I took it out of the box with a skeptical grimace. "It's so light. Must be made of cheapo parts. Ewww...it's all boxy and utilitarian-looking, not all curvy and cool-looking like the PalmPilot." I directed a special Billy Idol-esque lip snarl at the "Powered by Microsoft Windows CE" logo stamped above the screen. I put in the batteries while grumbling to myself about WinCE being overkill for a PDA OS and how gauche all of the buttons on the case looked. And then I turned it on.

Actually, I wasn't even sold then (though I began to weaken). I continued to find things I didn't think I'd like. For one, they didn't use Grafitti for handwriting recognition, but a similar program called Jot. I started to lighten up when I realized that learning Jot was as easy as Grafitti. One cool part of Jot's implementation is that the Jot input panel has three areas: write to the left and you get lowercase letters, in the middle, and you get capital letters, to the right, and you get numbers (no extra tapping to move from u/c to l/c). Personally, I think it would have made more sense to switch the location of the caps and lowercase areas (since you move from caps to l/c as you write), but this is a minor quibble.

The software backbone of the Everex (and all of the other MS-based Palm PCs) is MS Pocket Outlook. This suite offers a calendar, contacts database, note-taker, to-do list organizer and Inbox, for sending and receiving email. There's also a world clock, calculator, the all-important Solitaire, and Channels, a goofy little offline browser for downloading and viewing limited (read: optimized for Palm PCs) Web pages (via your desktop PC). Several additional programs, like MS Pocket Streets and MS Pocket PowerPoint, are available on the WinCE disc that comes with the Freestyle (along with ActiveSync for desktop-palmtop synchronization).

As I'm sure you know, WinCE looks and feels like Win95. I didn't think this really meant much, but as I've played with handheld PCs, and now the Freestyle, I can see the value of having a common interface between your desktop and your handheld/palm PC. Everything works (basically) the same. There's also a huge advantage to WinCE in terms of available software. Anything developed for the Palm PC standard will work on The Freestyle (H/PC WinCE apps will not). Little is available for the PPC yet. Everex has an apology on their site about the third-party software bundle. There isn't one. They claim they're still evaluating apps and will make a bundle available (for downloading) to all Freestyle owners as soon as they have it together. Hmmm...I hope this isn't like when studios delay the release of a film 'cause they're still "putting the finishing touches" on it. Usually a very bad sign.

The Freestyle has a number of features that distinguish it from the PalmPilot:

• More RAM. Lots more RAM. The PalmPilot Pro has 1MB, the Palm III has 2MB. The basic model of the Freestyle, the Associate, has 4MB and the Manager and Executive models have 8MB standard.
• A voice recorder. This built-in audio device lets you take short "Note to self" voice memos. The record button is on the outside left edge, accessible to your thumb. The mic is in the upper right corner of the front. Thoughtfully, the faux leather case that comes with the Freestyle has a dip on the left side and is just short of the mic so you can make voice recordings without even taking the unit out of its case. Of course, voice recording is memory intensive, so if you want to do a lot of it, you'll need at least an 8MB model and probably a RAM upgrade (up to 32MB). Audio notes are .wav files, so you can offload them to your PC.
• PPCs use a CompactFlash (CF) card slot to allow you to add RAM, modem, pager, barcode reader, LAN card, etc. The Freestyle comes with a vibrator and an LED flash notifier that can be utilitized by the forthcoming CF pager card.
• One-handed operation. The Freestyle has been designed so that some operations can be performed using only one hand. A series of buttons run down the right-hand side (the ones I turned my nose up at initially). The top one functions as an exit button (like ESC on a keyboard). A three-function rocker switch below that is equivalent to page/scroll up, enter and page/scroll down. Below the rocker is the on/off switch. Along the left side of the Freestyle is the Record button, the headphones/mic jack, the backlight button and the contrast adjustment. Obviously, what you can do one-handed is limited, but if you need to access your contacts database or to-do lists and scroll through the data, you can without using the stylus. One drawback to the buttons is that the page up/page down buttons are slightly difficult to use one-handed and it's easy to turn the unit on and off by mistake.
• Rechargeable Ni-MH battery pack and built-in recharger. Supposed to give you a good two weeks of use between charges. Using the backlight and CF cards shortens battery life. Two AAA alkaline batteries can also be used in the unit.
• The docking cradle that comes with the two 8MB models (the Associate comes only with a synch cable) folds up, taking up less space in your travel bag.
• The Executive model comes with a rechargeable battery pack for the docking cradle and a 36.6 modem built into the cradle.
• Like the new Palm III, the Freestyle has an ifrared communications port, but where the PalmPilot's can only talk to other PalmPilots, the Freestyle's can talk to all other brands of PPCs and other desktop and laptop machines that use the industry standard IrDA technology.

The Freestyle also has backlighting, now available on the Palm III.

I have to say, I'm impressed. If I was in the market for a PDA (I'm still gonna call PPCs, PDAs, I don't care what Mr. Grates has to say), I'd seriously consider a Freestyle. PalmPilot, be afraid, be very afraid.

- Gareth Branwyn [7/10/98]

Other PDAs and H/PCs reviewed on Street Tech:

• PalmPilot Professional
• Psion Series 5
• Cassiopeia A-20