Pumped-Up PDAs

What will they put on a personal digital assistant next? Two new handhelds for the executive suite, a Palm and a Pocket PC, feature built-in Wi-Fi, while Palm's new addition to its consumer-oriented Zire line boasts an imaginatively designed built-in camera. All three play your digital music, and one even comes with a joystick for games.

Unfortunately, the cool-sounding add-ons that come with shipping models of the Palm Tungsten C, Palm Zire 71, and Toshiba Pocket PC E755 aren't always easy to use or flawlessly crafted. And they take a toll on battery life.

Wi-Fi to Go

Designed with power business users in mind, both the $499 Tungsten C and the $599 Pocket PC E755 feature built-in Wi-Fi (802.11b), but with both I sometimes found it difficult to detect and/or establish links to Wi-Fi networks that Wi-Fi--enabled notebook PCs easily picked up.

Overall, though, I found the Tungsten C's setup routine considerably friendlier than the Toshiba E755's. The Wi-Fi Setup utility on my shipping Tungsten C was able to walk me through the required configuration in a few seconds, and I was immediately able to visit my favorite Web sites using the included browser (which resizes pages to make them easier to see and to scroll through on a small screen).

The Palm Tungsten C has a pleasing thumb keyboard, with firm and well-spaced keys. You also have the option of using Graffiti 2, the successor to the original Graffiti handwritten-character recognition software; the new version has slight modifications that should make it easier for newbies to learn. The Palm 5.2.1--based unit also has a headset port and the same circular navigation button that's found on other Tungstens. The lithium ion/polymer battery runs down within a day or so of heavy Wi-Fi use, but it lasts a couple of days longer if you turn off the Wi-Fi radio.

Toshiba's metallic Pocket PC E755, in contrast, looks like the heavy-duty executive accessory it's meant to be. In most respects, the E755's hardware and software are what you'd expect from a high-end handheld based on Pocket PC 2002: You get the same processor as the Tungsten C's; an appealing, brightly lit, 240-by-320, 65,536-color screen; a headset port and a tiny speaker that's more suitable for playing voice memos than music; a collection of stripped-down Office apps; and several handwriting and software-keyboard data input options.

The E755's principal selling point is its built-in Wi-Fi capability. In my tests with a shipping unit, however, wireless configuration was far from intuitive. The unit has no wizard; instead, its setup process presents you with a number of tabs at the bottom of the screen, but little instruction on how to use them. The complicated configuration made logging on to networks a hassle every time. The company says, though, that by the end of June the E755 will ship with the new Pocket PC 2003 operating system, which will have a Wi-Fi configuration wizard.

Smile, You're on PDA

The Zire 71 is the second entry in Palm's consumer line, launched last fall with the $99 Zire. The Zire 71 isn't quite so cheap; still, $299 does not seem excessive for a PDA offering the latest version of the Palm OS (5.2.1), an attractive 320-by-320 transflective 65,536-color screen, and multimedia extras (plus enough juice to support them), as well as a built-in camera.

The camera is completely hidden when the PDA's slate-blue front is closed. Sliding the front of the case up reveals the camera's lens on its back, and uncovers a shutter button sitting below the unit's LCD screen--the screen then functions as the camera's display. It's a nifty design, though the low-resolution color images the camera captures are worth e-mailing but not printing.

The Zire 71 did better with music: Tunes stored on a Secure Digital card and played over a headset using RealOne software sounded good (card and headset not included). The device also makes a pretty decent pocketable video game player (the tiny joystick navigator is a nice touch). I wish it had some sort of charging light--you have no way of telling whether the Zire 71 is recharging while it's in its cradle. But that wouldn't stop me from recommending the Zire 71 for someone who wants a multimedia-oriented Palm.

The Zire 71's gimmicky camera is less an asset than its ability--thanks to a respectable processor and the Palm 5. x OS--to support games and playback of music and video: For buyers who want a midrange PDA that doubles as a leisure-time toy, it's one of the best out there.

For business travelers whose companies are standardized on Pocket PCs, the E755 may still shape up as a worthy competitor to Hewlett-Packard's IPaq Pocket PC H5450, which also has built-in Wi-Fi capability. However, the problems I had accessing a fairly simple Wi-Fi network would give me pause when considering a purchase of this PDA. The Tungsten C, on the other hand, looks like a winning companion for just about any well-heeled traveler wanting to take advantage of Wi-Fi's increasing ubiquity in hotels, airports, and coffee bars.

SUMMARY

Toshiba Pocket PC E755 Imposing corporate PDA with WiFi; current setup is a hassle. Price when reviewed: $599 Current Price (if available)

SUMMARY

Palm Tungsten C Versatile, powerful Palm with easy-to-use Wi-Fi. Price when reviewed: $499 Current Price (if available)

SUMMARY

Palm Zire 71 A decent Palm for multimedia, but the built-in camera is mediocre at best. Price when reviewed: $299 Current Price (if available)