Okay, everyone agrees that PDA's are effective in many ways. The PDA helps maintain schedules, keep addresses, among other things. PDA's are also used in colleges in some areas. So, if they are so important; how can there possibly any type of drawbacks?

- Your PDA is stolen, if you have any type of personal information or addresses that are important they are now in the hands of whoever it was that has stolen your PDA.

- The stylus sometimes doesn't stay in place exactly as it should and it can get lost easily. Then you are forced to purchase a new one.

- The PDA is set in water, this can damage the battery or affect the battery life.

- If the screen gets damaged the PDA can not be repaired.

- Buying used PDA's have no warranties.

Now you see more teenagers using the PDA's. This is of course considered a good thing as long as they don't have access to the internet or if they do they are responsible and don't do things that aren't appropriate. Teenagers can use PDA's for calculation conversions and other assignments. They can also keep track of assignments and dates they have to be finished.

Teenagers of course have friends, so they can keep track of phone numbers and email addresses too. Additionally they can organize the data on their PDA letting them also keep track of their friends' birthdays' and other events. Some teenagers start spreadsheets of scores for sports. While still others use the PDA for things such as when movies are going to be playing theatres, or days when school will not be in session. Like spring break, or their Christmas vacation time.

When you go to purchase a PDA there might be a few things you want to check out before your actual purchase. Deciding which PDA is right for you depends on things like, what you will use your PDA for the most. Also, how much information you will need to store on your PDA before it can be transferred to another computer or a memory card.

Look at the different feature types out on the market, such as brand names and those with Internet access capabilities, whichever PDA you choose should be to your liking and not simply because someone says its a good one. Then, look at the processing speed and the memory size. Depending on how much memory you need, to keep information actually on your PDA.

Every PDA available today can be synchronized with your desktop computer. This is an important program or function that allows you to add data to your PDA. Your PDA could come with the docking station that plugs into your desktop computer, while some docking stations for specific PDA's are sold separately. Either way you want to be sure you have the right one.

Being able to synchronize your PDA with your computer also allows you to back up information should you need to. Synchronization is also effective if you need to get information off of your PDA in order to free up some of the memory space on your PDA.

Depending on the brand, the amount of memory and the style you are looking for; PDA's can average in cost. To some people they are not expensive at all. While to others they sound too expensive to get. Basically a PDA that is good for the use of basic programs and optimizing word documents as well as other simple tasks the cost is lower.

However the newer models coming out now, with wireless capabilities, Wi Fi, and of course blue tooth will cost you more. It also depends on where you go to purchase the PDA as well. Basically the cost of a PDA can be anywhere from $99.00 to over $600.00. And after buying other accessories to go with your new PDA, such as a case or screen covers and much more, the cost increases a great deal. Don't lose your breath this is true.

Although some newer laptops are coming out with reminders, you still have the problem of actually taking it with you wherever you go. The PDA has a program already installed on it when you purchase it called a task manager. As well as appointment book. This allows you to keep up with appointments and tasks that are upcoming.

The PDA can also be set to remind you of certain events that are coming up, that you don't want to forget such as an important meeting right down to a birthday. You can set a reminder tone on the PDA that will go off, and this of course lets you know of the appointment or specific date you wanted to remember. It will also do this if you set it in the morning, for say picking up files from an office at three that afternoon. The PDA will go off thirty minutes before whatever it is you have to do. The PDA can also be set days in advance for an appointment, this way your schedule is always at hand.

In some cases, although the PDA has several different uses, people often get them simply for the use of having a digitalized journal. This is a good concept in the fact that PDA's have the ability to let you create a password denying anyone who does not know the password access. The journals you would buy at the store in reality have locks on them but these locks ultimately can be broken into.

The PDA has memory that can hold several journal entries depending on their length. And if this is the only use for the PDA, it will probably be useful as a journal for quite a long time. People can either use the word pad program or notepad program that is already installed on the PDA when you purchase it.

To some people this takes some getting used to. Using the stylus, at the bottom of your screen a keyboard will appear that looks entirely like the keyboard on any other computer. However, to use your PDA keyboard you tap the letters with the stylus on the touch screen. This of course acts as a typing mechanism and the words appear where you want them to on your PDA. The keyboard, can also be used with numbers, capitalization, and symbols too. Some PDA's come with a very small keyboard that your PDA can be attached to, and you can use it to type with. In most cases though, people simply find it easier to use the virtual keyboard on the touch screen of their PDA.

A PDA can also play mp3's if they are stored in the memory of the PDA. Just like a desktop computer, depending on the amount of memory on your PDA. The PDA has a built in windows media player, that allows mp3 files to be played. You can be doing other tasks on your PDA while the mp3's are playing, however it may slow your PDA down a little. Once again in depends on the amount of memory you have.

Another way to store your mp3's you want to play on your PDA is by the use of a memory card. The memory card slides into the top of your PDA in most cases, and then using your stylus you simply open the storage card folder and it lists the mp3's you have on the memory card. If you have enough memory, this is how you also transfer mp3's to the main memory of the PDA in order to play a specific mp3 at a different time.

There are things a laptop can do, that a PDA is unable to do. There are tasks the PDA can perform that the laptop can't perform. One of these things is the ability to go anywhere you go, simply by putting the PDA in your pocket or purse. Obviously though small and convenient, the laptop isn't as easy to just grab and go. The PDA holds information just like a laptop, however the laptop has more memory.

As for comparing the PDA to a Laptop, it would in a sense be hard to do in the technical world we are living in today. While the laptop is bigger than the PDA it is still portable and easy to take from one place to another. However, with the PDA information that is on you laptop can be put on your PDA as well. You can use the PDA almost anywhere, yet with a laptop this could prove to be a problem in some cases.

A PDA has a touch screen, which is a very cool feature. This allows the PDA to have very few buttons you have to deal with. The stylus is used to access different areas of your PDA by the use of the touch screen.

However, the touch screen is very sensitive. The touch screen also should only be cleaned with an electronic cleaner, this way it is not damaged in any way and will work on your PDA just as it always does. By tapping the touch screen with the stylus allows you to activate buttons or maneuver from different menu choices just as you would with a desktop computer mouse.

You do not have a cursor on a PDA; instead by using the touch screen and the stylus you are able to use your PDA in a quick manner. If you have your PDA set to take notes, which most PDA's have this feature you can use the stylus and the touch screen and literally write words.

The most recent product out is the smart phone. Although it is almost like a PDA it is in addition in fact a cell phone. However, the standard or basic PDA isn't considered as being as bulky whereas the Smart phone of course is. Also, screens on the standard or basic PDA are larger than those of the smart phone, making it easier to see and navigate through web pages. Not to mention the creation of word documents and spreadsheets.

The standard and basic PDA also allows you to see pictures and videos much better than that of the smart phone. So, some recommend that if you really don't need the use of the Internet access, the better choice is the standard and basic PDA. This makes sense given the idea that people who just want the PDA for simple tasks and pictures, perhaps the use of Mp3's and keeping up with appointments, then nothing else is needed really.

It's no big surprise really, that hospitals are starting to implement the use of PDA's into their system. Patient care and treatment can easily be stored on the PDA and then synchronized with the main computer of the hospital allowing the patients records to be put into specific files. Once the patient care information is loaded onto the main computer at the hospital then the doctor or nurse can go on to the next patients, and record their patient information and care as well.

Depending on the memory the number of patients that can be stored on a PDA will vary. The amount of information on the patient and the care of the patient will also take up memory. However, doctors and nurses are finding with the use of a PDA to record Patient care information, they are able to get to other patients and obtain information much easier and much faster. Even if the doctor or nurse has to have the PDA uploaded to the main computer once or twice during their shift, this lessens the load of having to actually write out the patient information which is eventually loaded onto the main computer database anyway.

Over the last year sales on PDA's have increasingly dropped. Palm pilots and those with blue tooth capabilities are still holding at a steady pace. According to the economic statistic poll taken in 2006 PDA sales had fallen by at least twenty percent. Even if incentives were included into the package.

Either people needed more memory, faster processing, or simply liked the idea of having a newer design and brand name. However, the sales of the newer types and brand models, were actually rising. Those that weren't actually considered PDA's but a higher upgrade of the version of PDA. Now, some companies are working on different ideas such as faster processing for the PDA, additional software for different types of material and programs. Additional games, and cases are being offered as an incentive to purchase the basic PDA's too.

Oh my, where does one begin when it comes to the considerable variety of games that can be installed and played on the PDA. While some people choose learning games, still others like card games or games that are casino style. By putting games on their PDA, they have something to do while waiting for a meeting to begin, or an appointment. Playing games on your PDA does help to pass the time.

Most of the game software sold for PDA's are below twenty five dollars, they are not expensive at all. And in some cases if you have access to the internet you can actually download different types of games and versions for PDA for absolutely no cost to you at all.

The basic concern about the battery of a PDA is the way the PDA is actually treated. It should not be allowed to completely drain, if this does happen all information and data that is on the PDA will be lost. The PDA actually goes back to the manufacture state when you first purchased it in a sense.

With this in mind, you should probably charge your battery at night just as you would say your cell phone. Or dock it with the computer, not allowing it to synchronize with the computer. If it tries to synchronize with your computer all you have to do is make sure you hit cancel and the PDA will simply sit on the docking station and charge.

Most PDA's will also charge the battery while docked. Sometimes with different brands of PDA's however this is not possible at all. They indeed have to charged by using an alternate cord that plugs into a wall outlet. These cords usually come with the PDA at the time of purchase.

Among the many accessories that already come with a PDA, there are also several different types of software that can be installed on your PDA. One of these installations for software, includes different languages. Software can include English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, and a few others. The software program once installed on your PDA can have different features. Although most software is basically the same, some forms are actually different.

For example, if you have installed software on your PDA that is going to teach you Spanish, it may give you the English translation first, and then the Spanish translation so you can learn it. Some software language also teaches you the spelling of the translated word.

However, software that is for a regular PC in not going to work on a PDA. These files are too big and PDA files are compressed so that they will fit on the PDA and work properly. The main thing to remember is that some files are made for the PDA while there are others that were not.

A lot of people can get very agitated when their PDA stops working. I am talking about letting it charge all night, going to turn it on, and nothing happens. Of course you try resetting your PDA on the back cover and still nothing but a dark blank touch screen. There is obviously something wrong with your PDA.

Unfortunately, people forget that a PDA is nothing more than a small computer with a very high technical out put of intelligence. The ability to store files and do other things just as a desktop model would. So when the PDA stops working what do people do? You guessed it, instead of trouble shooting or taking it somewhere where professionals can see what's going on with the PDA, the owner decides to take it a part, as if it were a portable radio!

Yes, sometimes this does happen. You purchase a program for your PDA and get home just to find out the program doesn't want to install the way it is supposed to onto your PDA. You have docked it with the desktop computer and still it doesn't want to install.

There could be a number of reasons as to why it doesn't want to install the program on your PDA the way it should. Did you read the program before you bought it? Is the program designed for PDA's or desktop style computers. There is a difference in programming and this is one thing some people make the mistake of doing. They do not check to see if the program is compatible with the PDA.

The personal digital assistant better known as the PDA is a handheld computer that contains a lot on it. Although different brands may vary, they all usually do about the same thing. Some are bigger and others are smaller. The PDA has become a tool for people on the go all the time. Students in high school use them to keep track of homework assignments, while others might use them to keep track of taking notes.

As newer versions are produced, their capabilities are faster and some with better screen resolution. However the same operating system usually goes into each PDA just as it would a desktop or laptop computer. The operating system depends on the owner of the PDA.