NETWORK WORLD NEWSLETTER: NEAL WEINBERG
on PRODUCT REVIEWS

11/27/01 - Today's focus: The PDA roundup
Dear Wincenty Kaminski,

In this issue:

* The best in PDA devices and accessories
* Links related to Network World product reviews
* Featured reader resource
____________________________________________________________
HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE

If you're looking for a gift for that special network
executive, or if you're a network executive looking for gifts
for your family or friends, odds are we've played with, errr,
tested a device that could do the trick. Check out our Holiday
Gift Guide to help make this year's shopping easier!
http://nww1.com/go/ad206.html

____________________________________________________________
Today's focus: The PDA roundup

By Neal Weinberg

The Reviewmeister spends most of the year testing out heavy
duty networking gear. But with the holidays on the horizon, we
thought it would be appropriate to look into some tech tools
you might want to put on your holiday shopping list.

Our first category is the personal digital assistant (PDA). If
you're still using a Palm III, it's time for an upgrade.

Hewlett-Packard's Jornada 565 Pocket PC is an option. At $600,
this model features a color screen, is wireless-ready and has
new enterprise features such as VPN connectivity.

If you're looking for multimedia features, the Sony Clie PEG-
N610C lets you view color photos and movies, uses Memory Stick
for storage and costs about $400.

The Handspring Visor Pro, at $300, offers twice as much memory
as other Palm OS devices and the fastest processor. If you want
to put lots of applications on a PDA, buy this one.

If you're looking for a starter PDA for friends and relatives,
check out the Handspring Visor Neo, a $200 model that offers a
fast processor and the Springboard expansion slot for add-on
modules.

The @migo PD-600c Pocket PC is the only one with a PC Card
slot. It's great for wireless LAN cards, Bluetooth cards or
storage cards, and costs $500.

The best high-end Palm is the m505, a $450 model that comes
with a color screen and expansion slot for Secure Digital or
MultiMedia Cards. It's the Palm to have for the Palm junkie
(for the moment).

* PDA accessories

If you want to take your Palm wireless, check out the Xircom
wireless LAN module for Palm m500 series. At $300, it offers a
snap-on cradle that gives wireless LAN (802.11b) access to the
Palm m500 or m505.

How's this for an accessory: The $120 Akron Networks Parafone
PRF500 turns your Handspring Visor into a 900MHz cordless phone
for use around the house. Its charging stand doubles as a
HotSync cable.

The Seiko Thumboard, at $40, is a keyboard for Handspring
Visors, Palm V/Vx and m500 series. It snaps onto the PDA's sync
port, covering up the writing area.

Also check out the Acer Accufeel G300. For between  $40 and
$50, it's a keyboard that snaps onto a Palm V; best for use
with e-mail and long document inputs.

And for $75, there's the Belkin Pocket PDA Keyboard, a tiny
fold-out keyboard that is compatible with many different Palm
models (III, V, VII, m100) because of its "PDA-One" adapter.
With the adapter, it's a bit tricky to configure, but once it's
working, it's a pretty cool keyboard.

For the full report, go to
http://www.nwfusion.com/hgg2001

_______________________________________________________________
To contact Neal Weinberg:

Neal Weinberg is features editor at Network World, in charge
of product reviews, Buyer's Guides, technology primers,
how-tos, issue-oriented feature stories and the Technology
Insider series. You can reach him at mailto:nweinber@nww.com.
_______________________________________________________________
Get your wireless service from the carrier ranked #1 by Forbes
magazine.  Now get Unlimited Night & Weekend Minutes, plus up
to $165 in savings when you activate on select calling plans
and purchase a Nokia 3360 or 8260 from AT&T Wireless. To learn
more go to http://www.nww1.com/go/ad207.html
_______________________________________________________________
RELATED LINKS

Network World's research pages on PDAs
http://www.nwfusion.com/research/pda.html

Review: A strong enterprise PDA
Network World, 07/02/01
http://www.nwfusion.com/research/2001/0702rev.html

The archive for Reviews is:
http://www.nwfusion.com/reviews/index.html
______________________________________________________________
FEATURED READER RESOURCE

Network World Fusion's The Edge site

Network World Fusion's The Edge is a resource devoted to the
advances in service-provider networks that are shaking up the
old telecom order. In classic Network World fashion, we focus
on the hardware, software and services coming to market - but
this time from the vendors targeting legacy carriers, new
alternative local carriers, ISPs and application service
providers. http://www.nwfusion.com/edge/index.html
_______________________________________________________________
May We Send You a Free Print Subscription?
You've got the technology snapshot of your choice delivered
at your fingertips each day. Now, extend your knowledge by
receiving 51 FREE issues to our print publication. Apply
today at http://www.nwwsubscribe.com/nl
______________________________________________________________
SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES

To subscribe or unsubscribe to any Network World e-mail
newsletters, go to:
http://www.nwwsubscribe.com/news/scripts/notprinteditnews.asp

To unsubscribe from promotional e-mail go to:
http://www.nwwsubscribe.com/ep

To change your e-mail address, go to:
http://www.nwwsubscribe.com/news/scripts/changeemail.asp

Subscription questions? Contact Customer Service by replying to
this message.

Have editorial comments? Write Jeff Caruso, Newsletter Editor,
at: mailto:jcaruso@nww.com

For advertising information, write Jamie Kalbach, Director of
Online Sales, at: mailto:jkalbach@nww.com

Copyright Network World, Inc., 2001

------------------------
This message was sent to:  vkamins@enron.com