Productivity Portfolio

Buying a PDA can be an exhaustive task for many people. Some people do extensive analysis and read countless product reviews. Other people go to user groups and test different member devices. Each approach works well when the device is for you, but not when purchasing a gift. I've seen too many people disappointed when getting PDAs as gifts and it's usually for a reason I wouldn't expect. My suggestion is to give people a gift certificate for a PDA, but let them choose their device.

All the same, I know some people are going to try to find the perfect device for a gift. For those people, I suggest My Product Advisor. The site specializes in providing unbiased product recommendations for PDAs and smart phones using data provided by WebVenturi.

My Product Advisor neatly breaks the selection process into three phases. In the first phase, or PDA Usage phase, you rate various functions using sliders. The items revolve around major features such as phone, tasks, contacts, music, photos, games and so on.

The second phase, PDA Preferences, is where much of the filtering is done against the product database. In this phase, you define your preferences such as price, manufacturer, operating system and cell phone. Each panel is clearly labeled with instructions. In some cases, more information is provided if you hover over a field with your mouse. Once you finish a panel, a checkmark appears on the button and your selections appear in a consolidated window.

The final phase is the refinement phase where you further define various attributes. This section includes items ranging from battery type to Microsoft Office compatibility.

Once you've answered all the questions, the final step is to click the Recommendations button. The service will respond with 5 devices that best match your inputs. The list includes a thumbnail picture and the price. You may also compare the recommended devices to each other and print the results. The print out can be useful when shopping as it provides the salesperson a better idea of your needs.

After testing various scenarios, we're impressed with the service and recommendations. The process is well laid out and useful information is provided that explain many PDA features. Prior to going through this questionnaire, I noted 26 features I would consider when purchasing a PDA and this system showed many I had forgotten.

Although the service is good, there are limitations. The recommendations are only as good as the underlying database. While the recommendations were relevant, there were product changes that weren't reflected. For example, Garmin now makes devices for the Palm OS and Windows Mobile, but only Palm was reflected. We would appreciate it if there was a date indicating when the product database was updated.

The other item you should know is the recommendations are based on the capabilities of the device and not 3^rd party tools or accessories. One such example is where the database indicates wireless is not available. While it's important to know wireless is not built-in, you might be able to buy a secure digital (SD) card that provides this functionality.

Overall, we would recommend this site to anyone considering the purchase of a PDA. The questions and answers provide a wealth of information that helps you make a better buying decision. The information you provide is one way the manufacturers note what features consumers think are important.