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Another advantage of flash rom is you can use a utility to save databases to flash, which is great if you need to reset your palm and don't have access to your synced information. I've been using Flash Pro to backup databases.

You'll have to watch out, because there are some Palms that don't have a flash rom, such as the Palm IIIe. This chart shows the palms that do and don't have flash (listed as "Upgradable").

If you ever need two-way paging needs, check out the Motorola Timeport 935. It has very similiar PIM applications like the Palm and can beam information too/from a Palm. Problem is, 3rd party application support is sparce.

Finally, see what your company will pay for. You may find out that the company either provides or has discounts setup for PDA's.

you should really start here... http://www.trgnet.com/products.htm

It actually represents one of the "better" of the ways of running Linux on a handheld; TRG describes this... The original way of booting Linux on a PalmPilot required that you have a TRG memory board in your PalmPilot.

The more important overreaching point here, to stay on topic with this being an alternative to iPAQ, is that I don't yet see that there is a set of PIM software to make the "Linux-running" palm-held machines useful.

For instance, the iPAQ appears to require that you hook it up to something that pretends to be a "dumb terminal," or that you can control everything using pre-programmed apps that use the onboard buttons. In other words, if an application needs a keyboard, you're left "grasping" for that.

There isn't perfectly suitable Linux software to run on PDAs for the PIM needs of:

• Calendar
• Phone list
• To Do list
• Note pad

Yeah, but you could always add 8 megs of ram with SuperPilot Memory Board for $149.95.

Here's the real scoop:

Palm III: 2MB RAM, older screen, flashable ROM, no slot.
Palm IIIx: 4MB RAM, newer screen, flashable ROM, expansion slot
Palm IIIe: 2MB RAM, newer screen, non-flashable ROM, no slot.

The "newer screen" is much nicer. The flashable ROM (not RAM -- ROM) means that future OS upgrades could be flashed into ROM, rather than taking up existing RAM space. A ROM-based OS will survive a "hard reset". See for example TRG.

Seems fair -- make the trade-off based on how much you want to spend.

The company you spoke of is TRG. 8M in a Pilot goes a long way. ( Had to have more room for the Pilot verion of the PHP docs ; ) Clevo

Greetings,
Well, I'm running a PalmPilot (Pro!) w/ 8MB of main and 2MB of Flash (the TRG XL expansion), so the new memory doesn't do anything for me... The thinness is keen, but not worthy of upgrading.

But why no CompactFlash adapter?!? It'd fit with the size, it'd allow infinite (or near such!) expandability (heaven forfend the IBM CF-II drives at 360MB in a Pilot...!), and it's Just Good Tech!

In any case, the ONLY reason I'd consider getting a new Pilot is the IR capabilities, but I just don't see another $300 worth of capability in any of these 'upgrades'.

Pity. Maybe if someone ported Linux to the WinCE machines they'd be usable. THAT would be a blast! In the mean time, I'm over 4MB used in my Pilot, not including the extra MB stored in my Flash. If the new Pilots don't support the TRG memory cards then it's going to have to be one heck of an incredible upgrade. (Color, CF-II, IR, and thin together might just do it though...)

If you're not a pilot owner yet, though, these new models are SWEET, and I do highly recommend them. (I admit, I only wish I'd gotten the black IBM Palm Pro. For pure style reasons...)

Ahh, the Joys of Toys.