With compact sizes and weights that range from about 1 to 3 pounds, hand-helds give new meaning to the word portable. Because they have fewer moving parts, they're more rugged than ordinary laptops. Miniaturization exacts its price in other ways, however. But if you try to use a Windows CE machine for presentations, you'll soon bump up against the platform's limitations. It can be opened and used notebook-style, or the screen can be reversed and folded back over the keyboard for use as a compact touchscreen.
Some signs look hopeful.
And some manufacturers are looking at new ways to bundle hand-helds with ultraportable projectors, a strategy first attempted last year by Compaq and In Focus. But the verdict is still out on whether hand-helds and projectors are a good match. Originally published in the January 1999 issue of Presentations magazine.