(FORTUNE Small Business) – PALM ZIRE $99 As in desire, get it? But should you? Well, this is a good PDA for the money. At 3.8 ounces, it's one of the lightest handhelds I've ever seen; its 2 MB of memory is plenty if you only want a personal organizer; and the built-in rechargeable battery is a nice (and eco-friendly) convenience. Very zexy. www.palm.com

DELL AXIM X5 POCKET PC $199 "I can't believe you paid $1,200 for that seat! I got mine for $300." Dell's new $199 Pocket PC will make folks who paid $649 for a Compaq feel like chumps. It includes a removable battery and an extra expansion slot, so you can store more files and programs (see my picks below). The one knock? At 6.5 ounces, it's heavy. For a lighter option, consider Viewsonic's outstanding 4.2-ounce V35 ($299). www.dell.com

T-MOBILE POCKET PC PHONE EDITION $499 You got your phone in my handheld! This PDA/phone combo has the traditional features of any standard Pocket PC (see "Tale of the Tape") but adds phone features where appropriate. Want to call someone in your address book? Click on the phone number. Want to listen to a song without missing a call? The device lowers the volume so that you can hear the call, and then pauses your tune if you answer it. But make no mistake: This is a handheld first. Sizewise, it's closer to a brick phone circa 1996, and there's no keypad. (Also consider AT&T's new model.) www.tmobile.com

TOSHIBA PORTEGE 3500 $2,499 A notebook computer that also acts like a notebook--the paper kind. It includes Microsoft's new Tablet PC software, which lets you capture handwritten notes when writing onscreen as you naturally would on paper. It is great for jotting down notes, graphs, and sketches during meetings--in a recent test run, I didn't touch a memo pad for two weeks and could easily track down my notes later on. It also lets you convert handwriting to text, although depending on your scrawl, you may not recognize the results. Once you holster your pen, swivel the screen and try to remember that this is a full-featured, four-pound computer. www.toshiba.com

SIX MUST-HAVE HANDHELD APPS

--Documents To Go 5.0 Premium Edition (Palm OS) $69.95 Create and edit Office documents without schlepping along your notebook. www.dataviz.com

--FileMaker Mobile (Palm, Pocket PC) $49 You can't always keep your customers in the palm of your hand, but at least you can keep your database info on them there. www.filemaker.com

--IBM ViaVoice Translator (Compaq iPaq only) $27 Vous parlez international business, but you failed Berlitz? See and hear sentences translated between English and French, German, Italian, and Spanish. www.ibm.com

--Vindigo (Palm, PPC) $24.95/year A superb directory (with maps) of restaurants, bars, public restrooms (when you've got to go, you've got to go), and more. For 35-plus U.S. cities and London. www.vindigo.com

--Pocket Oxford English Dictionary (Palm, PPC) $13.10 One of the few books we would actually want to carry around (see also: personal digital assistant, handheld). www.mobipocket.com

--Amy Reiley's Pocket Vineyard (Palm, PPC) $19.95 Impress dinner companions with more than fish = white wine. www.neohand.com

"I USE MY PALM ONLY FOR WORK"

Yeah, right. Scrabble (Palm, PPC) $29.99 Seven-letter word for six-hour flight? B-O-R-E-D-O-M. This should help. www.handmark.com Bejeweled (Palm)/Diamond Mine (PPC) $14.95 Possibly more addictive than Tetris. www.astraware.com Golfwits (Palm, PPC) $49.95 Scorecard for thousands of courses. Sadly, it doesn't cure a slice. www.golfwits.com

ACCESSORIES

Presenter-to-Go $199 An LCD projector is heavy enough to carry around. Leave the notebook at the office and run your PowerPoint shows from your PDA. www.margi.com

Belkin Snap-N-Type Keyboard $19.99 Finally, being all thumbs is a good thing. And once you're used to typing with them, there's no going back to your stylus. www.belkin.com

Socket Bluetooth Kit $179 What a tangled web we weave. Eliminate some of the clutter by sending e-mails and surfing the web from your PDA (or notebook) using your cellphone--without any new wires. Make sure your phone supports the new wireless standard, which after many fits and starts is beginning to hit its stride. My favorite: the Sony Ericsson T68. www.socketcom.com

Cross Matrix $80 Something old, something new. A fountain pen that doubles as a stylus. Bonus: It comes with ballpoint pen attachment too, for when you tire of having ink all over your hands. www.cross.com

Pocket GPS Navigator $199.95 Are we there yet? Attach a global positioning receiver to your handheld and find out for sure. www.pharosgps.com

TALE OF THE TAPE: Palm vs. Pocket PC Which type of handheld is best for you?

PALM

Major Manufacturers Handspring, Palm, Sony

Price $99-$599

Portability (Battery life, size, etc.) Tend to be smaller and lighter; greyscale models offer vastly superior battery life.

Brawn Can do only one thing at a time but typically does it well; very stable; lots of software.

Audio/Video Music and video playback only on higher-end products.

Best if... You're not going to use more than the address book and calendar programs.

POCKET PC

[Major Manufacturers] Dell, HP, Toshiba, Viewsonict

[Price] $199-$799

[Portability (Battery life, size, etc.)] Bright color displays mean shorter battery life; becoming lighter in (and on) the pocket.

[Brawn] Like your PC, can run multiple programs at the same time; like your PC, more prone to crash.

[Audio/Video] Doubles as a Walkman: All can play digital audio and video.

[Best if...] You're looking for something that lets you leave the laptop behind on occasion.

ON THE WEB PDABuzz.com: Be a gadget geek, or just play one around the water cooler, with the latest product news and reviews from editors and users. Handango.com: If somebody's written PDA software, it's here. You can try before you buy, since many titles have free demos and everything is downloadable, so no waiting for the UPS guy.

WHAT'S NEXT? Forget the alphabet soup (2.5G, 1XRTT, GPRS). Just know this: Wireless carriers are finally rolling out high-speed data service. Hope we can all afford it.