Compaq Aero 1530

This was a nice looking pda. It had a nice touchscreen display that had a useful backlight. The battery life was nice too and lasted over 10 hours when new. It had a cradle to sync seamlessly with the PC. It was very thin and the construction was solid. It was also cheap to buy.

However the interface was a bit clunky and at times seemed to lag. In fact, overall it had a very sluggish feel to it and not the instant access I had come to expect from a PDA. The apps were not particularly nice to use and it had a very windows 98 feel to it.

I couldn't use it today, but back then it was great for the price.

Olivetti Quaderno - Italian hotness.

Having recently acquired a fairly recent netbook, I often get a sense of deja-vu, like I've owned a dozen of these machines before. Then it hit me.

The Oliveti Quaderno. An A5 sized sub notebook with a 20mb hardisk and a 7 inch black and white screen. Small, light, around 2 pounds, ultra thin screen lid and very gorgeous. It had buttons on the lid to record memos and could run basic dos apps.

It even ran on AA batteries and given todays high capacity nickel metal hydride batteries, it could run for a good few hours.

However, the screen wasn't backlit and it was a bit too dark and by today's standard, that's not acceptable.

Still, it was gorgeous back then.

Psion 5mx - Simply Awesome.

This was also an absolutely gem of a PDA. It improved on the previous 3mx in an awesome way.

First off was the display. It was even bigger and could show far more information than the previous model. The keyboard was outstanding and pleasure to use, in fact you could even touch type on it . Then of course were the brilliant built in apps that just looked clean and was a complete joy to use.

The apps such as the incredible database was fast, the agenda was a joy to use and layout was superb, in fact I can't remember any recent smartphone/pda that even rivals it. It had a built in 16mb of ram, which is still useful today and could be upgraded with CF cards.

Switching apps was instantaneous and so was the zoom function, no pausing or waiting. Battery life was outstanding and it just runs and runs. This was a PDA that was engineered with me in mind. But then, there was someone who decided to throw a spanner just for the hell of it. And what a diabolical spanner.

Though the huge screen was great and they even made it touch screen which was nice, it was oh so dark. Even with the backlight on, it just seemed dark and gradually over time, it became unpleasant to use. How could something so perfect be let down by one of the most important thing on a PDA.

Today, it's still an awesome PDA, albeit with a dark screen.

Psion 3mx

Now here was a serious PDA that did everything I could possibly want. Instant on, great clear monochrome display, uncluttered and simple interface, built in spreadsheet, outstanding battery life and it had fast access. This was just a great organizer. It nearly had it all!

What prevented it from being the ultimate PDA? The extras such as the flash memory and the pc link were expensive. The hinge would creak after prolonged use in such a way that the designated touch sensitive menu buttons would cease to work. Then comes the memory, 2mb which seemed enough for most tasks back then, but now with everything so bloated, it's just too small.

This was such a great organizer. If it had more memory, I would certainly use it today.

Sharp Organiser SE-300

This was one of the first touch screen organizers I was given. It was given to me because someone wanted to buy a new gadget but had to get rid of the old one. I was really bowled over with this pda. It was so small, sleek and the balance felt so good in the hand. It synced with the PC and had a great dock. Hand written notes were done with the stylus and uploaded to the PC for backup. The battery just wouldn't die and ran on a single AA. It was fantastic.

But then, that was the time when I was young and didn't really have any serious use for it. Now, I wouldn't even use it for anything. The screen was just too small and writing anything more than a few words would fill the whole screen and the low resolution didn't help. Even worse was the fact that the screen was so hard to read. It was rather dark. Even with the backlight, it was just difficult to read clearly. Though, to be honest, I didn't really notice it that much back then.

Searching for the notes are a non-starter. On a paper notepad it's a quick flick here and there, or that instinctive feeling it's between this page and that, but on an electronic organizer, it's not so intuitive.

Still it's oh so small, sleek, thin, matt black finish and runs on a AA battery that lasts and lasts. Shame about the screen.

Texas Organiser - Powered by CR2032

Since I was little, I had always wanted one of these organizers. I had always kept a diary and saw it as the best way to keep secrets from prying eyes. It was also small, robust and cheap. Even today, it had a lot of functions that I still quite like.

It had a password protection, a docking station to sync to the PC, fast access to apps and a great search facility. It doesn't have fancy graphics or a graphical user interface, but the text only screen makes it simple. If I needed to look up contacts, notes and schedules all the information would be presented in an instant. No waiting, no double clicking or multiple menus, and no hour glass. When I am super busy and under pressure, getting instant access is so important and I could forgive it's dated looks.

Unfortunately, I couldn't use one today. The data would be gone once the battery dies and I am not fond of the CR2032 batteries. Editing notes on it would be impractical and the memory is too small to hold anything useful. In fact, most of it's functions can be done on a current mobile phone.

Nokia Commucator 9110 - Just too big.

My father used to own one of these smart phones. It was huge and very cool at the time. The fact that it resembled a big phone but could be opened up with a full keyboard was fantastic.

The screen at the time was monochrome and sometimes I prefer that to the color screens of today. It helps to keep me focused and it has less clutter. Sometimes, I wonder why we need colour screens. Do clients really feel inclined to see pictures on a smartphone/pda or would they much prefer to view it on a printed medium.

The applications included your usual notes, contacts, world time but no spreadsheet. The apps didn't require loading. Just press and go. It was a joy to use and synced very well.

It had a long battery life and was in general very reliable. Of course, it just had one problem.

It was just too big.