Print Full Article Print This Page Download the PDF E-Mail This URL

Although the ProGear's form factor makes it a bit bulkier than the competition, its full install of Windows 98 makes it a breeze to use. From the moment we powered up the unit, it was networked without a hitch and provided constant access to e-mail, Web and Office applications, regardless of where we took it.

The ProGear's battery -- even when constantly supporting a network connection -- gave us 3.5 hours of mobile use. We also liked knowing that when we did run the battery down and the unit powered off, local settings were stored safely on the internal hard drive. Windows CE units can provide this functionality, but it must be consciously configured, and several devices -- notably the ViewSonic ViewPad -- lose all settings and data when powered off, something that annoyed us greatly.

SonicBlue ProGear (screen view) Click here to enlarge

The ProGear's virtual keyboard (used for input) gave us options as well, from a tiny unobtrusive layout to a larger (and easier to use) design. For those who love their ergonomic keyboards, a "natural" layout is also available. The ability to resize the keyboard and keep it on screen was preferred over the FICA AquaPad's setup, which offered a beautifully rendered keyboard that hogged nearly half the display with no way to resize it.

The most appealing facet of the ProGear is its ability to instantly update and install software, such as print drivers, Office applications or custom applications, as needed. It was frustrating to deal with the limited -- and sometimes cobbled together -- support for printers, network cards and data across these devices, and the capability to install support as needed gained the ProGear a big advantage.

The biggest drawback to the ProGear is its cost, which is well more than four times that of the AquaPad and close to that of most notebook systems. However, with its impressive features and ease of integration into an existing corporate software distribution scheme, ProGear could easily replace notebook systems and provide a much more portable solution.

ProGear 1050, $3,299. Available: Now. SonicBlue, (800) 468-5846, (408) 588-8000; fax (408) 980-5400. www.sonicblue.com

ViewSonic Corp. ViewPad 100

If you can ignore the almost nightmarish network support -- only the Proxim and Xircom NICs are supported out of the box in addition to the 10-/100-Mbps Ethernet support in the cradle -- the ViewSonic ViewPad is a super PDA. Installation of software via Microsoft's ActiveSync proved to be as easy as managing our Palm and Handspring PDAs. The ViewPad offers complete PIM support -- calendaring, e-mail and contact management -- as well as standard Office file support. And while the device's calligraphic capability is far from perfect, it is clearly preferable to the nonsupport of other devices in our review.

ViewPad (screen view) Click here to enlarge

The ViewSonic had problems with storage: We lost our network and e-mail settings as well as documents stored on the device when power gave out. The FICA and Honeywell devices, on the other hand, were able to hold this information on internal storage cards without a problem. We'd like to see this capability on the ViewSonic because a six-hour plane ride could easily drain the battery, resulting in lost data. We're aware that using an external CompactFlash card for storage would alleviate the problem, but we liked that other units did not require additional hardware to provide at least some temporary storage of information.

ViewPad 100, $1,239. Available: Now. ViewSonic Corp., (800) 888-8583, (909) 869-7976; fax (909) 468-3756. www.viewsonic.com or salesinfo@viewsonic.com