The PDA marketplace is changing daily with new applications, new devices and new abilities. While PDAs can be a huge advantage to an individual user, there are many, many issues involved both using and managing PDAs in the enterprise. Here are a few of the choices that are available to the PDA user today:

Palm: The Palm PDA is a good general personal device. There is a wide choice of applications available for it. It is simple to use, has a rock-solid operating system and runs for weeks on a set of AA batteries. 3Com has garnered over 80% of the PDA market with Palm. They have a very extensive product line in every price range. The base line for the Palm line is the Palm III. All of the Palm models include the basic functionality of the Palm III (calendar, e-mail, tasks, contacts and notes), and then add additional features. 3Com is currently updating all of their models this year. Palm has many accessories, but the most functional for any mobile legal professional should include: Palm's foldable real-size keyboard, a wired modem, or a wireless modem (sled).

The Palm III series is being phased out in favor of the new smaller Palm M100 series, which includes the M100 and the M105. These will define 3Com's base line for Palm models. Both the M100 and M105 have the same functionality as the Palm III, but in a smaller form factor. The M105 is the "business" model, has more memory and can synch with groupware applications, while the M100 is the "home/student" model that has less memory and currently cannot synch with groupware. The M105 and M100 both require either an additional wired modem or wireless modem (sled) to connect to the Internet.

The V series devices had basic functionality of the Palm III series, but it did it with a style that many appreciated. It included: a thinner metal case and rechargeable batteries. The Palm V series is also being phased out. The V series is being replaced by the M500 (with a grey scale display) and M505 (with a color display). Both the M500 and M505 have the same sleek metallic case and rechargeable batteries like their predecessor, but they have an added expansion card slot. This slot allows you to increase storage capacity, do data backups, and can be used for wireless modems, GPS receivers, digital cameras and more.

The Palm VII has always been a unique model. It has the basic functionality of a Palm III, but has a built-in wireless modem, built-in e-mail access (on palm.net) and web clipping (web-browsing). You can check stock quotes, airline status, travel information, get local weather, book a flight, get directions, read news and more. The web clipping brings you just the information you requested, without all the links and graphics to slow you down. Web clipping applications were (and can be easily) developed for existing websites. This "clipping" is employed so that the Palm VII can still operate for weeks on a set of AA batteries. Palm is introducing a new wireless model to replace the Palm VII and it will be similar in functionality to Blackberry (see below) with its "always-on" Internet connectivity. Server software is available from www.thinairapps.com that allows Palm VII users real-time access their e-mail, calendar, contacts, tasks and notes.

Blackberry: The Blackberry PDA, made by RIM, has proven to be an extremely popular device among lawyers. At its core, it is an e-mail appliance. It has a wireless always-on modem that is constantly receiving new messages or sending your messages. Like a pager, when a new message arrives, the Blackberry beeps or buzzes. In addition, it has the same basic PIM functions as most PDAs: calendar, contacts, notes and tasks. RIM has a much smaller market share than the Palm, but a very loyal user-base. It is simple to use and requires little or no training. Because of its smaller market share, there are fewer 3rd party applications and accessories available. There are four models: RIM 850, RIM 950, RIM 857, and the RIM 957. All have a built-in keyboard to type text and a thumbwheel to navigate the operating system. The RIM 850 and 950 are the smaller devices, while the RIM 857 and 957 both sport a larger screen. All except the 850 have rechargeable lithium batteries (the 850 uses a single AA battery).

An individual user must run special software on a workstation that forwards the local mailbox to the Blackberry. In an enterprise situation, a server can be purchased from RIM that forwards mail from each user's mailbox to their Blackberry. The PIM information (calendar, tasks, notes) is not forwarded automatically, but is synchronized offline. RIM has just released a software upgrade that allows a user's calendar information to work like the e-mail.

PocketPC: PocketPC is really a PDA operating system made by Microsoft based on Windows. Various vendors manufacture PDAs to run the PocketPC operating system including HP, Casio, and Compaq. These vendors add or remove various features to the hardware to make their device more attractive to the consumer or to preserve battery life. Lately, the most popular of these devices has been the Compaq iPAQ. The PocketPC is being positioned as a laptop replacement, and in many ways, it can replace a laptop. It comes loaded with scaled down "pocket" versions of Microsoft applications: Pocket Outlook, Pocket Word, Pocket Excel and Pocket Internet Explorer.

About our speaker...

Don Philmlee is a Founder of Potomac Consulting Group, a legal technology consulting firm based in Arlington, Virginia. He can be reached at (703) 527--1260 or by e-mail at don@potomac.com