An Rx for your pocket

Getting to know your PDA

By Michael Citrome

Thinking about buying a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA)? A PDA can be a handy way to keep all of your important information organized and close at hand, but choosing the right one can mean the difference between an essential tool for keeping your job and your life in order, and an overgrown calculator that could become a very expensive paperweight.

The first thing you have to consider is your needs. What do you plan to use your PDA for? Is it just to hold your appointments and phone numbers? Or are you a little more tech-savvy and want to keep your reference texts and patient records on hand? Or maybe you're a bit of a gadget hound who likes to mix work with play and wouldn't mind some MP3s and computer games alongside the serious stuff. But remember, a PDA is not just a toy. It's a tiny computer that can quickly become indispensable.

Getting it right
Once you know what you plan to be doing, you can choose a PDA that fits you. For most people, the simpler the better. It can be tempting to go out and buy the top model with a high-resolution colour screen and a built-in digital camera. But if you're not going to use them, why bother forking over the extra cash? Big colour screens just eat up battery life anyway.

If you're new to the technology, it's best to start out with a basic model. You can always upgrade to a fancier one later. Prices start at as little as $150 (less when on sale) and go up to over $1,000. Of course, the more you pay, the more bells and whistles you get.

There are two main kinds of PDAs: ones that use the PalmOS, known as PalmPilots, and those that use Windows Mobile from Microsoft, usually called Pocket PCs. Some people are fiercely loyal to one or the other the way people are to Mac or PC. There are other kinds of PDAs on the market, but it's probably best to avoid them -- you most likely won't find the software you want for them.

Pocket it?
Palms and Pocket PCs work basically the same way. You can connect either to your Mac or PC to exchange data, and both use a pen-like stylus for input. Unfortunately you can't easily run Palm software on a Pocket PC or vice versa. And direct communication between a Palm and a Pocket PC is difficult as well.

Palms tend to be less complicated to use and start out cheaper than Pocket PCs, making them an attractive choice for beginners. At the moment Palms have better software support, but Pocket PCs are catching up. But if all of your colleagues use one or the other, it's better to go with the flow. It makes it easier to share information and get some friendly help when you run into a jam.

Bells and whistles
Aside from colour screens and enhanced sound, the main difference along the price scale for PDAs is memory. Just like with a desktop computer, memory is where you store information. Most PDAs store everything in RAM, so space is at a premium. A basic PDA will have eight megabytes of memory, more than enough for all of your phone numbers and appointments. But once you start loading in software like The Merck Manual, which weighs in at nearly five megabytes, you might consider a more capacious handheld.

If you want to carry around a lot of reference material, consider a PDA with at least 32 megabytes of memory. That way you have some room to grow. Another good feature to look for is expandability. Some PDA models can accept a memory card like you'd use for a digital camera to add extra storage. That can be a good compromise between sticking to a budget now and adding capacity later.

One more thing: some PDAs have an integrated cellular phone. While this sounds like an efficient combination, keep in mind that you can't really turn off the phone part and just use it as a PDA, so in a hospital situation, you might have to leave your information at home. The best advice: avoid.