Reliability

Those of us who rely on organizers to help us remember appointments, phone numbers and other information often become very dependable on them. In fact, we become so dependant on them that they essentially become our second brain. But what happens if they suddenly ‘fail’ to serve us as they should? I can’t even imagine the horror.

Because of its complexity, a PDA phone can never be as reliable as simple pen and paper. There is always software issues. Software bugs can and do cause glitches in the PDA phones that could cause it to crash, freeze or reboot. Such unstable devices can be a real pain in the neck, as you will lose data you typed in.

Fortunately, such data loss have been addressed with the release of Windows Mobile 5, which introduced the ‘persistent memory’ feature. That feature causes all data keyed into the device to be immediately stored in the PDA phone's non-volatile flash memory. You can also back up your data by sychronizing your PDA phone with your PC on a daily basis.

The hardware component of the PDA phone is also susceptible to failure. Now, PDA phones are not delicate like thin glass, but they should be handled with due care. Even keeping your PDA phone in a tight jeans pocket can damage the LCD screen, especially if you accidentally put it together with your keys or coins.

Conscientious PDA phone users often protect their investments by keeping them in a pouch or hard case that can be attached to a belt. Ladies can always keep them in their handbags, but care must be taken to keep them in their own compartment, away from other hard and sharp objects. As you can imagine, such care is not necessary for pen and paper.

Another potential problem that will be of concern to PDA phones users is battery life. PDA phones use processors that are more powerful and have more memory, all of which require more power to operate and maintain. As such, they will drain battery power faster than a standard mobile phone.

Most PDA phones have large batteries that give them about a day's worth of heavy PIM (Personal Information Management) use, but if you are also using it for WiFi access, music and video playback, then it won't last very long. You will need to bring spare batteries to maintain access to your data. Certainly not as convenient as paper organizers which will never require any electricity to run.

Now, these are the only differences between PDA phones and paper organizers. In real life, PDA phones are reliable and do not often fail. But there is no doubt that this is one area that the paper organizer will always remain undefeated.