Consumer & Business PDAs

B

rowse the internet looking at PDAs enough, or perhaps even go into a shop, and you’ll likely come across the concept of the “business” PDA and the “consumer” PDA. In some cases, there are clear differences between models designated to be one type or the other, whereas for others the “business” designated PDA is simply the more expensive one!

However, typical differences can be with the software and peripherals included with the PDA. One would expect that consumer PDAs make more of an issue of having the ability to replay MP3s, whereas the business user may have more of a use for 802.11 WiFi communications.

Of the devices I’ve review on this site, the Palm m515 and m130 stand out as Palm’s interpretation of a business and consumer PalmOS 4 device respectively. Both devices have a colour screen, although the m130 was significantly cheaper than the m515 at launch. Furthermore, one of the m130’s better features is the toughened exterior - the unit essentially comes in a built-in hard case with a useful flip-over screen cover. The m515 counters this by having twice the internal memory, a smaller, thinner design, and a rather more vulnerable screen - it is crying out for a decent hard case to prevent it from getting damaged.

However, in conclusion, either device would be suitable for either role. Sure, the m515 may look rather more professional and the m130 might look a little bit less mature, but both have the same core specification (and many users won’t really appreciate the additional memory of the m515 for the first few months of ownership).