Palm vs. Pocket PC

Some people opt for PDAs others are against them. Everyone has his/her own opinion which should be respected. In the long run it comes up that PDAs became devices people rely on even at a greater scale than they would rely on people.

It is rather a deep feeling of trust than an uncontrolled passion for PDAs! What can be better than awareness that your PDA won't let you down unless it's out of power (but this is another story which has to do with how you use it).

Of course there are those who run to extremes! Sometimes they have their lives so dependent upon PDAs that losing or breaking one would mean misfortune. If you have never experienced this kind of feeling just remember what happened to you the last time your computer crashed and you'll understand. The great thing about a PDA is that it can be backed up saving your important data.

You'll be even more surprised to find out that the topic of using or not a PDA is the one to argue. The question that fires up passionate conversations is: What to choose – Palm or PDA/Pocket PC?

Reasons to Choose a Palm

Third-party software. 2001 registered about 13,000 commercially available software programs for Palm versus 1,600 for Pocket PC. According to IDC, this was one of the reasons it got a market share of 72% in contrast to 15% of Pocket PC.

Use fewer resources. Pocket PC has a Windows based OS which requires a speedy processor. It means it requires more resources and memory to operate. The Palm OS based devices require less resources to function efficiently. This cuts off the price and still offers great possibilities.

Larger Microsoft Office possibilities. Palm models that are provided with DataViz Documents To Go 5.0, surpass the versions of Office on Pocket PCs having a better integration with Microsoft Office files. One of the Office applications that PDAs don't support is PowerPoint (though third-party applications are available).

Compact size. Generally, Palm devices are smaller in size than Pocket PCs due to the powerful processors and greater memory the latter has.

Lower prices. Some models of Palms OS device (such as Zire) have a very low start-price - $99. Unlike Palm, Pocket PC models (such as Dell's Axim X5) which go for $200. The difference is not only in price but also in features. The $99 Zire is shorted of some features Pocket PCs have, this is first of all the color screen.

Reasons to Choose a Pocket PC

A greater variety of models and vendors. Among the Pocket PC vendors you'll find Asus, Casio, Dell, Gateway, Hewlett-Packard, Toshiba, and ViewSonic. At its turn the majority of Palm OS devices are mainly produced by Sony and Palm/Handspring.

Better Web browsing. Most of the consumers agree that the Pocket Internet Explorer (the "mini-me" to the Windows version) is the best Web browser they ever used on a PDA. First of all this is because it is similar to the one on Windows PC.

Multitasking feature. Unlike Palm devices, Pocket PC can open more than one application at a time. This makes it possible to easy and fast jump between applications, however it consumes more memory and battery life.

Better screens. Pocket PC screens distinguish with their colorful displays and high resolution. Currently, Palm OS displays are merging in the area. Sony's multimedia handhelds are catching up with Pocket PC models.

MP3 player. Windows Media Player is a standard feature of Pocket PCs. It supports MP3 and other multimedia files. Only newer, high-end multimedia Palm OS devices are provided with media-playing software.

Built-in speakers. Built-in Speakers are another standard for Pocket PCs and only some Palms feature these as well. This is a real advantage if you want to playback voice recordings or add GPS/mapping software systems with audible driving directions to your PDA.

In conclusion you have to consider the fact that Palm is an Organizer, where as Pocket PC is a computer! It's a matter of your choice to decide which one fits you the best. And your choice is a result of your primary needs. We have given you some guidelines to consider, so that you can be well informed upon buying a PDA.