Don't forget the purpose of which you were going to buy that handheld device in the first place. If you do, chances are you might end up with a model to small or paying for more features than you'll



ever need. That is exactly what happens when people lose focus on what they are after and let some sales pitch mislead them into thinking they need more features than necessary.

Remember this; manufacturers are releasing model after model all the time, even if you feel you want the latest sleek gadget to show off with your friends, it will be old in a few months and you have small chances of running the manufacturers speed in the tech race all the time. That's why an older bestseller might just be better.

Usability is an important perspective to look at in every device. As the size of the gadgets decreases, so does the usability. One engineering challenge is getting a high level usability maintained while making the devices smaller and smaller.

Matching the device to purpose is important, let's say you are going to use your mainly as a Walkman, the importance of the audio quality is much of more importance than the screen and you might be ok to have a screen that is a bit worse if you get good audio.

One area of usage often involves taking notes, this make the size aspect very important. If the device is to small you really can't expect the screen to be large. You'll want to look at things like screen size and the quality of inking functionality when you are going to use the PDA for taking notes. HP iPAQ 211 is a standalone PDA with excellent qualities for this purpose, read the review below.