Palmtop, Pocket and Handheld Computers Compared
Comparisons of some palmtop computers, as at 1997.
Operating Systems
Characteristic | Palm Pilot | Psion 3mx | Psion 5 | WinCE 1 | WinCE Palm | WinCE 2 HPC | Win 95 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Manufacturer | 3Com | Psion | Psion | Various | Various | Various | Microsoft |
Operating System | PalmOS | Epoc16 | Epoc32 | MS CE1 | MS CE2 | MS CE2 | Win 95 |
CPU | 683xx | 8088 | ARM | various | various | various | Intel |
Clock Speed | 16 MHz | 27 MHz | 18 MHz | various | various | various | various |
Display | 160x160 | 480x160 | 640x240 | 640x240 | 240x320 | 640x240 | various |
Keyboard | No | 58 | 53 | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
Touch Screen | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
Handwriting | Yes | No | 3rd party | No | Yes | 3rd party | No |
Sound Record | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Optional |
Memory Card | No | Proprietary | CF | PCCard | CF | Various | Various |
Comm Port | Serial | IrDA,Serial | IrDA,Serial | IrDA,Serial | IrDA,Serial | IrDA,Serial | Serial |
Battery | AAA | 2xAA | 2xAA | 2xAA | 2xAAorAAA | Various | na |
Battery hours | 32:42(p) | +30 | 23:41(p) | 10 | 15 | -10 | na |
Modem | external | external | external | PCCard | external | software | external |
Language | 3rd party | OPL | OPL32 | PC based | PC based | PC based | Basic |
Word Processor | Notes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Notes | Yes | Yes |
DataBase | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
ToDo and Task List | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | OE |
Calculator | ? | Yes | Yes, Sci | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes |
Spreadsheet | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
Sketch | ? | No | Yes | ? | ? | ? | Paint |
No | opt | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | OE | |
Web | ? | opt | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | IE |
Fax | ? | 3rd party | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Calendar | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
World and Time | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | Yes | Yes |
Presentation | ? | 3rd | 3rd | 3rd | 3rd | Some | Opt |
Synchronising | Yes | Limited | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | na |
Physical Comparisons
Name | Weight | Size | Type | CPU | Speed | Display | Colour | Battery | Power | Life | ROM | RAM | PCCard | CompactFlash | Serial | Modem | IrDA | Ports | Extras | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cassiopeia A11+ | 380 g | ? | palm | ? | 40MHz | 240x320 | backlite | 2AA | ? | ? | ? | 6Mb | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Cassiopeia A20 | ? | ? | HPC | SH-3 | 80MHz | 640x240 | 4 grey backlite | 2AA | ? | ? | ? | 8Mb | TypeII | CF | Yes | ? | Yes | Sound | ? | ? |
Cassiopeia E10 | 171 g | 81x124x18mm | palm | NEC MIPS 4111 | 100MHz | 240x320 | 4 grey backlite | 2AAA | ? | 17:00(p) | 8Mb | 4Mb | ? | CF | Yes | ? | Yes | Sound | ? | ? |
Compaq 810 | ? | ? | HPC | MIPS | 75MHz | 640x240 | 4 grey backlite | 2AA | ? | 20 hours | 16Mb | 8-20Mb | TypeII | ? | Yes | 33.6k software | Yes | ? | ? | ? |
Compaq 2010 | 495 g | 41x186x100 | HPC | MIPS | 75MHz | 640x240 | 256 colour | NiMH | ? | 3:17(p) | 16Mb | 8-20Mb | TypeII | CF | Yes | 33.6 k software | Yes | ? | ? | ? |
Ericsson MC16 | 442 g | 28x185x94 | HPC | ? | 60MHz | 640x240 | grey backlite | NiMH | ? | ? | 10 Mb | 8 Mb | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Everex Freestyle | 150 g | 122x81x17mm | palm | NEC MIPS 4111 | 66MHz | 240x320 | ? | 2 AAA NiMH | ? | 5:03(p) | 8 Mb | 2 Mb | CF | ? | Yes | attach | Yes | ? | ? | ? |
HP360LX | 442 g | ? | HPC | ? | 60MHz | 640x240 | 16 grey | ? | ? | ? | ? | 8 Mb | TypeII | CF | Yes | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? |
HP620LX | ? | ? | HPC | ? | 75 MHz | 640x240 | grey | Lithium | ? | ? | ? | 16 Mb | TypeII | CF | Yes | ? | Yes | Sound | ? | ? |
HP660LX | ? | ? | HPC | ? | 75 MHz | 640x240 | 256 | Lithium | ? | 4:09(p) | ? | 16 Mb | TypeII | CF | Yes | 56k | Yes | Sound | ? | ? |
Hitachi 20E8M | 1 pound | ? | HPC | SH3 | 80MHz | 7.1" 640x240 | 16 grey | Lithium | ? | ? | 12Mb | 16-32Mb | TypeII | CF | Yes | 21.6k software | Yes | Sound | VGA out | ? |
Hitachi 200EC | 2 pound | ? | HPC | SH3 | 100MHz | 8.1" 640x240 | 256 | Lithium | ? | ? | 12Mb | 16-32Mb | TypeII | CF | Yes | 33.6k software | Yes | Sound | VGA out | ? |
LG Phenom | ? | ? | HPC | SH3 | 80MHz | 640x240 | ? | Lithium | ? | ? | ? | 8Mb | TypeII | CF | Yes | internal | Yes | sound | ? | ? |
LG Phenom Ultra | 850 g | ? | HPC | SH3 | 100MHz | 8" 640x240 | 256 colour | Lithium | ? | 3:43(p) | 12Mb | 16Mb | TypeII | CF | Yes | 33.6k software | Yes | sound | ? | Hitachi 200EC |
LG Phenom Express | ? | ? | HPC | SH3 | 100MHz | 8.1" 640x240 | 256 | Lithium | ? | 12 hours | 12Mb | 16-32Mb | TypeII | ? | Yes | 56k internal | Yes | ? | parallel, VGA | replaces Ultra |
LG Pocket Phenom | ? | ? | palm | SH3 | ? | 240x320 | grey | 2AAA | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | CF | Yes | ? | Yes | Sound | ? | ? |
NEC Mobile Pro 750C | ? | ? | HPC | NEC MIPS 4111 | 80MHz | 640x480 | 256 | Lithium | ? | 8:54(p) | 16Mb | 16Mb | TypeII | ? | Yes | 33.6k | Yes | Sound | VGA out | ? |
Novatel Wireless | 1 pound | ? | HPC | SH3 | 80MHz | 640x240 | grey | Lithium | ? | 2-10 hours | 16Mb | 8Mb | TypeII | CF | Yes | 19.2k wireless modem | Yes | sound | VGA out | Phenom based |
Palm Pilot | 160g | 120x83x20 | palm | 683xx | ? | 160x160 | ? | 2xAAA | ? | ? | 2 Mb | 2 Mb | ? | ? | ? | attaches | ? | ? | Graffiti | ? |
Palmax PD-300 | 184 g | 124x81x20mm | palm | SH3 | 60 MHz | 240x320 | grey | 2AAA | ? | ? | 8 Mb | 2 Mb | ? | CF | Yes | ? | Yes | Sound | ? | ? |
Philips Nino | 227 g | 87x133x20mm | palm | MIPS 3900 | 75 MHz | 240x320 | grey | 2AA | ? | 10:25(p) | 8 Mb | 4-8 Mb | ? | CF | Yes | 22.8k | Yes | Sound | ? | ? |
Philips Velo 500 | ? | ? | HPC | MIPS | 75MHz | 640x240 | 16 grey | NiMH | ? | ? | ? | 16-24Mb | Miniature Card | ? | Yes | 28.8k fax modem | Yes | ? | ? | ? |
Psion 3mx | ? | ? | ? | V30 | 27MHz | 480x160 | 4 grey | 2AA | ? | 35 hours | 2 Mb | 2 Mb | 2 Special | ? | Yes | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? |
Psion 5 | 354 g | 170x90x23 | ? | ARM7100 | 18.432MHz | 640x240 | 16 grey | 2 AA | 6VDC | 23:41(p) | 6Mb | 8Mb | ? | CF | Yes | optional | Yes | Sound | ? | ? |
Psion 5mx | 354 g | 170x90x23 | ? | ARM7100 | 36MHz | 640x240 | 16 grey | 2 AA | 6VDC | 23:41(p) | +6Mb | 16Mb | ? | CF | Yes | optional | Yes | Sound | ? | ? |
Revo | 200g | 157x79x18 | ? | ARM | 36MHz | 480x160 | 16 grey | Rech | (p) | +6Mb | 8Mb | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | |
Psion 7 | 41oz | 9.2x7.2x1.45 in | ? | ARM SA-1100 | 130MHz | 640x480 | 256 col | rech | 6VDC | 8 | +6Mb | 16Mb | ? | CF | Yes | optional | Yes | Sound | ? | ? |
Samsung | 110 g | 130x85x20mm | palm | ? | 75MHz | 240x320 | ? | 2 AA | ? | ? | 4 Mb | 2 Mb | ? | CF | Yes | 28.8k | Yes | sound | ? | ? |
Sharp Mobilon HC4100 | 410 g | ? | HPC | ? | ? | 640x240 | 16 greyscale | ? | ? | ? | ? | 12 Mb | ? | ? | Yes | 33.6k software | Yes | sound | ? | ? |
Sharp Mobilon HC4600 | 410 g | ? | HPC | ? | ? | 640x240 | 256 colour | NiMH | ? | 2:35(p) | ? | 16 Mb | ? | ? | Yes | 33.6k software | Yes | sound | ? | ? |
Mobilon Pro PV 5000 | 1200 g | 236x201x36mm | HPC | ? | ? | 8.2" 640x480 | 256 colour | Lithium | ? | 16 hours | ? | ? | TypeII | ? | Yes | 33.6k software | Yes | ? | ? | ? |
Mobilon TriPad PV 6000 | 1450 g | 287x226x25mm | HPC | MIPS | ? | 9.4" 640x480 | 256 colour | Lithium | ? | 16 hours | ? | 16 Mb | ? | ? | Yes | 33.6k software | Yes | ? | ? | ? |
Uniden Unipro PC100 | ? | ? | palm | ? | 75MHz | 240x320 | 4 grey | 2 AA | ? | 20 hours | 8 Mb | 2 Mb | CF | ? | Yes | 28.8k | Yes | sound | ? | ? |
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Word Processing
Characteristic | Palm Pilot | Psion 3mx | Psion 5 | WinCE 1 | WinCE Palm | WinCE 2 HPC | Win 95 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Data Base
Characteristic | Palm Pilot | Psion 3mx | Psion 5 | WinCE 1 | WinCE Palm | WinCE 2 HPC | Win 95 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Find | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? |
List View | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Card View | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Fonts | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Graphs | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Sketches | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Sounds | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Documents | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? |
? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Calculator
Characteristic | Palm Pilot | Psion 3mx | Psion 5 | WinCE 1 | WinCE Palm | WinCE 2 HPC | Win 95 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Percent | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | ? |
Inverse | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | ? |
Square Root | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | ? |
Memories | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | ? |
Tape Display | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | Yes | ? |
SinCosTanHyp | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Powers | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Roots | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Log Ln | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Factorial | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Flip Display | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Spelling Checker
Characteristic | Palm Pilot | Psion 3mx | Psion 5 | WinCE 1 | WinCE Palm | WinCE 2 HPC | Win 95 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Spell | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Thesaurus | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Anagram | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? |
CrossWord | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? |
? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Todo List
Characteristic | Palm Pilot | Psion 3mx | Psion 5 | WinCE 1 | WinCE Palm | WinCE 2 HPC | Win 95 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Calendar
Characteristic | Palm Pilot | Psion 3mx | Psion 5 | WinCE 1 | WinCE Palm | WinCE 2 HPC | Win 95 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Day View | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Week View | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Month View | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Year View | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Anniversary | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Alarms | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Sketches | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Sounds | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Graphs | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? |
View ToDo | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? |
? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Time
Characteristic | Palm Pilot | Psion 3mx | Psion 5 | WinCE 1 | WinCE Palm | WinCE 2 HPC | Win 95 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Spreadsheet
Characteristic | Palm Pilot | Psion 3mx | Psion 5 | WinCE 1 | WinCE Palm | WinCE 2 HPC | Win 95 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Drawing
Characteristic | Palm Pilot | Psion 3mx | Psion 5 | WinCE 1 | WinCE Palm | WinCE 2 HPC | Win 95 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Sound Recording
Characteristic | Palm Pilot | Psion 3mx | Psion 5 | WinCE 1 | WinCE Palm | WinCE 2 HPC | Win 95 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Use Closed | ? | No | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? |
? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Characteristic | Palm Pilot | Psion 3mx | Psion 5 | WinCE 1 | WinCE Palm | WinCE 2 HPC | Win 95 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Web
Characteristic | Palm Pilot | Psion 3mx | Psion 5 | WinCE 1 | WinCE Palm | WinCE 2 HPC | Win 95 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Fax
Characteristic | Palm Pilot | Psion 3mx | Psion 5 | WinCE 1 | WinCE Palm | WinCE 2 HPC | Win 95 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Presentation
Characteristic | Palm Pilot | Psion 3mx | Psion 5 | WinCE 1 | WinCE Palm | WinCE 2 HPC | Win 95 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Convert
Characteristic | Palm Pilot | Psion 3mx | Psion 5 | WinCE 1 | WinCE Palm | WinCE 2 HPC | Win 95 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Word 2.0 | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Word 6.0 | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Word 95 | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Word 97 | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Excel 4.0 | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Excel 5 | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Excel 95 | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Excel 97 | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Schedule+7,7a,7.5 | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Outlook 97 | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? |
FoxPro 2.6 | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Access 95 | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Win Bitmaps | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Win Wav sound | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? |
FoxPro 2-3 | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Works 3,4 | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Lotus123 wk1,3,4 | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? |
AmiPro3,3.1 | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Organiser 2.1 | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Organiser 97 | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Word Perfect 5-8 | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Quattro Pro 5-8 | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? |
dBase 3-5 | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? |
CSV | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? |
RTF | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Characteristic | Palm Pilot | Psion 3mx | Psion 5 | WinCE 1 | WinCE Palm | WinCE 2 HPC | Win 95 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Battery Life
Battery life spans marked (p) are as reported by P C Computing, December 1998, p 208, using a test simulating continuous keystrokes, and manually timing how long they took to fail. Normal use should be slightly greater. Where no tested figures were available, I have used estimates from the manufacturer (I find such estimates are usually highly optimistic).
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