PDA Input Devices
An important, but often overlooked input accessory for your PDA is a stylus. A stylus is used to tap or write on the LCD screen of your PDA. While many PDAs come with a basic stylus, many users tend to buy another stylus for reasons of style and comfort. When choosing a stylus, the most important part is the tip. It's very important that the tip is well made and doesn't harm your PDA, but still provides enough drag to make writing on the PDA screen seem natural and comfortable. Higher end styli can have dual uses and may double as a pen or highlighter. In appearance, styli may look like regular pens, ergonomic pens (with rubber finger grips), or be reminiscent of fountain pens. Like a PDA case, a stylus can be purely functional or a fashion statement to suit your image or personality.
In general only the larger, top of line PDAs such as Psion's Netbook or Rim's Blackberry have internal keyboards. However, many PDAs have a slot or USB port where an external keyboard may be inserted for usage. There is a wide range of keyboards to use with a PDA, everything from rubber keyboards, which can be rolled up after use for easy storage, to thumb boards, which are made to be typed on solely with thumbs. When considering a keyboard for your PDA, first make sure that the keyboard is compatible with your PDA. Secondly comfort is very important, since you'll probably spend a lot of time typing, the keyboard should be friendly to your hands and easy to use. Lastly, the keyboard should be easy to set up and connect with your PDA.
PDA Buyer's Guide
When deciding which PDA is best for you, the most important thing to keep in mind is functionality. What are you primarily going to use your PDA for? Do you want just a basic PDA to use as a date book? Will you need a modem to download e-mail and other information from the Internet to your PDA? Will you want to play games in color on your PDA? Knowing what tasks you'll use your PDA for will help you decide what memory, operating system, and software you'll need.
