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Note that the new Palm-sized PCs will be integrated into these lists
once a few more of their real specifications come to light. Right now
the various companies involved indicate that most everything is subject
to change.
| Processor Speed | Base Unit RAM | Display Resolution
|
- MessagePad 2000 & 2100 (both with 162MHz)
- Velo 500, 360LX, & 320LX (all with 75MHz)
- Mobile Pro 700 (54 MHz)
- 300LX & 320LX (both with 44MHz)
- LG HPC & Cassiopeia (both with 40MHz)
|
- Velo 500 & 620LX (both with 16M)
- Mobilon 4100 & 4500 (both with 12M)
- MessagePad 2100, Nokia 9000, Mobile Pro 700, 360LX, Freestyle A-15 & A-20 (all with 8M)
- MessagePad 2000 (5M)
- Psion Series 5, Geofox-One, MI-500, 320LX, & Mobile Pro 400 (all with 4M)
|
- Geofox-One (204,800 pixels; 16 shades of gray)
- MessagePad 2000, MessagePad 2100, Psion Series 5, Velo 500, & 360LX (all with 153,600 pixels; 16 shades of gray)
- Mobilon 4100 (153,600 pixels; 16 shades of gray)
- 300LX & 320LX (both with 153,600 pixels; 4 shades of gray)
- Nokia 9000 (128,000 pixels; 4 shades of gray)
Note that the MI-500, Mobilon 4500, & 620LX are hard to compare;
they have color at the expense of battery life. Probably a new category
will have to be introduced for this one as color becomes more mature.
|
| Weight | Size | Battery Life
|
- Palm Pilot Pro & Palm Pilot 1000 (both at 0.4 lbs)
- Psion Siena (0.5 lbs)
- Psion Series 3c (0.6 lbs)
- 200LX, MI-500, & SE-500 (all at 0.7 lbs)
- OmniGo 100, OmniGo 120, Psion Series 5, Velo 1, Cassiopeia, Mobile Pro 400, LG HPC, ZR-5700, ZR-3500 (all at 0.8 lbs)
|
- Palm Pilot Pro & Palm Pilot 1000 (both at 10.5 cubic inches)
- Psion Siena (11.2 cubic inches)
- SE-500 (14.5 cubic inches)
- Psion Series 3c (19.3 cubic inches)
- MI-500 (19.8 cubic inches)
|
- ZR-3500 & Z-7000 (both with 100 hrs)
- Z-PDA & GRiDpad 2390 (both with 90 hrs)
- Psion Siena (60 hrs)
- SE-500 (50 hrs)
- Psion Series 3c (40 hrs)
|
Note that Battery Life is very much a case of "your-mileage-may-vary"
as different companies perform their measurements with different amounts of
backlight and modem usage.
A couple of other categories that are worth mentioning even though there
aren't five clear winners:
- Infrared connectivity: both all flavors of Zauri and Newton MessagePads
2000 and above support IrDA to a full 115 Kbits/s and ASK to a full
38.4 Kbits/s. Most others only support one protocol type, and this could be
important to some.
- Keyboards: the Psion Series 5 has the best attached keyboard of any of
these units, hands-down. It's not as good as the Newton's detachable
keyboard, but doesn't have to be carried around separately. Of the
detachable keyboards, the Newton's is superior to the MI-500's. Also
interesting to note is that the company LandWare makes an adaptor that
makes it possible to use a Newton keyboard on a Pilot. There is also
a product that makes it possible to use a Newton keyboard on an HP200LX;
I don't know which company makes it.
- Contrast: the Newtons have the best contrast when backlighting is being
used, and the Psion Series 5 probably has the best contrast of all the
touch-sensitive screens when the backlighting is not being used. The 200LX
probably has the best contrast with neither backlighting enabled nor
touch-sensitivity available. The MI-500 is a different animal altogether
and can't really be meaningfully compared here.
- Computer synchronization: the Pilots currently win this category.
The Newtons, 200LXs, and OmniGo 700LXs are probably next up because of
their broad support of varied computer types.
- Screen & stylus: all of the slate designs (Pilots, Newtons, SE-500s,
MI-500s, etc.) do well in this category. Most of the clamshell designs don't.
The most notable exception is the Psion Series 5; it braces the screen firmly
enough for writing.
Other potential categories (like performance/price and software quality)
are too individual to really compare in any globally meaningful way.
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