Some Advice on Palmtops

A converstation  of palmtop advice



  First off, don't base your opinions on that Info World review.  Other than

showing you multiple views of the different palmtops, it wasn't the best for

users looking to purchase these items.



  I have all 4 palmtops you speak of (Atari, HP, Wizard, Psion).  Here is my

"comparison" of them.  Now, you can't really compare an organizer to a machine

that can run DOS programs.  So, i'll list the different purposes for each

unit, in a breif, but to the point, way.



  The Psion 3 is the newest of the palmtop/organizer class.  It has a graphical

interface, pull-down menus and some nice built-in software.  It main

attraction is word processing or advanced note taking, whichever you prefer

<g>.  The keyboard is somewhat mushy, but the keys are spaced apart far enough

to allow for some decent typing, palmtop style (the 2 finger approach).  It's

other strong point is the World Clock, which lets you see what time it is for

a certain destination and how many miles it is from your home city.  It's

small size and slew of built-in programs are for the person who doesn't want

to worry about saving files, but need a small, well fit oranganizer.



  The Sharp Wizard 8000 (w/ 64K) and the 8200 (w/ 128K) are very much alive,

with no plans to get rid of either model.  The 8000 is selling like crazy and

is the most popular organizer on the market today, worldwide.



  The Wizard has a proprietary system, like the Psion 3, but is somewhat

different.  The nice thing about the non-DOS system, is that you never have

worry about files being saved.  It's done automatically, meaning, you hit one

key and your information is saved.  You can backup this information to a PC or

Mac.  The Wizard is a little bigger than the Psion 3, but wieghs about the

same.  It's screen and keyboard are nice to use and easy to adapt to. The

built-in programs are very good.  They make it easy to get work done. Again,

like the Psion, this machine would be great for someone who doesn't need to

run DOS programs and just wants to keep track of their schedule, keep notes,

write small memos and (with an optional IC card) do time and expense

functions.



  Both the Psion 3 and the Wizard are within $100 of eachother (the Psion is

more) and can be linked to a PC or Mac with no trouble at all.  Both also have

some IC cards (both program and memory) for added programs or data storage.

Both systems are proprietary, meaning they are not based on DOS. The Psion's

only exception is that it saves files with MS-DOS conventions (8 character

filename with 3 character extention).



  The HP 95LX is second only to the Wizard, but it is quite different.  It is

based on MS-DOS 3.22, with 512K memory and can run several off-the-shelf DOS

programs, most without any, or very little modification.



  It also includes several built-in programs: Appointment Book, Datacomm, Phone

Book, HP Calc and a full copy of Lotus 1-2-3.  All of these programs can be

loaded and switched back and forth between eachother.  The task manager,

System Manager, can also use external programs written for it to work with the

built-in programs.  And as mentioned before, some DOS programs can run,

unmodified, or slightly modified, on this unit.  The screen and keyboard are

nice, but some people seem to find the keyboard pretty small, and confined to

small notes and memos.  RAM cards are available for it for backup and data

storage.  This unit is for people that need to run small DOS programs and

financial people that have speadsheets to work on.  Also, it's built-in

programs can be used as a full-fleged organizer, even though the files are

based on DOS.  The Connectivity Pack has a cable for downloading files to a PC

(see 3rd parties for Mac stuff) and copies of most of the built-in programs (a

very nice touch).



  The Atari Portfolio, which is supported by Atari and end users in this forum,

is a cross between all of the machines above.  It can run some DOS programs,

but most need to be modifed.  The Portfolio has some built-in programs that

are very nice and useful.  A diary to schedule your events, a spreadsheet with

Lotus compatibility, an address book (the most flexible built-in program) and

more.  Then take into effect the over 600 programs and help files in this

forum, and programs on ROM cards from Atari, this little palmtop is a big

unit, with a very small price (the most reasonable palmtop on the market

today.



  The Portfolio is geared toward people that need to have simple organizer

function, but don't want to spend a lot of money.  There are parallel and

serial adapters as well as a PC Card drive that fits onto your PC.  Add to

this the over 600 files in this forum, and the Portfolio becomes the best

value and most flexible machine on the market.



  That was kind of long winded, but I think that should give a good comparison

of how the machines compare.  You cannot compare a DOS based palmtop to a

proprietary organizer.  Price and features are just too varried for a true

comparison.



