last updated: February 01, 2004

Palm, PocketPC, or laptop PC? (Part I)

First, let's consider the decision you face as to whether laptop PCs or PDAs such as the Palm, PocketPC, or Blackberry fit best with the mobile strategy your company is considering. Then we'll examine the relative merits of the two main PDA platforms: Palm OS and PocketPC (now given the ungainly new name "Windows Mobile 2003"). If you already know that you want to go in the direction of the smaller, more efficient form factor of the PDA you may want to skip to Part II of this article.

Laptop or PDA?

If you are giving some thought to how best to unshackle the people in your company from their desks, or perhaps how to eliminate the waste and error of using paper forms, you probably already know quite a bit of what you need to know to decide whether PDAs or laptops are the most appropriate way to "mobilize." For example, you probably have a good idea whether there are laps or tabletops in the places your people would typically use a mobile device to make a laptop practical. And you can't help but have noticed that business-capable PDAs sell for a small fraction of the cost of a laptop PC.

What you may not have considered are the following general rules of thumb:

1. PDA battery life is typically much longer than that of a laptop PC. PDAs can sustain heavy use for from several hours to several days, depending on the model and whether you use accessories such as portable keyboards or wireless LAN adapters. For long trips or extended periods in the field, a PDA may be a more productive tool. More on battery life considerations in Part II.


2. Most modern PDAs have "transflective" screens that are designed for good viewing in both indoor and outdoor conditions. By contrast, even a sunny window can make the typical laptop screen pretty unreadable. For this reason, among others, non-ruggedized laptops should be reserved for use in indoor lighting conditions.


3. PDAs (both Palm and PocketPC) can handle Word, Excel, Outlook, and even PowerPoint documents quite well now with the appropriate software installed, but for entry of large amounts of text a laptop is still usually the best way to go. PDA keyboard accessories can give you a pretty full-fledged keyboard experience, but in general the comfort level is not as high and the smaller screen doesn't permit easy viewing of page layout. The exception to this rule is when airline tray-tables are involved: a PDA with a portable keyboard is usually much easier to use in this situation precisely because the screen is smaller and is angled better than is usually possible with a laptop.
4. Pocketability is a big benefit from a user standpoint, but there is a downside in terms of security. While corporate data can easily be encrypted so that a stolen PDA doesn't give up sensitive company information, the fact remains that it is often easier to lose a PDA than a large laptop PC. Fortunately, they are also cheaper to replace.
5. PDA operating systems are designed from the start with the idea of synchronizing data with centralized computer systems, whether that be through a PC workstation or directly to a networked server. This is critical for many business applications since the data often becomes useful only when it gets to the company database in a timely manner. It's much easier to set up and enforce sychronization of data with a Palm or PocketPC than with a laptop since it's usually a matter of setting the PDA in its cradle and pushing a single button. The growing ubiquity of wireless networks (both WLAN and 3G cellular technologies) means that real-time, or near-real-time remote synchronization of data is becoming a reality with handheld computers. Options for wirelessly "pushing" data and instantaneously retrieving it are much better with a PDA at this time than for a laptop PC.

In general, PDAs are becoming more and more capable of tackling the majority of tasks that once required laptops, and they add additional benefits that a laptop can probably never provide. While high-end handheld units have sometimes carried price tags that move perilously close to bottom-end laptop territory, those price-levels have dropped and excellent business-class PDAs have proliferated in the $200-$300 range. Those that are priced above $500 are usually smartphone models that add voice communication capabilities that we have yet to see in a laptop PC.

Because the lower price-point and increased capability of handheld computers is making all-electronic systems a more compelling option for managing company data, many companies that never thought they could afford mobile computing for their employees can now give it serious consideration.

Next... which PDA operating system is best for your purposes? Part II of this article

David Beers
Pikesoft Mobile Computing