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. Its a curious gambit to be sure, and were content to see which PDA branch blossoms while the other withers.

The s60 is the Palm-based PDA with a 33MHz Motorola Dragonball VZ processor, 16MB RAM and 4MB ROM. This seems positively pedestrian compared to the n20ws 400MHz XScale, 64MB of RAM and 32MB of ROM, however, both are quite capable PDAs, although with slightly high pricing.

A feature common across both lines is the inclusion of a MemoryStick slot, which lets you increase the storage by up to 128MB. The Pocket PC Acer PDA we looked at was a w model, which denotes its in-built wireless connectivity. 802.11b wireless connectivity commands a premium in both price and also power drainage, with it consuming much more juice to run. However it does offer greater flexibility and networking and is prefect for the wireless office.

The n20w has a generous 3.8in display, but being a Pocket PC it is much chunkier than the Palm version. The left hand side of the PDA features a jog dial and a Windows key, with the standard Pocket PC buttons arrayed at the bottom of the face.

Its easy-to-use, but if theres a problem with the design, its far too easy when storing the stylus to miss the thin slots that hold it to the side of the unit it kept falling off. Thats something to be wary of, particularly if you keep throwing the PDA
into a bag or move it around a lot. The actual build quality of the unit is quite good, and it comes with a solid cover to protect it from knocks and scratches. In a similar vein, the s60 PDA adds little new to the Palm universe, although we were impressed with the solidity of the casing. The unit is bog-standard with no bells and whistles to speak of, but if youre in the market for a PDA its worth throwing the s60 into consideration. It features everything other Palm PDAs do. The inclusion of the MemoryStick slot is the only standout particularly with the units standard 16MB RAM. The s60 is small, slim and light and comes with a protective cover, however the rest of the PDA is fairly standard all round.

Unfortunately, instead of innovating with the PDAs, Acer has opted for me too products. Sure the Memory Stick slots are some compensation but as a whole the two PDAs are priced a little high, with the only advantage being that there are more units on the market to choose from.