-user groups in country -- and write to id-pocketpc@yahoogroups.com if you're a Windows Mobile user. Information, latest accessory reviews, fellow gadget addicts and online PDA sales can all be found through these groups.

If you're still a die-hard cell phone follower, here's something else to consider. While electronic books, or e-books, have yet to take the world by storm, some bestsellers are already available for downloading onto your PDA. The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown or Isaac Asimov's I, Robot and others are available at e- Reader's website, www.ereader.com. Dictionaries for learning a new language are also available -- imagine carrying a small library in your pocket!

So, looking at all the possibilities of a PDA, are you still happy with only using your cell phone? It will be a while before a cellular can do all this. In the meantime, prices for hand-held devices have dropped, so why not take a look?