A wise philosopher once said the words that I have carried with me throughout adult life. He said, "Opinions are like belly buttons - everyone has one". All right, it wasn't really a philosopher, it was my Uncle Ben, but I was just nine, and to me he seemed like the wisest man alive. And while his insights clearly pose no immediate threat to those of Confucius or Aristotle, his point seemed valid then and it seems valid now - no matter what the topic, there are an infinite number of opinions. I mention this not as a segue into a rambling diatribe into the origins of the universe or the meaning of life, but to rationalize my contribution to the most opined upon subject in the history of handheld computing - which PDA is the best?

What is the Ideal PDA?

Unfortunately, there is no better answer to the question of the best PDA than there is to "if a tree falls in the woods and no one is around to hear it, does it make a noise?" or "what is the sound of one hand clapping?". The only acceptable position to take when selecting a device is that it depends totally on what your needs are It sounds like a cop-out but it really is the truth. I'll take this one step further and say that until you actually get a PDA and use it for a while, even you won't know what those needs are.

Although I can no more pick the ideal PDA for you than I can the ideal sports car or brand of sneakers (and if you come across someone that says they know just the right device for you, trust me, they can't). What I can do, along with the legions of other PDA users who have traveled this path before me, is tell you why I picked the device I did (a Handspring Visor Deluxe, by the way) and what I wish were different about it if I had the opportunity to change it. And while this may not be the desired outcome, hopefully my experiences, along with those of others, will help you develop a more complete picture of the differences each PDA offers and help you choose the one most suited to your lifestyle.

Anyway, enough crazy talk.

The Handspring Visor Deluxe: Mr. Potato Head of PDAs

As I mentioned, my current PDA of choice is a Handspring Visor Deluxe, and what tipped the scales for me can be summed up in one word - expandability. Unlike most handheld computers currently on the market, the Visor sports a slot that will accommodate an ever-expanding assortment of gadgets and gizmos. These range from cartridges with software applications (think Nintendo GameBoy) to extra memory cards, to more eye-popping accessories like mp3 players, GPS transceivers, and telephones. It seems hardly a week goes by these days without someone announcing a new product that will fit into this expansion slot (dubbed the Springboard by Handspring). In some sense, it is kind of like the Mr. Potato Head of PDAs.

Now the truth is, I wasn't always a Handspring convert, and not long ago I could easily be found vigorously defending the virtues of my Palm V and mocking the practicality of an MP3 player for my handheld. The point that I came to realize though is that whether you believe in the benefit of an MP3 player or not (and let me tell you, despite my initial objections, it turns out the MP3 player is really cool), it is not the MP3 player itself that is important, but the ability to add functionality at will. What better way after all to end up with a device that does everything that you need it to than to essentially build it yourself? After all, if I like my Mr. Potato Head to have the big lips and you like yours to have the glasses, shouldn't we both have that option?

Now some of you will cry foul saying that the Sony CLIE and the TRGpro also have expansion slots, and that unlike the Handspring, they use industry standard Memory Stick and Compact Flash rather than the proprietary Springboard model. True on both counts. But, and this is an important but, the fact remains that Handspring simply has more marketing and channel support than either Sony or TRGpro, meaning that at the end of the day, proprietary or not, there are just more people making cool things for the Handspring than there are for these other devices (which reminds me of another nugget of wisdom from old Uncle Ben - "He who has the most toys wins."). Besides that, (and this is specifically for the folks at TRGpro), the days of the unstylish, bland PDA have come and gone (the TRGpro looks very much like a Palm III, with the exception of the expansion slot). People want the sleek, brushed aluminum of the Palm Vx or the optional colors of the Visor.

The Drawbacks

Now, replacing my Palm V with a Visor Deluxe has not left me totally satisfied and there are definitely things I miss. Most notable is the size of the Handspring Visor. I really liked the overall size of the Palm V as it fit nicely in my shirt pocket without making me look too much like a nerd and without pulling one side of my shirt way down. The other issue is the lack of a rechargeable battery. While the Handspring doesn't need new batteries that often (about once a month or so) it seems that the batteries are set to only go dead at the one point in time I don't have access to replacements. Life just seemed a whole lot less complicated when I didn't have to worry about such things.

Conclusion

Aside from these basic differences (and the expandability of course) everything else about the two devices was pretty much a wash. They both are available with the same amount of memory, both run the same operating systems, both run the extensive library of third-party applications and both cost more or less the same amount of money. All this of course bring us full circle to my opening position that the best device is the one that best fits your needs.

As for me, having used them all, I frankly couldn't be happier with my Visor Deluxe. I love the gadgets, and listening to music on my handheld and the idea of making telephone calls directly from my address book just pushes my buttons. That said, odds are good that the next new device that comes along, whether it be an enhanced version made by Palm or Sony, or by an entirely new manufacturer altogether, I will find it a better fit for my lifestyle and make the switch. So if there is one valuable thing to take away from all this it is that no matter which device you buy today, realistically you are going to replace it in 12-24 months, so don't sweat the details.

Of course, this is just one man's belly button.

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