# Help me pick a PDA to purchase **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 12, 2001, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-pick-a-pda-to-purchase/54123 "2001-02-12T06:50:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2001, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-pick-a-pda-to-purchase/54123/21 "2001-02-15T15:18:29Z")
That’s a **Targus** Stowaway keyboard. Mr. Fries has one. Beware, it’s a bit tricky to latch it shut. I accidentally bent one little metal bit all to hell, and now it’s _very_ dicey getting it closed properly. Also, we’ve discovered that after the Visor is removed from teh keyboard, you can’t use the shift function in Graffiti (for caps or for symbols) until you go into the Keyboard control panel and disable (then re-enable) the keyboard. This happens on both our units. We contacted Targus about this when we first got it, about a year ago, and they said they’d never heard of such a problem. Never heard from them again, and there’s no patch that I know of. OTOH, as has been mentioned, it has full-sized keys and folds up nice and small. If you’re going to be doing any amount of text entry, a keyboard of some sort is mandatory. ---
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2001, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-pick-a-pda-to-purchase/54123/22 "2001-02-15T16:34:04Z")
I’ve heard of some people having the shift problem with the Stowaway, but I haven’t had it myself. They may have fixed it before I got mine (last month). The only problem I’ve had is a precarious connection–it usually takes a while to get it hooked up and working. I went with the Stowaway keyboard for all the reasons everyone else mentioned. It is relatively sturdy, has full-sized keys, and folds up small enough to keep in my white coat pocket. (If I wanted to lug around anything bigger, I’d have bought a laptop.) Dr. J ---
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2001, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-pick-a-pda-to-purchase/54123/23 "2001-02-15T16:40:34Z")
I’ve heard of some people having the shift problem with the Stowaway, but I haven’t had it myself. They may have fixed it before I got mine (last month). The only problem I’ve had is a precarious connection–it usually takes a while to get it hooked up and working. I went with the Stowaway keyboard for all the reasons everyone else mentioned. It is relatively sturdy, has full-sized keys, and folds up small enough to keep in my white coat pocket. (If I wanted to lug around anything bigger, I’d have bought a laptop.) Dr. J ---
**Author:** ![dublos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f08c70/32.png) [@dublos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dublos)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2001, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-pick-a-pda-to-purchase/54123/24 "2001-02-23T17:41:02Z")
OK, payday has come, and CompUSA has been visited. I am now the happy owner of a Visor Deluxe, in Graphite since I find translucent hardware cases to be something I do not like. I have ordered a tri-fold case from [Amazon.com](http://Amazon.com) and am starting to save up for other add on toys. (Back Up Buddy being at the top of my list) Thank you again, one and all who responded! -Doug ---
**Author:** ![DocDaneeka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c68b51/32.png) [@DocDaneeka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocDaneeka)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2001, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-pick-a-pda-to-purchase/54123/25 "2001-02-23T22:17:38Z")
Dang. I’m too late. I just thoroughly researched PDAs yesterday. I’m a cheap bastard, so didn’t want to spend much at all. Not only is the Palm IIIxe only $200, but it’s still one of the top-rated PDAs out there. Mine should be here soon. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-pick-a-pda-to-purchase/54123.md?page=1)