Consumer Reports Rates The PDAs

In its July 2003 issue, Consumer Reports rates twenty PDAs, including eleven Palm OS models, seven Pocket PC models, and two handhelds running proprietary operating systems. It recommends two devices -- the Sony CLIE PEG-SJ20 and Palm Zire -- for new PDA users, two devices -- the Palm m515 and Tungsten T -- for current Palm OS users looking to upgrade from their existing PDA, and three models -- the Palm Zire 71, Sony Clie PEG-NX70V, and Dell AXIM X5 Advanced -- for those looking for power and multimedia capabilities.

Consumer Reports tested the devices in four main areas -- ease of use, battery life, display and convenience -- using a scale ranging from Poor to Excellent. It also took into account features such as size, memory, expandability, software, and whether it has a replaceable battery. For its recommendations, it weighed its overall ratings against other criteria, including price.

The Sony Clie PEG-SJ20 received the highest overall score, followed by the Palm Zire, Sony Clie PEG-NZ90, Dell AXIM X5 Advanced, and Compaq iPAQ H3955. Only the Sony CLIE PEG-SJ20 and Palm Zire (for battery life) and the Toshiba e740 Pocket PC (for convenience) received an Excellent rating in any area. No device received a poor in any area, but three received Fair ratings: the Palm m130 for Display, the AudioVox Thera for Battery Life, and the Franklin eBookMan EBM-911 for Ease of Use. The eBookman also received the lowest overall rating, followed by the Sharp Zaurus SL-5600.