Dopod C800

The Story: Designed to be handy, this pocket PC is an improved version of Dopod 838 and 30 percent smaller. Runs on Windows Mobile 5.0 OS, and has many features for personal data organization: calendar showing appointments by day, week, month and year, as well as a sync function with your PC.

The Good: Touch screen automatically changes to horizontal view when sliding out the keyboard. Wifi and Bluetooth enabled. The only phone with a cute little blue light that shows when caps lock is on.

The Bad: Navigate buttons are chromium, so they’re easily bruised if you’re not careful. So-so camera: though you can adjust white balance, contrast and picture sharpness, the 2.0 megapixel CMOS camera has a fixed focus (no autofocus) and no flash. No built-in FM radio, no infrared and doesn’t support 3G technology (that enables you to access your email, instant messenger programs and start video conferences).

The Price: B30,900.

O2 Xda Zinc

The Story: The latest pocket PC from O2 comes with its sliding Qwerty keyboard specially designed for SMS addicts. It keeps you updated all the time with wireless LAN, Bluetooth and infrared capabilities. Using a 520 MHz Intel processor, it may not be the fastest, but it can still cope with graphic-heavy games.

The Good: The highlight of this one would be 3G technology that suits people who travel often and have a chance to use video conferencing. Most programs attached are O2 standard programs: O2 Auto Configurator enables automatic connection so that you don’t have to set GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) by yourself, O2 Phone Plus makes smart dialing and can block unwanted calls easily. It also comes with a Thai language CD so you can do it all in the mother tongue. Camera has
2-megapixel resolution.

The Bad: Compared to Dopod, the Xda Zinc is slightly thicker and a bit heavier, but it looks more classic with its dark grey body. It’s made of plastic and a bit too light and doesn’t seem as sturdy as the others.

The Price: B29,900

HP iPAQ hw6515

The Story: Best for those who always get lost on the road: its GPS (Global Positioning System) technology promises to guide you to wherever you want to be. Just open their SmartNav program, locate where you are, select your destination, then the program will show you the shortest route. It comes with a plastic cover to protect the screen, so you don’t have to worry about stains or scratches.

The Good: Unlike the Dopod and O2 devices, the HP’s keyboard does not slide out; however, it comes equipped with a special button that works like a mouse’s right click and makes the keyboard easy to use. Also, a Smart Dictionary is provided that is really helpful when you’re writing SMS in Thai. Two SD slots.

The Bad: The phone is almost perfect if you don’t mind the distorted screen shape, which is quite strange compared to other pocket PCs. No wifi support here and you can’t use an MP3 file as a calling melody. Photos from the camera are fine, but only 1.3-megapixel resolution. No 3G support. Also uses Windows Mobile 2003 OS, which is a bit outdated—others are now on Windows Mobile 5.

The Price: B19,900