What is a PDA?

A PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) is a computer that fits in your hand. These small computers are sometimes called palmtops and are a great way to store telephone numbers, email addresses, access the internet, make calculations, keep a digital calendar and play games.

Today's PDA is very small in size, fits comfortably in a pocket and generally has good battery life which allows you to recharge the device at night or when at the office. A PDA usually includes a small screen usually bigger than a digital phone, however smaller than the smallest laptop, a small QWERTY keyboard that is made for thumb typing and a stylus which is a metal or plastic pen to input data or communicate with the device by a touch pad screen.

While components and specifications change throughout the years, today you can find PDAs with lots of RAM memory, storage in either miniature hard drives or compact flash cards or sticks and some can be expanded by a PC card that fits into a PCMCIA slot. Newer palmtop computers have USB ports to plug in a variety of peripherals to use with your PDA.

Today, you can find great features on many palmtop computers including internet access, the ability to send and receive email and files, mp3 player with onboard storage and game playing functions. Some palmtop computers have even morphed into an all in one device that includes a wireless phone.

A PDA is a great tool to stay organized. They are very popular with road warriors, corporate professionals, college students, etc. There are many different types of palmtop computers that range in price and features. For instance, you can purchase a palmtop computer that fulfills basic requirements such as telephone and address book, calendar, calculator and other travel functions for less than $100. Most of these low end palmtop computers also include infrared synching which means that you can send and receive data from your palmtop computer to a host of other computers.

A moderately priced PDA includes extra functions such as a color screen, large amounts of memory and storage capabilities, USB port and can play video games. If you are looking for a high end palmtop computer, you will find almost every available option loaded onto these super high tech devices including a wireless phone, mp3 player, the ability to handle large files, lots of memory, Bluetooth capability, etc. The top of the line palm top computers are usually priced at about $450 to $800.

PDA CPUs

Most PDAs are built upon CPU technology licensed from ARM, including: Intel, Motorola, and others. Some PDAs have been built upon Intel x86 CPU technology.

PDA Operating Systems

PalmOS runs on the Palm Pilot and clones such as the Sony CLIE, Handspring, and HandEra.

The Symbian OS runs on the the Nokia Communicator, the Psion PDAs, and on Nokia and Ericsson mobile telephones.

Microsoft WinCE runs on PDAs from many manufacturers, including: HP, Dell Axim, Casio, Toshiba, Viewsonic and others.

The Sharp Zaurus runs Lineo's Embedix version of Linux.

Other embedded operating systems include Embedded Linux, Penbex OS, and Nucleus.