Palmtop computers, also known Personal Digital Assistants, or PDAs, are small computers that are intended to fit easily in one hand. Palmtops normally offer appointment and task schedulers, address books, and minor text editing software. If you want to back up your data or free up some memory on your palmtop, you can hook your palmtop computer up to your laptop or desktop computer and download your information. Palmtops don't usually include keyboards, and a stylus, a sort of electronic pen, is generally used for data entry. External keyboards can normally be purchased separately. There are several different platforms in the palmtop industry. Though many platforms are incompatible with each other, all offer basically the same types of programs and applications. In terms of hardware, each platform comes in both monochrome and color-screen versions. Screen visibility is perhaps the single most important feature to consider when buying, so try out various models under the lighting conditions you're most likely to encounter. A modem may not be included with your palmtop, so if you want to use e-mail or access the Web, you'll need to purchase one. You'll also need to make sure that your palmtop supports wireless communication and that your Internet service can be configured for the palmtop format you're using. For more information, consult a computer professional.
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