Fortunately a whole lot has happened to the handheld devices since the 80's, and the power held by a PDA 20 years ago is in no way a subject for comparison to the models of today. In fact they could not even perform the basic tasks we require by a Pocket PC of today.



The QWERTY keyboard was a breakthrough in the PDA market. All of the sudden people could recognise the regular US layout from the standard PC and get familiar with the device much faster. HP200Lx was first out to incorporate this keyboard in its design, and the result was a success.

With QWERTYS US layout incorporated in the design of the HP200LX, it was a success.

The smartphone functionality comes as a huge bonus to Pocket PC lovers, but the iPaq 500 series will not come cheap, no! The retail price range is somewhere around the same as for iPhone basic edition, $399. It will have some of the same features that other models of the iPAQ line has, quite a bit of RAM and the XScale processor to make up for the price.

The pocket pc will be in direct competition with Apple's iPhone. The iPhone has been enjoying record sales even at its steep price tag of $399. The iPAQ 500 series will not come cheap either. You can expect this phone to retail in the same price range and offer some of the same great features of the iPAQ line, such as an XScale processor and quite a bit of RAM.

Yes, it is extremely frustrating to buy the latest model of iPAQ Pocket PCs only to find them outdated within a year. Unfortunately, this is how technology works. If the newest models do not meet your needs, then you can always turn to other manufacturers. Other manufacturers are Blackberry, Microsoft and PalmOS. You will still be dealing with technology that is constantly evolving, but perhaps you can find something a little more suitable with your lifestyle.