Word: styluses
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...communicating--via the Web, e-mail and a built-in cell phone--this thin, trim handheld is a well-focused success. You won't find any multimedia extras, not even an MP3 player, but you will get an unheard-of 10 hours of talk time, a sturdy metal stylus and a crisp 320x320-pixel display. The AT&T service lets you download data at a reasonable 40 kbps. My only quibble: at $549, plus at least $30 a month for Web and e-mail access, plus the cost of a voice plan, the W is no bargain...
SONY ERICSSON P800 This silver-and-blue gizmo looks like a phone with a camera fused onto its backside, but the P800 packs a surprisingly decent PDA (using the Symbian operating system) under its lid as well. I admit I had my doubts at first. The cheap, plastic stylus and the miniature virtual keyboard that pops up onscreen do not immediately inspire confidence. But with a little practice, anyone with good eyesight and a steady hand can get used to writing with it. The PC software that Sony Ericsson includes for loading MP3s onto the phone never did work...
...tablet PC push may come as a surprise to those who thought the tech business was about crushing primitive methods of communication. But geeks have been unsuccessfully trying to develop and market a computerized writing pad for years. Raise your stylus if you remember the Apple Newton, which flopped in 1992. Engineers seem convinced that most of us prefer handwriting to typing and desperately desire to be freed from the shackles of keyboards. And now that computers are getting better at recognizing handwriting - the Newton was laughably inept in that regard - PC manufacturers are once again trying to sell...
...tablet PC from Acer. Reasonably lightweight (about 2 kg), with a 20-GB hard drive and an 800-MHz Pentium III processor, the TravelNote looks and performs like a normal laptop computer. The screen, however, swivels around and folds back over the keyboard, creating a writing slate. A stylus serves as both a pen for note taking, and as a mouse for operating programs. Using the machine's built-in Wi-Fi (wireless-fidelity) link, for example, you can write a URL into the Internet Explorer browser to visit a website from the comfort of your...
...fairness, the software is right more often than it's wrong. Still, that isn't the point. Inputting data and operating the computer with a stylus instead of a keyboard and mouse only seems to make a simple task unnecessarily cumbersome, not to mention more expensive. Tablet PCs are selling for about $2,000, roughly a $400 premium over comparably equipped conventional laptops. For the extra cash, you do get the new Microsoft Journal program, which allows you to write and organize notes in a spiffy "digital-ink" format that replicates real writing. You can change colors, use a highlighter...