Handheld computer devices, also known as PDAs (Personal Digital Assistant) are quickly becoming a necessity for millions of people around the globe. The ability to replace your address book, calendar, calculator, and even some functions of their home computers, can be absolutely priceless.

What other item can serve so many functions, and yet, fit in your pocket? Cell phones are now integrating them, there are even handheld gps units becoming available.

More and more handheld computers are integrating wireless technology, blue tooth, all kinds of memory cards, and many more technologies, making them extremely versatile and more useful every day.

The handheld computer revolution is dominating the mobile work force, and it's only a matter of time before they're as common as personal computers, and laptops. There are even schools that are now using them in the classroom, allowing them to do school work on.

Handheld Computers are the future of mobile computing

When Handheld Computers were first introduced, it was the mobile work force that took them as gold. An address book, calendar, notebook, word processor, and much more, all rolled into a tiny device that can fit into your pocket. How could they pass it up? It was exactly what they had been waiting for.

They no longer had to carry around their bulky laptops just to see what was on their calendar, or to simply jot a couple notes in a word processor. Now, there is an application for just about anything you could possibly want to do on a handheld computer. They can seamlessly integrate into personal computers, synchronizing data, swapping dates and files, making the hard working mobile workers job that much easier.

Now with the addition of pda phones, handheld computers have become even more useful, by retrieving your email, accessing the internet, watching movies, the possibilities are limitless. These PDA's are still rather expensive, but that will change in the next few years, like all other computer devices.

With the cost of a handheld computer being slashed at every turn, they're no longer only for the deep pocketed or the mobile business man or woman, just about anyone can afford a handheld computer in some shape or form.

There are some things to watch for when purchasing a handheld though, just like any other computer.

Things to look for when purchasing a handheld computer

Processor Speed - Just like any computer, it's important to know how fast your handheld computer is. Since the applications and operating systems are much less intensive, they don't need as much processing power to run, but it's still an important factor to consider.

Memory (RAM) - Also the same as desktop computers, how much resident memory your handheld has is important, depending on what kind of applications you intend to run on it.

Memory (ROM) - Basically, how much hard drive space it has built in. As long as it has a card reader slot of some kind though, this can easily be upgraded, as the price of memory cards has dropped considerably, but the more it has built in, the less you'll have to purchase later.

Display Size and Resolution - While not crucial, if you want a good sized, clean and crisp display on your handheld computer, you'll want to note the size and resolution of the display.

Card Slots - This can be very important if you want your handheld computer to sport a lot of accessories like wireless network cards, and memory sticks. You'll want to make sure it has the card reader slots you need.

Operating System - There are two basic operating systems on handheld computers right now, Windows based, and PalmOS based. If you're going to be purchasing or downloading applications and games for your handheld computer, you'll want to know what kind of operating system it uses.

Accessories - It's always good to know what accessories your handheld computer will come with, but it's also good to know what kind of accessories are available for it. If there is a particular accessory you need, you should first make sure it will even be available for the pda you plan to purchase.

This article taken from Computer Discounts Guide - Handheld Computer Guide. View the website for more helpful guides.

Donny Duncan, the author of Computer Discounts Guide has been in the computer field for over thirteen years.