Nigel Ballards PDA CHART #43

starnet!apple!dataman.demon.co.uk!Nigel (Nigel Ballard)
Date: Thu, 02 Dec 93 16:13:36 GMT
Message-id: <1287@dataman.demon.co.uk>
From: starnet!apple!dataman.demon.co.uk!Nigel (Nigel Ballard)
Reply-To: apple!dataman.demon.co.uk!Nigel
To: zoomer-list-1993@grot.starconn.com
Subject: Nigel Ballards PDA CHART #43
X-Mailer: PCElm 3.1 (1.6 DIS)
Status: OR
             Nigel Ballard's PDA comparison chart #43 (2nd December)    137chrs wide

             Feel free to email me for the latest release

                Casio Z-7000    Newton MessagePad   Sharp               AT&T            AT&T             PenPad           Hexaglott
                Tandy Z-PDA     Sharp ExpertPad     PT-9000             440             880              PDA 600          TouchMe
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Designer        Casio/Tandy     Apple/Sharp         Sharp               EO              EO               Eden/Amstrad     Hexaglott
OS by           Geoworks GEOS * Newt/OS by Apple    Geoworks            GO              GO               Eden Group       Hexaglott
Recognition by  Palm Computing  ParaGraph           Palm Computing      GO              GO               Texas            Hexaglott
SDK from        Geoworks CD ROM Apple               Geoworks            GO              GO               Amstrad          N/A
Developers fee  No              Yes 1% Royalty      No                  No              No               No               N/A
Ink as data     Yes             Yes                 Yes                 Yes             Yes              No               No
Deferred Ink    Addr/Date only  No                  Yes                 Yes             Yes              No               No
JOT compliant   No              No                  Not known           Next release    Next release     No               No
Text entry      Freeform        Freeform            Freeform            Freeform        Freeform         Comb field       Freeform
Cursive entry   No              Yes                 No                  No              No               No               No
Cursor control  Yes             No                  No                  No              No               No               Yes
AGENT apps.     No              Yes                 No                  Yes             Yes              No               No
Keyboard port   No              No                  Yes(removable keyb) Yes             Yes              No               No
Multilingual    No(sp.vers)     No(sp.vers)         No(sp.vers)         No(sp.vers)     No(sp.vers)      Yes              No
CPU type        X86(7.5Mhz)     ARM610(20Mhz)       VG230(16/8MHz)16bit Hobbit(20MHz)   Hobbit(30MHz)    Z8S180(14.3Mhz)  68330
CPU maker       Casio custom    RISC Machines UK    Vadem(V30HL core)   AT&T            AT&T             Zilog            Motorola
System RAM      1Mb(384k user)  640K(172K user)     2Mb PSRAM (upg-3Mb) 4-12Mb          4-12Mb           1Mb(128K user)   256K
OS patching     Yes(RAM)        Yes(SRAM)           Yes                 Yes(SRAM)       Yes(SRAM)        No               No
RAM backup      Yes 2xCR2032    Yes 1xCR2032        Yes 2x2032          Yes             Yes              Yes 1xCR2032     Yes
System ROM      4MB             4MB                 6MB                 8MB             8MB              64KB Flash       6MB
Display area    3.13x4          3x6                 7" STN(CGA) 8 level 4.3x5.9         5.7x7.6          2.75x3.5         ?
Display res.    320x256(.3mm)   336x240(.3mm)       640x400(.25 pitch)  640x480         640x480          320x240          240x160
Display cover   Yes             Only on the Sharp   Yes(combined stand) No              No               Yes              No
Softcase supp.  No              Yes                 No                  No              No               No               No
Contrast cont.  Yes(mechanical) Yes(screen slider)  Yes(screen slider)  Yes(mechanical) Yes(mechanical)  Yes(screen icon) Yes
LCD producer    Casio           Sharp               Sharp               Sharp           Sharp            Kyocera          ?
Backlit disp.   No              No                  No                  No              Yes              No               No
External disp.  No              No                  No                  No              Yes(VGA)         No               No
Battery type    3x AA alkaline  4x AAA alkaline     6x AA alkaline      NiCad           NiCad            3x AA alkaline   4x AAA alkaline
Batteries inc.  Yes             Yes                 Yes                 Yes             Yes              Yes              Yes
Battery life    75-90 Hours     4-9 Hours           22 Hours            4 Hours         4 Hours          40 Hours         ?
Battery gauge   No              Yes                 Yes                 Yes             Yes              Yes              Yes
Battery alarm   No(message)     No(message)         Yes                 Yes             Yes              Yes(beep)        Yes(beep)
Ni-Cad option   No              Yes(+fast charger)  Lithium-Ion option  Std.            Std.             No               No
AC adapter      Optional        Included with Apple Optional            Yes             Yes              No               ?
Manual supplied Yes(VHS@Tandy)  Yes+VHS videotape   Yes                 Yes             Yes              Yes              Yes(German)
Size            1x4.2x6.8       1x5x7               1.4x9.2x6.4         0.8x7x10.8      1x9x13           1x4x6            2x19x10
Weight          16 Ounces       15 Ounces           2.4 Pounds          2.2 Pounds      4 Pounds         14 Ounces        ?
Pens supplied   1 telescoping   2(full length)      Yes                 2(full length)  2(full length)   3(full length)   2(full length)
I/R Data Tx/Rx  Yes 9600(Casio) 19,200(Sharp ASK)   Yes(HP-SIR)         No              No               No               No
I/R controller  Yes Tx. 21ft    No                  Not known           No              No               No               No
RS-232C         Yes(10pin)      RS-422(8pin DIN)    Yes(9pin D-sub)     yes             yes              Yes(6pin)        Yes
RS-232C speed   19,200          230K/Sec.           19,200(8250 comp)   115,200         115,200          9600             ?
Parallel port   No              No                  Yes(25pin D-sub)    Yes             Yes              No               No
SCSI II port    No              No                  No                  No              Yes              No               No
Floppy drive    No              No                  External option     Option          Option           No               No
Cellphone optn  No              Future option(ROLM) No                  Option          Option           No               No
PCMCIA slot     1x2.0(50ma max) 1x2.0(MS FlashFile) 1x2.0, 1x3.0 (HOT)  1x2.0           2x2.0            1x1.0            No slot
Max card size   20Mb(SunDisk)   4Mb(max approved)   20Mb(SunDisk)       20Mb(SunDisk)   20Mb(SunDisk)    2Mb              N/A
Hard disk       No              No                  No                  20Mb(optional)  64Mb(optional)   No               No
DTMF dialler    No              Yes                 Not known           phone conn.     phone conn.      Yes              No
Email apps.     Yes             No                  Yes                 Yes             Yes              No               No
Fax/Modem       No(ext optn)    No(ext optn)        No                  Internal option Internal option  No               No
Fax receive     No              No                  Yes                 Yes             Yes              No               No
Max modem speed 9600 Baud       9600 Baud           9600 Baud           14,400 V42bis   14,400 V42bis    N/A              No
PC link s/w     Yes(option)     Yes(option)         Yes(LapLink in ROM) Yes             Yes              Yes(option)      ?
MAC link s/w    Yes(option)     Yes(option)         Yes(option)         No              No               No               No
Audio generator Yes(+DAC)       Yes                 Yes                 Yes             Yes              No               Yes
Volume control  Yes(mechanical) Yes(screen slider)  Yes(screen slider)  Yes             Yes              No               Yes
Audio input     No              No                  No                  Yes             Yes              No               Yes
Headphone jack  Yes(2.5mm)      No                  Yes                 No              No               No               Yes
Internal games  Uki+Solitare+   No                  Uki+Solitare+       No              No               No               Yes
Games buttons   Yes(A+B)        No                  No                  No              No               No               No
Games paddle    Yes             No                  No                  No              No               No               Yes
System password Yes             Yes                 Yes                 Yes             Yes              No               No
Diary           Yes             Yes                 Yes                 Yes             Yes              Yes              Yes
Real time clock Yes             Yes                 Yes                 Yes             Yes              Yes              Yes
World clock     Yes             Yes                 Yes                 Yes             Yes              Yes              Yes
Time/date stamp No              Yes                 Not known           No              No               No               No
Alarm functions Yes             Yes                 Yes                 Yes             Yes              Yes              Yes
Address book    Yes             Yes(Rolodex type)   Yes                 Yes             Yes              Yes              Yes
INK scratchpad  Yes             Yes                 Yes                 Yes             Yes              Yes              Yes
Graphics apps   Yes             Yes(intelligent)    Yes                 Yes             Yes              No               Yes
To-do list      Yes             Yes                 Yes                 Yes             Yes              Yes              Yes
Calculator      Yes(advanced)   Yes(basic)          Yes(advanced)       Yes             Yes              Yes              Yes
Conversions     Yes             Yes                 Yes                 Yes             Yes              Yes              ?
Spreadsheet     No              No                  Yes(Geocalc)        No              No               No               No
Database        No              No                  Yes(GeoFile)        No              No               No               No
Word Processor  No              No                  Yes(GeoWrite)       No              No               No               No
Dictionary      Yes(60,000 wd)  No                  Yes                 No              No               No               Yes
Spell checker   Yes(100,000 wd) No                  Yes                 Yes             Yes              No               No
Thesaurus       Yes(660,000 wd) No                  Yes                 No              No               No               No
Lang Translator Yes(26 langs)   No                  Not known           No              No               No               No
Form Calculator Yes(19 apps)    Yes(4 apps)         Yes                 PenApps/Slate   PenApps/Slate    No               No
US Holiday info Yes             No                  No                  No              No               No               No
US City info    Yes             No                  No                  No              No               No               No
US State info   Yes             No                  No                  No              No               No               No
Int. City info  Yes             No                  No                  No              No               No               No
US area codes   Yes             No                  No                  No              No               No               No
US Travel data  Yes             No                  No                  No              No               No               No
Birthstones     Yes             No                  No                  No              No               No               No
Zodiac signs    Yes             No                  No                  No              No               No               No
Term. Emulation No              No                  Yes(GeoComm)        No              No               No               No
America Online  Yes in ROM      No                  Yes in ROM          No              No               No               No
Internet apps   No              No                  Full access via AOL No              No               No               No
Compuserve apps No              No(3rd party app)   Yes                 No              No               No               No
Special access  Zoom AOL forum  NewtonMail(US only) No                  No              No               No               No
ASCII text fax  Yes(via AOL)    Yes(send only)      Yes(via AOL)        Yes             Yes              No               No
US Mail gateway Yes(via AOL)    No                  Yes(via AOL)        Yes             Yes              No               No
Wire Services   Yes(via AOL)    No                  Yes(via AOL)        No              No               No               No
EAASY travel    Yes(via AOL)    No                  Yes(via AOL)        No              No               No               No
Pocket Quicken  Yes in ROM      No                  Yes in ROM          No              No               No               No
Re-badged       Tandy/Grid/AST  Sharp/Siem/Pan      No                  No              No               No               No
Price           $699(street)    $699(street)        Sub $1,000          $1995           $2495            $499(Scottsdale) ?
Availability    US/UK/AUS       USA/CAN/UK          Very early 94       Now             Now              UK/US            Now(Germany)

* PenRight! OS on forthcoming AST-GRID 2390 re-jigged version of the Zoomer.

This chart can be found on:
CompuServe:      GO NEWTON  pda.zip
CompuServe:      GO PALMTOP pda.zip
America Online:  PDA FORUM  pda.zip
Usenet:          comp.sys.pen  pda.uue
Internet:        ftp csd4.csd.uwm.edu    /pub/portables/pda.txt

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      *  Bournemouth  | CIS: 100015,2644 AOL: Pelham123 | THEREFORE *
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