Finally there is Windows CE . I tried an HP 360LX which has a PC card slot for adding wired or wireless modems or video adapters and an almost usable seven-inch keyboard. There are several dozen devices to choose from, including ones that look a lot like the Pilot and ones with bigger keyboards and color screens. CE is for those of you that use Microsoft Office and want to take your PowerPoint presentations or Excel spreadsheets on the road. You can set up the Pocket version of Outlook to act as your email software for POP and Exchange servers, as well as synchronize with the bigger brother version of Outlook on your desktop.
Batteries last a week at most .
HP makes a VGA PC card adapter that I haven't field tested yet, although it works fine in my office. The theory of being able to project from this tiny thing has lots of appeal for me, given the number of presentations I do and how much trouble it is to get a rented machine setup at the show's site. I probably would use it as a backup rather than my main presentation machine, though. The CE computers are expensive, costing about a third to half of what a low-end laptop goes for these days. And getting the synchronization tools set up isn't as easy as the Pilot.