IBM Workpad Personal Organizer : 11/30/2003
By Bling Blink.
I want to take a few paragraphs to review the IBM Workpad PDA (Palm III)
I own. With the holiday season fast approaching, I would highly recommend
it for the executive on the go, who needs a way to keep organized and streamline
their life. Note that the instruction manual has the caption “Your
Thought Connection” written right on it. This device really is almost
fast, streamlined, and powerful enough to seem as if it has a direct connection
to your thoughts! IBM does it again.
But enough of the subjective reviews, let's get to specifics! As seen in
the photos, this PDA is only slightly larger than a cassette tape, making
it one of the smallest consumer electronic devices on the market!
I also purchased the faux leather protective case in the photos, which anchors the Workpad firmly with a strip of Velcro in the back. This is a very secure mounting, but if not careful it will actually break the case of the Workpad (that's what the Scotch tape is holding together in the video...oops). The ABS plastic housing is very durable though, despite being broken by Velcro, and the device has a nice weighty, solid feel.
The screen produces sharp greyscale images. Pixels are only slightly larger
than the period at the end of this sentence. The Workpad runs on two AAA
batteries,
which provide decent battery life, a few weeks with moderate use. Note that
if you let the batteries run down completely and do not replace them,
you will lose
all data stored in memory!
The Workpad comes with a cable to connect to a PC, and synchronize stored
contacts and information between the Workpad and computer. It also has
an IR port for
wirelessly linking this device with computers or other Workpads. There is also
a desktop cradle, not pictured. It doesn't come with a method for pressing the
reset button, but a paper clip can readily be fashioned for this purpose (see
photo). The paper clip stores neatly in the faux leather case. The Workpad also
comes with two identical stylus pens, one of which can be stored in a clever
recessed slot on the side of the device. The other can be stored in the leather
case ready for use near the 'reset paper clip'.
This device comes with software you install on your personal computer (PC), either supplied on 3.5” floppy disks or a CD. Software is compatible with Windows 95, or NT 4.0 if you're upgraded already. I opted for the CD because my new computer has a 8X CDROM drive so installation should be fast. You can also order Mac software and accessory package for $14.95. Beware that it will not support Palm III Expense or Mail Applications!
Let's talk about the features of this device. First is the graffiti text
entry feature, which promises to speed up text entry once the modified
print alphabet is memorized. The Workpad comes with two 'cheat sheet' stickers
you can put wherever you need (see photo). The device also includes quickkeys
to access the four primary applications: Calendar, Address Book, To-Do
list, and Memo List. There are also screen shortcuts for Applications,
Menu, Find, and Calculator. I'll review each of these in turn, but as you
can see these will cover almost anything you might need your Workpad for.
Calendar: This application allows you to enter appointments into your calender, and even set alarms and review conflicts with other appointments in your calendar. You can even set up recurring appointments! You can also use the Phone Lookup tool to find phone numbers for an appointment.
Address Book: The address book allows you to enter up to FIVE phone numbers
or email addresses for each address book entry. Since quite a few people
don't even have email addresses or cell phones, that should be plenty for
any contact you may have.
To-Do List and Memo List: I'll skip over these now. Suffice it to say these
are very useful for writing memos to yourself and putting together to-do
lists.
Comparison Shopping:
Many consumers will overlook the IBM Workpad because of the showier devices
in the marketplace today touting such features as high resolution color
screens, upgradeability, removable memory cards, digital cameras, wireless
network
compatibility, bluetooth, removable memory media, mp3 player capability,
use of ubiquitous Windows applications like Excel, Word, etc, multi-hundred
Mhz processor speeds and hundreds of MB of onboard memory, internet capability,
smaller size, and sleeker appearance, compatibility with operating systems
currrently used by the general public, lack of velcro fasteners, cellphone
capabilities, etcetera. But for the $500 price tag, it matches up well
against the Dell Axims, the Ipaqs, the Tungstens, and of course, the
Zaurus . When
you compare feature to feature, battery life to battery life, protective
case to protective case, stylus to stylus, and considering that this
device connects to your PC with only one small cord, you'll find that
there aren't
many better deals around. 8.5/10
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