An entry level PDA

In what is an interesting first time foray into the crowded PDA market, Acer is hedging its bets by releasing both Palm- and Pocket PC-based PDAs. It's a curious gambit to be sure, and we're content to see which PDA branch blossoms while the other withers.

The Toshiba e740 Pocket PC is the third PDA from Toshiba released in the past year, and is targeted at the business user. This does not mean its a bland PDA, as it is the fastest on the market thanks to its 400MHz Intel Xscale processor.

PDA sales are flattening, and have been for some time, but it doesn't mean that the sector's dead. Smartphones have their place and are increasing in sales in Australia, but they can't always offer the power or flexibility of a good PDA.

Wider than a normal phone and encroaching on PDA girth turf, the BlackBerry 7100v is both a capable phone and a capable PDA.

Acer is hedging its bets by releasing both Palm and Pocket PC-based PDAs

A seemingly new entrant to the PDA market, the Siemens SX45 is a Pocket PC PDA that may appear familiar to users or owners of the Cassiopeia range. That's because the SX45 is based on the Cassiopeia e-125 PDA.

The new Sony Ericsson P910i is the only true phone/PDA hybrid on review in this roundup so aesthetically it marries some of the largeness of a PDA with the slimness of a phone to end up with a unit that's just right: it's not too big and not too small.

The Sony PEG-NV70X Clie marks a welcome shift in the PDA landscape from the Pocket PC, with a few firsts up its sleeves.

Back in February 2002 (PC Authority issue 51 page 42) we ran a comprehensive round up of the latest PDAs in the market, but its amazing what difference a few months make. Toshibas entry to the market, the e570, won the Quality Award, but was pipped at the post by the Palm m125, which won the value award with its extremely competitive price.

The PDA covered so heavily in this months PC Authority has always had a reputation as a primarily functional tool that students and executives use to organise their lives. With this in mind it is interesting to have a look at a product that brings out the lighter, fun side of the PDA.

PDA shipments in the first quarter of 2005 have declined by 26 percent, according to analyst IDC.

The 650 really picks up where the 600 left off, and while it doesn't look too different to the eye, many of the changes are under the hood or subtle manipulations of the 600's design. It runs the new Palm OS 5.4 and has a much faster 312MHz Intel PXA270 processor, but the most immediate difference is the screen: it's now double the resolution at 320 x 320.

You can stick them in your pocket or you can hold them in your hand. Six smartphones and phone PDAs reviewed

Purely because of its size, even the smallest PDA isn’t something you’re likely to feel comfortable holding to your ear as a phone for long periods of time. And, despite its slim curves and great physique, the Xda II is no exception.

Sony has finally launched the Clie PDA in Australia.

The personal digital assistant (PDA) industry has experienced its strongest recorded first quarter with 3.4 million shipments worldwide according to analyst, Gartner.

Microsoft has four key 'visions' for Pocket PC 2003 (PPC 2003): make it easier for manufacturers to innovate, improve the 'wireless experience', bring easy instant messaging to the PDA, and expand the 'media experience'.

Sony, HP and Handspring had better take note – Palm has just rewritten the PDA rules. Just in time for Christmas, Palm has unleashed a stylish, lightweight and fully featured PDA that blasts the sub-$700 opposition away – by hundreds of dollars.

Dell has waited several years to release its own PDA, and now committed to Pocket PC, Dell's main weapon is aggressive pricing that's on the verge of insane.