palmOne Tungsten E2

Where Palm devices still lag behind Pocket PCs is synchronisation with Microsoft applications. Although third-party programs such as Documents To Go and VersaMail are just as good at keeping hold of vital information, they add an extra layer of complexity: setting up Outlook to work with VersaMail is simply too difficult when it should just work. Worse still is the lack of continuous, automatic synchronisation, which feels positively archaic in 2005: not only is it clunky to press a button when you want to synchronise data, this extra step means you'll forget to do so on occasion.

We have other niggles with the E2 as well. The list of compatible Bluetooth phones is far from comprehensive and doesn't include any of the new smartphones. Adding Wi-Fi is a non-starter, unless you're willing to buy an additional SDIO card for almost the same price as the E2 itself. And text input isn't as simple as it should be, with a relatively sharp learning curve necessary for Graffiti 2 whether you're completely new to character recognition or you're used to Graffiti version 1.

However, the ease with which you can browse the Internet and access POP3 email on the move makes the Tungsten E an excellent partner for a Bluetooth phone. With a low price that even Dell's X30 can't match, the Tungsten E2 is an obvious choice for PDA buyers on a budget.

Author: Tim Danton