Handhelds, Handhelds, Handhelds - options for 1 to 1

We're looking at doing some handheld pilots. (Palm Pilots and PDAs). However, we've discovered in our testing that the Palm Pliot synch software (PalmDesktop) is really pretty poor software and will only work for one user on a machine, and that use must have admin rights to install. Also, the software requires write access to its own directory, which means the software is volatile and regular use by the users could break the software and cause someone to need to re-load the software, resulting ultimately in downtime for the user and an additional task for our tech support staff, which could slow their response to other more serious problems.

So I was looking for alternatives to Palm Pilots at NECC, and found quite a variety of options.

The first is the pocket PC, which has a similar price point to the Palm Pilot, and is also approximately the same physical size. you can get Pocket PCs with 802.11 wireless cards, and I'm told they can save to a path on a windows network. This would take advantage of all the network resources available already at our schools, and allow students to save their documents locally at home, and then save to their home drive at school. Another great feature of the Pocket PC over the Palm Pilot is that you can save and edit excel and word documents (not sure about PowerPoint) on the Pocket PC. With Palm you need an additional software- documents to go.

Now in talking to people about the pocket PC, there are concerns about whether the PDA market is going to be around in a year or two. With the move to combo cell phone / PDA units, there may not be a retail market for a regular standalone PDA.

So what other options are out there?

• "Nova" - a low end tablet PC, price point from 399, 499, 599 depending on features. Wireless included, I'm not sure if it is running windows CE, or a full fledged XP that you can log onto, just like a desktop or laptop, joined to the domain.
  
  The 599 version includes a data logger, from fourier-sys, the makers of the Ecolog data logger.
  
• Alphasmart Neo, which really has an admittedly small set of features limited to word processing and text functions. These have to be synched with a PC to transfer data.
  
• Also from alphasmart is the Dana, which has wireless capability (in theory). It runs on the Palm OS, and uses the "wifile" software for palm to connect to the network. At last check, this software required a wide open network share to enable saving. (Something that is strongly frowned upon for virus and security reasons). Also, I would prefer to have students be able to save their work right to their personal home drive, not to some generic dumping folder, requiring more manual intervention to get it where it belongs.
• There were a number of alphasmart knock offs at Necc. There was one called a one to one mate, with a color screen (shown below).

• The Microsoft Origami (demo models were made by samsung). Which is another small tablet that does runa full fledged version of windows XP, and can be joined to a domain. The price point on this is around 1000$ retail. They are working on coming out with an education version and they are hoping for a price point on that at around 600-699$

There's a lot of neat stuff coming out, at lower price points than laptops. The Nova and the Origami type devices are going to be the future. But right now, they're still a little too high priced to compare with the value we can get with a wifi Pocket PC.

Also, I think they're just a little too new for me. I always like to let someone else work out the kinks. I've been through that already with the wifi on the Danas.