Palm Tungsten T, Zire

As a replacement for the Palm V series and the short-lived m500 series, the Palm Tungsten T ($400 street) is a rugged and high-powered PDA that's well suited for mobile professionals. The device is collapsible, and the compact case fits easily in your hand or shirt pocket.

You can slide the case open to expose the Graffiti area—an effective space-saving design for a device that is used more often for data viewing than for entry. A removable, clear plastic cover protects the 320-by-320 display—a vast improvement over earlier Palm units—and a five-way button enables one-handed navigation.

For business users, the Tungsten T comes with Palm OS 5.0, and a 144-MHz Texas Instruments CPU that supports wireless connections and multimedia. It also has a built-in Bluetooth radio for short-range wireless connections.

Thanks to the processor and OS, the Tungsten T is the first Palm PDA designed from the ground up to handle multimedia. It performed well compared with the other Palm OS devices on our audio and video tests, although it's not as good for entertainment as the two high-end Sony models. The Tungsten T is a good choice for mobile professionals and reasonable for entertainment, too.

Combining low cost ($100) and the simplicity of Palm OS, the Palm Zire is a very attractive entry-level PDA. For consumers who want to carry their contacts, appointments, and to-do lists electronically, the Zire is an excellent first PDA purchase and earns an Editors' Choice.

But you get what you pay for. The plastic case is not sturdy, and the device is not designed for multimedia; it has a monochrome screen and no audio capability. It runs only the simplest games. You can't expand it with an add-in card, and don't even think about using it for Internet connectivity or e-mail.

Printed documentation is limited to a brochure, although full manuals are available on CD and online. A removable, rubberized, translucent flip cover protects the screen and flips back easily with one hand, but it tends to fall right back down over the display.

We are pleased to find a rechargeable lithium ion battery in a model this inexpensive. If you're looking for a PDA with easy-to-use applications—and plenty of third-party software—you can't go wrong with the Zire, as long as you don't mind its limitations.