My "Perfect Pocket" Awards

My search for the "perfect" pocket-sized computer has taken decades, and alas, the quest is not over. Over the years, I have purchased Lilliputian-sized computing devices including the Sinclair ZX80 (a precursor to the Timex Sinclair), a Radio Shack Pocket Computer, an HP 95LX, an original Apple Newton, a Motorola Marco, a Franklin REX (now marketed by Xircom), and now the Pocket PC.

The new batch of Pocket PCs may be the closest thing to perfection so far, but I have a very specific definition of "perfect" in mind and nothing out there completely fits it. To be an overall perfect device, a handheld needs to be perfect in the following eleven areas of perfection: size, weight, battery life, durability, style, performance, usability, RAM, expandability, compatibility and connectability. I do not include price because that is the one area that is easily lowered...it is a lot easier to shrink the price instead of the size of a device.

The Pocket PCs are not perfect - nothing is perfect! But they do achieve relative perfection in some areas, and thus deserve my "Perfect Pocket" awards.

Size - small!

These machines are supposed to be "pocket-sized," but few of them actually live up to their name. It is ironic that fashion designers like Nautica and Brooks Brothers are adding larger pockets to some of their jackets, to accommodate devices that should have been able to fit in regular size pockets. To be perfect, a PDA or Pocket PC should fit easily in a shirt pocket or a small purse. Size is one of the reasons I am a big fan of the REX (www.rex.net), a credit card-sized Personal Information Manager. You can download Calendar, Contacts, Tasks and memos into REX and keep them with you in your shirt pocket or even your wallet. REX wins a "Perfect Pocket" award in the Size, Weight, Battery Life, and Durability categories. But REX works best as a data access solution. It doesn't have the capabilities of the Palms and Pocket PCs - it's not really a perfect PDA.

The Palm V (4.5 x 3.1 x 0.4 in.) is about as small as a touch screen PDA gets, but Palm Computing will have a hard time squeezing a color screen into that form factor. The Casio E-125 Pocket PC is too bulky to fit my definition of perfect, but their newer EM500 (5.04 x 3.22 x 0.74) is closer to ideal. Compaq's iPAQ and HP's Jornada 540 series Pocket PCs are all within striking distance of the Palm V, and come with color displays.

Weight - six ounces or less!

Any of the above Pocket PCs will fit in your shirt pocket, but they shouldn't threaten to rip that pocket right off due to weight! To even be considered for a "Perfect" a device should be no more than 6 ounces. At 4 ounces the Palm V earns a "Perfect Pocket" award. But so does the Compaq Aero 1550 (5.3 oz). Compaq new iPAQ (6.3 oz) earns a very honorable mention.

Battery Life - one week without thinking about it

The biggest Achilles' heel in portable devices is battery life. The more we expect from these devices, including the ability to play movies, music and games, the more power these devices gobble up. As a far-too-frequent flier, I want to be able to travel without worrying about battery life. I have been able to go on two or three-day trips with a single battery for my cell phone, and two fully-charged batteries can get me through a week or so of a fair amount of use. I want to be able to take a pocket computer on a weeklong trip without having to bring a bulky charger along. If that means longer-life batteries, or swappable batteries, or even AA or AAA commodity batteries, then so be it.

Monochrome-screen Palm OS computers go for a long time between charges and easily meet the "weeklong trip" criteria. Some of the Pocket PCs might do that, if I didn't listen to music and play games. But those abilities are why I'm supposed to prefer them to the Palms. In this category, Palm gets the award and no one else. However, there may be hope on the horizon. Both Compaq's iPAQ and Casio's new ruggedized EG-800, a color-screen Pocket PC use the new lithium-polymer battery technology, providing realistic 15-hour continuous use estimates.

Durability - it shouldn't break when you drop it