These days, the name of the game is mobility. From mobile phones to mobile computers, people are now armed with gadgets that would keep them connected to work or with other people while they are on the move.

And when you mention mobile computing, the laptop is always the first thing that comes into mind. But the laptop can sometimes be too cumbersome and heavy to lug along. This is most true in my line of job as a beat journalist.

I have a laptop but I now leave it at home. I have decided to switch my old Compaq Armada to the Ipaq 3870 pocket personal computer. Needless to say, I have never regretted making the switch.

True to its name, the pocket pc like the Ipaq 3870 is a shrunken version of the reliable desktop or the still quite heavy laptop. Its ultra-portability has proven to be its edge.

Even though it comes close to the price of the average low-end laptop, the Ipaq has in its arsenal the usual software that would be expected in a desktop computer. Like its predecessors, it's both small (8.3 by 1.6 by 13.46cm) and light (190g) and the excellent 16-bit colour 'transflective' TFT screen is highly visible in indoor and outdoor lighting conditions.

The software bundle for the H3870 is quite good. Besides Pocket PC 2002 and all of its associated improvements, there is Block Character Recogniser for people who are proficient in Palm's Graffiti writing system and a File Store application that allows you to put your most critical files in 6MB of EEPROM that the iPAQ system leaves free. If you ever run the iPaq's batteries down completely or hard-reset your handheld, the data stored won't be lost. There's also Insignia Java Virtual Machine, a special data-encryption package.

In keeping with the Pocket PC2002 standard, it uses a 206MHz StrongARM SA1110 processor backed by 64MB of RAM. While there's only a single (secured digital) SD Card expansion slot built in, you can use the range of optional iPAQ packs that support PC Cards and Compact Flash cards.

Backing up the integrated Bluetooth transceiver is Manager software, which allows the device to work with Bluetooth hosts for cable free data exchange and synchronization. As an alternative to synchronising over Bluetooth, you can also use the supplied USB cradle, which will drain the lithium ion battery more slowly than the wireless method.

So far. I have not encountered any major problem with the Ipaq 3870 except for data storage problem. I have recently remedied this by upgrading my 32 megabyte SD card to a 64 megabyte. I now use the old 32 megabyte SD card to store my mp3 music and games. The Ipaq can also communicate well with mobile phones. This is very important for me as I use it sometimes to send stories where no fixed phone lines are found. So far, the Ipaq has served we well in sending articles by fax and e-mail through my Nokia 6510 telephone which both has WAP and GPRS capabilities.

Palm, Compaq's closest competitor has recently come up with their so-called version of the pocket pc with the Tungsten T handheld.

Sadly however, aside, from its rather more colorful screen and weight (the Ipaq 3870 weighs an ounce more), the Tungsten is still no match for the Ipaq 3870. All of the Tungsten's features can be found in the Ipaq 3870, including the built in Bluetooth which you can use in connecting to compatible bluetooth devices such as printers and mobile phones.

The Tungsten only has an 8 mb ROM and 16 mb RAM and uses the Palm (version 5) operating system. This would entail extra difficulty for users of IBM and clone computers whenever they are synching data from the handheld.

Pound for pound, I would not trade the Ipaq 3870 to the rather "johnny come lately" Palm Tungsten.

About the Author

Mike Frialde who graduated from the University of Santo Tomas in 1994, is a journalist for the Philippine Star, the country's second largest circulating newspaper. He started his journalistic career with the Manila Standard in 1995 covering the police beats. He then joined the Philippine Star in 1997 and covered the Philippine National Police and National Bureau of Investigation. He is now covering the Defense beat. You can reach him at [email protected].