Choosing a Device

For various technical reasons, we have chosen to primarily support the PocketPC platform for this project. For those who are interested, here is a brief summary of the reasons behind this decision. However, we are not trying to convert devoted Palm OS users - if you are already comfortable with that platform, we have made a conscious effort to support software that will run on either hardware platform.

The main thing to remember when trying to choose a device is that you are not choosing something for the rest of your life. Device lifetime is only 2-3 years. In that time, the field changes so much in this rapidly evolving area that current recommendations become dated very quickly.

For example, we have some notes from earlier in our project that some users may find helpful. But some of the observations have become outdated eg. on screen resolution. Some Sony and Palm machines now support 320 x 480 pixels, and there is a Toshiba PocketPC just out that supports full VGA 640 x 480 pixel resolution. It all changes.

In general terms however, the capabilities of the devices on the two hardware platforms are now very similar. They now use similar CPUs (the brain chip inside); most have color; most have a battery life in the range of a week; some have cameras; most have sound capability; nearly all have a memory card slot - very important for clinicians.

The most commonly used applications for all users, even the power geeks, are the Calendar and the Address Book. All devices handle this with equal aplomb. But medical users tend to need access to a large number of reference files. Because of this, don't buy anything which does not have a memory slot, and look for a device which has a decent amount of built-in memory.

Pricing on hardware also fluctuates quite a bit. Shop around when looking for a new device. For project participants, we can sometimes offer significant reductions but this also varies with availability.

For software, because we order in bulk, we can usually offer significant reductions in price, plus we also have access to academic pricing. However, we do not offer or support a wide range of medical applications. Typically, we stick to a pre-defined suite of applications that we have found to be generally useful. If you have found a specific application that you think we should consider then please contact us about it.

Page last modified on October 31, 2005