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Handhelds And Subnotebooks: Which Format Is Right For You?

Hamburg (dpa) – Anja Gebel, a 25-year-old law student from Hamburg, is living on the cutting edge: significant parts of her life exist only in electronic form. Her dissertation sits patiently on the hard drive of her laptop.

A hand-sized Palm computer reminds her of appointments and keeps her most-current shopping list ready for action. Both machines swap data regularly with the desktop computer she keeps in her home.

For Anja, the distinctions between the devices are clear: her handheld functions as a backup for her own memory and is small enough to carry around with her comfortably. The laptop, by comparison, is a PC which can be taken along: more cumbersome, but capable of heavier- duty work.

On the front lines of computer marketing, the distinctions between different types of computing devices are starting to blur. The class of machines which used to be mocked as “luggable” laptops have shrunk down to the size of a pad of letter-sized paper and are now sold as mini- or subnotebooks.

Handhelds, for their part, now have bigger brothers with names like “Handheld PC Pro” or “Pocket PC.” On the surface, these new devices seem very similar. In reality, however, they still represent two different worlds.

Subnotebooks are scaled-down versions of desktop Windows PCs. They typically come equipped with mobile versions of Intel’s Pentium and Celeron chips. The push for reduced weight and size necessitates cutbacks in the keyboard and screen size, however. These same space considerations usually mean reduction in the number of interface ports as well. Buyers are best advised to compare different models carefully.

Subnotebooks offer at least one big advantage over smaller computing devices: they usually run the same software which works on the bigger computers at home. One major disadvantage of subnotebook PCs is battery life: batteries small enough to keep “minis” portable tend to fare poorly with the heavy demand for power of notebooks and subnotebooks. A working time of one or two hours is possible, but only in the better machines.

Handheld PCs, by comparison, often run three times as long as notebooks. Another disadvantage of subnotebooks is that they’re not cheap, often pricing out at over 2,000 dollars.

In a recent comparison of subnotebooks by the Germany-based c’t computer magazine, not one of the devices examined was able to completely satisfy the panel’s experts. Still, the Compaq Armada M300, IBM ThinkPad 240, Fujitsu-Siemens LifeBook B-2130, and the Palmax PD-1100 won praise for coming equipped with all important interface ports.

Furthermore, the Compaq and Fujitsu-Siemens models, as well as the Toshiba Portege 3110CT, were also commended for including both an integrated modem and fast Ethernet technology to facilitate networking.

While subnotebooks are essentially reduced-sized PCs, the bigger handhelds ultimately still show the hallmarks of the tiny computers from which they have descended. Their operating systems are not compatible with those of their desktop-sized cousins, even though operating systems from Microsoft are generally on both types of machine.

This doesn’t mean that the two computers can’t communicate. In fact, the ability of handhelds to exchange data with their larger PC cousins counts as one of their most characteristic features. Such handheld PCs have no hard drive of their own, storing data instead in memory.

The smaller machines are lighter and generate less noise. They also need no “bootup” time; they are ready to go as soon as they are turned on, even if they were just switched off. There is a danger here, however, for if their batteries are ever fully drained, all data disappears. To protect against this, some handhelds offer longer term storage space in the form of “Compact Flash Cards” or “Memory Sticks,” which consist of non-volatile “flash” memory, which does not lose its contents when the power is switched off.

The larger handhelds split into two basic categories. The first are machines from the British manufacturer Psion, which originally made its name through single-function devices such as day planners. The company’s products come with pre-installed software that can be easily serviced. Psion recently widened its offerings to include the Netbook, which is very similar to the mini-notebooks. From an operating systems standpoint, Microsoft is king of this market. “Windows Powered” is the new moniker for what used to be called “Windows CE.”

For the rest of the larger handheld PCs, the market is constantly shifting. NEC’s MobilPro 880, released for the U.S. market, broke ground with a 9.4-inch screen. Hewlett-Packard (HP), however, has taken its largest model, the 820, out of production. The keyboard of its successor, the 720, is about one-fourth smaller.

Which device is best for which user truly depends on individual need. The Pocket PCs have longer battery lives and a lower price. Subnotebooks have better displays and offer the functionality of home PCs in a smaller format. Be forewarned, though: neither class of machine is ready to serve as a replacement for the trusty desktop PC.

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