Feature: When PDAs Aren't Good Notebook Alternatives

It's true-confession time.

If you've been a longtime reader, you may remember my stories espousing the benefits of traveling with a well-equipped PDA instead of a notebook. A PDA is much lighter to carry and easier to get through airport security than a notebook. The batteries typically last longer. You can still get e-mail and work on Office documents, albeit on a smaller screen. You know, that sort of thing.

I still believe all that's true. But on a recent weeklong trip, I experienced the dark side of my PDA-only policy. As a result, it's highly likely that I will once again be among the notebook-toting masses--at least on trips lasting more than a few days. Here's why.

Extra Prep Time Required

Right before taking a business trip, I always have a million things to do. In order to travel with my Dell Axim X30 Pocket PC (with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity) for a week instead of my notebook, I had to spend time anticipating all the files I might need. Then I copied the files onto a Secure Digital card.

Sure enough, I discovered while away that I had forgotten several critical files. If I'd had my notebook, I would have every file at my disposal.

Little Things Mean a Lot

Having never traveled with the Axim before (I normally travel with a Palm Tungsten T3), I assumed I could simply plug the PDA cradle's power cord directly into the Pocket PC for recharging. Wrong.

As the PDA's battery juice began to drain, I realized there was a small cable--which I'd left at home--required to connect the Axim's power adapter to the PDA itself. My spouse sent the cable to me via overnight delivery, but until I received it, I could no longer use the PDA. By comparison, I keep a notebook bag fully stocked with AC adapter, modem cords, and such, precisely to avoid this kind of problem.

No EFaxes

Among the e-mails I received on the Axim was an EFax message from a client. EFax provides free- and fee-based services that route incoming faxes to your inbox as attachments. When I first set up my account years ago, I elected to have faxes sent in the proprietary EFax file format, which can be opened on a PC or notebook using the EFax application. There is no EFax equivalent for PDA operating systems, however, so I couldn't open the fax attachment.

Had I known to expect an EFax during my trip, I could have changed my fax options in advance at EFax's Web site and converted all incoming faxes into either TIFF or PDF files. Still, I would also have had to download and install third-party applications to open and view those file formats, as none of the applications included in the Dell Axim support either file format. (For TIFF files, I would need the $15 SPB Imageer; for PDF files, the free Adobe Reader.)

If I'd had my notebook, this wouldn't have been an issue.

Powerless to Open PowerPoint

While I was away, a client sent a PowerPoint presentation for my feedback. But irritatingly enough, Microsoft doesn't include PowerPoint among the standard Pocket Office applications on a Pocket PC. Again, there are third-party programs you can download that will let you open, view, and sometimes even edit PowerPoint files on PDAs--but I didn't have such a program installed on the Axim. (CNetX's $20 Pocket SlideShow 1.30 is popular for viewing and projecting PowerPoint presentations.)

Okay, now sing along with me: "If I'd only had my notebook."

A Little Too Password-Protected

At one point, I went to a Borders bookstore to use its T-Mobile Wi-Fi service. I subscribe to T-Mobile's wireless service, so I figured I'd have no problems signing on. Wrong again.

I couldn't remember my user password, but I had remembered to copy onto the Axim my master Passwords document, a Word file in which I keep all my user names and passwords. But could I open that file? Nooooo. Silly me: This is the one and only file on my computer that is password-protected; and Pocket Word, the Pocket PC version of Word, informed me it couldn't open password-protected files.

So, after unsuccessfully trying various password/user name combinations to sign on to T-Mobile, I gave up. If only...

The Moral of the Story

I could regale you with other inconveniences I endured, but you get the picture.

Bottom line: When I'll be away for no more than two business days, I'll probably still travel with a Wi-Fi-enabled PDA in lieu of my notebook. (I'll also bring along an external keyboard and a dial-up modem, for those times when I'm not near a hotspot.) Or I may simply take a PDA/combo phone capable of checking e-mail.

But for longer trips, my notebook is coming with me. The hassles of not having my notebook, I've learned, can be greater than the hassles of having to carry the thing.