Which handheld OS is right for you?
Now you have a general overview of what each operating system has to offer, but you still may be asking yourself, which is right for me? This will largely depend on what types of functionality are important to you. Palm and Windows Mobile handhelds offer mass appeal to general consumers and business users alike with their mix of productivity and entertainment features. For years, these two handheld operating systems have competed fiercely to woo handheld buyers, but now, they're almost evenly matched in terms of the core applications: an address book, a calendar, a to-do list, and memos. Palm still holds the advantage in PC synchronization as it works with both Mac- and Windows-based computers right out of the box, and the operating system benefits from a large library of third-party applications; however, Windows Mobile is by far the champ of multimedia capabilities.

For e-mail fanatics, the BlackBerrys' combination of push technology and integrated QWERTY keyboards is hard to beat, and though they've generally been more business-centric devices, RIM has made a push to reach more customers with consumer-friendly models, such as the BlackBerry Curve 8300. Finally, Symbian might not be the most recognized operating system among the group, but it offers corporate users powerful productivity and security tools, and the versatility of the platform opens itself up to more general audiences.

To further help you with your buying decision, we've rounded up some of our top product picks for each handheld OS. Check them out below.

Palm	Windows Mobile	BlackBerry	Symbian
Palm TX	Dopod D810	BlackBerry Curve 8300	Nokia E90
Palm Treo 680	O2 Xda Atom Life	BlackBerry 8800	Sony Ericsson P1i
Palm Treo 650	Palm Treo 750v	BlackBerry Pearl 8100	Nokia E61i

 

Hemant

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Hemant says...
Surprise to see as why CNET category doesn't include Linux-based devices. As per me that's the future with great potential and lowest ownership cost.

Aug 22, 2008 11:59