3. XScale Power: Asus MyPal A600

The MyPal A600 in the USB cradle.

Until recently, Asus was known mostly as a manufacturer of motherboards and notebooks. The MyPal A600 is Asus' first venture into PDA territory. Its first creation is a real beauty, too, with a high-quality metal housing and an extremely thin construction. Weighing in at 134 grams and measuring 75 x 125 x 13 mm, the MyPal A600 won't be too bulky for your shirt pocket, either.

Left side of the housing: power button, jog dial to navigate the menu, and a record button for voice notes.

The A600 also has a jog dial on the left side of the housing in addition to standard controls like the navigation key and four hotkeys.

The speaker is in an inconvenient location - underneath the navigation key.

On top: IR port, MMC/ SD card slot, headset and microphone jack.

Asus has equipped its pocket PC with only one SD card slot for expansions. However, you may also opt for a CF card adapter that just snaps onto the back, so you can add on WLAN or Bluetooth modules, or even expand memory with an IBM Microdrive.