===================================================================== "ROOTSWORKS: PDA 2003 -- HARDWARE," by Beau Sharbrough ===================================================================== Two years ago, people generally considered PDAs personal organizers. Now, they are clearly handheld computers. Genealogy software developers are announcing data exchange with PDAs. You can connect TMG to My Roots now, and you can connect Legacy to the Pocket Genealogist. Soon, there will be no Personal Reference Barrier for us to discuss in the article on Genealogy Software. If you haven't seen the PDA2001 series of articles, they are still on the Ancestry.com website, and there are links to them on the RootsWorks site, listed below. PDAs are revolutionizing the way the genealogists do research in the field, literally. We'll talk about the hardware and the general uses for them today. In later articles, we'll talk about the software, genealogy software, and other cool things you can do with them. WHAT IS IT? Let's get our terms straight. "PDA" is a term used to refer to an ultralite computer. They used to be "personal digital assistants" but they have now left that concept far behind. In these articles, I'll use "PDA" to refer to devices that are small, pocket-sized computers that can play music, show movies, do all of the contact and appointment tracking you like. They can sync with your office documents, spreadsheets, and databases. They can sync with your genealogy program. They can fetch your e-mail from thin air, and help you find your way around downtown Pittsburgh. They can hold pictures of your grandchildren, and I would like to add that they are easier to pass around than that wallet you've been using to hold those photos. This product line is absolutely chaotic. New features and capabilities are being announced each month. Any time there's so much change, it's more difficult to find a feature set that you want to buy--you know that next month there will be a cooler one for the same price. Still, there are some very capable machines out there, and you need to know something about them. The models for sale today differ in several categories: Operating System (OS), CPU, Screen resolution, screen colors, memory (ram / rom), ports, wireless, and battery. These machines are primarily differentiated by the Operating System (OS) that they run, more than they are by the functions available. In the same way that some desktop computers use MacOS, Windows, or Linux, PDAs run Pocket PC or Palm OS. According to Larry Berkin of PalmSource, Inc, his favorite PDA is the clear leader. The Palm OS holds an 80 percent of the U.S. market, he says, and 72 percent of the business enterprise market. My personal suspicion is that the Pocket PC makers aren't going to close down and go away any time soon. There is a difference in CPU used to push these machines, and it follows OS lines. The Pocket PCs run a 400 MHz XScale processor. Yes, 400 MHz. As the old Palm Pilots stepped up through 16 MHz, 20, and then 33, the Pocket PC's came from Compaq and Toshiba with much faster ARM's and then XScales. It's my impression that every time Palm gets within one step of the Pocket PC speeds, the Pocket PCs move ahead again. The screen resolutions are growing, in terms of the number of pixels and the number of colors. Sony and Toshiba seem to be the leaders in this area. The amount of RAM supported is higher for the Pocket PCs, but they are both increasing. I've seen a 1 GB expansion card for the Toshiba. At $250, it's a bit much for such a slow medium, but that's a lot of room for photos of documents, gravesites, and other family heirlooms. There are three different types of expansion ports (secure digital, smart media, and compact flash) and each provides opportunities to expand memory, to add modems, GPS, or wireless devices, and so on. You can also find either an infrared or some other wireless adapter built in, such as an 802.11b or a Bluetooth port. You've probably heard of convergence, the belief that computing, entertainment, and communications are becoming more alike all the time. Computers, TVs and telephones are becoming hard to tell apart as well. People can play SEGA games on phones, TVs, and PDAs. What will they put together with a PDA next? They already come with cameras, phones, remote controls, and wireless modems. I was in CompUSA recently and one of the sales people was using his PDA like an iPod, attached to surround sound speakers, and I remembered shopping in stereo stores in the 70s. NAME TWO OF THEM This week marks the third anniversary of the announcement of the Pocket PC. It's very strong. The list of PDA manufacturers contains some familiar names: Palm, HP, Toshiba, and Sony. There is a good comparison chart for the Palm OS and the Pocket PC OS to be found at Mobile Planet. [1] Just in case you're wondering, my favorite is the Sony Clie NZ90. I'm not ready to spend $800 on one, but, like a middle aged man admiring sports cars, this one has captured my eye.[2] WHAT'S THE DOWN SIDE? First off, these things cost money. The most expensive ones are $800. I've seen some inexpensive ones under $200. But that's just the basic unit. Just like when you buy a car or a dress, it's the accessories that will kill you. A modem, expanded memory, optional folding keyboard, wireless modem, extra charging cradle, GPS, and a camera can add up to more than the cost of the original item. For example, Sony has a very nice monochrome Clie for under $200, and a very nice wireless modem for $300. Also, the batteries just haven't kept up with the gizmos they are adding. Color screens, multimedia, and other peripherals drain the battery rapidly. [3] Toshiba says they'll offer one with a fuel cell soon. One of the big adjustments for PDA users is learning to write in them. The Palm, for years, has used an alphabet called "Graffiti." Now it turns out that Xerox has a patent on an alphabet called "Unistrokes" and that they are suing the Palm makers for infringement. Palm came out with "Graffiti 2" earlier this year, and it's different. Newcomers think it's easier, oldsters don't like the change.[3] One of the other virtual keyboard methods is outlined in a review of Canesta at ExtremeTech.com.[4] That review includes good visual illustrations. And the other promising method is the "FITALY" keyboard. [5] It takes a lot of getting used to, but the converted are zealous in their support. WHAT ELSE? By the time we write PDA2005, they'll probably all be cell phones. Some cell phones run simple applications now, and some handheld computers do wireless phone functions, but they haven't quite got the trick working yet. You'll have a pair of glasses that will function as an HDTV-compatible monitor. The PDA2003 series will include four articles: hardware, software, genealogy software, and everything else. Supplemental information, including a glossary and product comparison, can be found at: http://www.rootsworks.com/pda2003 OTHER LINKS USED IN THIS ARTICLE: [1] http://www.mobileplanet.com/askexperts/PDA_Palm.asp? [2] http://www.bargainpda.com/default.asp?newsID=1213&showComments=true [3] http://www.brighthand.com/ [4] http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,3973,539778,00.asp [5] http://www.pdalive.com/fitaly.php ___________________________________________________________________ Copyright 1998-2003, MyFamily.com Inc. and its subsidiaries. Reprinted by permission from "Ancestry Daily News"