Latest PDAs offer
Cool New Features

Handheld computers -- also known as Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) -- look like they've escaped from an episode of Star Trek. They have a sleek and high tech look, but their appeal is more practical.

They promise to put all the info you need in your pocket -- and make it available with a few taps of a stylus. The newest PDAs offer some very cool features. One cutting-edge machine will even put the Internet in your pocket. Other PDAs take a different approach, giving you color and sound you can take on the road.

Every handheld computer on the market today offers basic date and address book functions. The most advanced units offer the ability to send and receive e-mail. Palm Computing, which produces the popular Palm organizer, was among the first to add this capability. Now Palm's new, top of the line Palm VII gives users e-mail and more -- wireless access to the Internet.

With the exception of its display screen, the Palm VII is a state-of-the-art machine (Palm uses a black and green LCD display that is hard to read in certain lighting conditions). According to Palm's Web site, the Palm VII lets you:

"Read the news. Get stock quotes. Buy movie tickets. Check traffic or the weather. Even send and receive quick text messages. All from a restaurant, taxi or a client's office."

It does all this by incorporating cellular phone technology that lets you tap into the Internet from wherever you happen to be. Though a system called "Web Clipping," Net-aware applications for the Palm VII can go to the Internet and download small bits of data.

The process is seamless - it's not at all like Web surfing, it's more limited but also more efficient. The unit makes the connection, downloads the data you need and presents it on the screen.

The Palm VII unit has a street price of about $500. Its Internet access is provided through Palm Computing's Palm.Net service. The service charges a monthly subscription fee which varies by usage.

The entry-level "Basic" plan costs $9.99 a month plan and includes 30 e-mail messages, 20 stock quotes, 10 sports scores, 10 traffic reports and10 weather updates.

Subscribers with the $39.99 "Volume" plan get 180 messages, 120 stock quotes, 60 sports scores, 60 traffic reports and 60 weather updates.

Actual usage is measured by kilobytes of data transferred, so if you send fewer e-mails you'd be able to get more stock quotes and other features.

The most common alternatives to Palm handheld computers are the so-called "Palm-size PCs" that run Microsoft's Windows CE software. Several companies now make Windows CE handhelds, and their products vary a bit in design and capabilities.

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