It's a desktop. It's a laptop. No, it's a wireless palmtop.

I've always contemplated about just how useful these Palm Pilots are. Well, now that I have one, it's too good to be true. I use to think that scribbling on such a small device must be cumbersome and tough to learn. Why would anyone carry that thing around? It's just for show. Boy, was I wrong. Pretty much got the hang of writing on my Palm in a few minutes. The good thing is, most of the letters are intuitive. I carry this Palm around all the time now. Great for jotting down schedules, contact information, and key takeaways from meetings.

The Palm VII comes with 2 MB of memory, tons of useful software and web clippings, a wireless antenna, and a synch cradle. 2 MB doesn't sound a lot until you realize how little space each application takes. This leaves you with plenty of storage for those meeting notes, schedules, contact info, and occasional wireless emails. You can also download tons of Palm software and web clippings from Palm.net. Your coworker happen to have an application that you want? Just beam it over via the infrared port that's built-in.

The best part of this Palm is in its wireless capabilities. The web pages which 3COM refers to as web clipping are much smaller than regular web pages so they load rather quickly, once you have a good connection. So how do you connect? It's as easy as flipping up the antenna and clicking on the web clipping icon. You want to know which team just won the game, flip up the antenna. You want to know the directions to that great restaurant your friend took you to, flip up the antenna. Stock quotes, weather, airline schedules, and even word definitions, just flip up the antenna!

The cradle that comes with this is invaluable. Put the Palm in the cradle and press a button, and your schedules, emails, notes, and contacts, are all synched with your computer. Whether you're on the run or at your computer, you now have all the information you need. Say goodbye to missed meetings.

With all this ranting and raving, I do have some minor complaints. I wish the Palm VII had less bulk. What would have been great is if it was as slim and attractive as the V series. Also, it should have come with rechargeable batteries, although the 2 AAAs last quite some time. Maybe in a year, I'll also complain about the 2 MB of memory. All these things are minor when you consider the features that it comes with. You can't go wrong with this palmtop, especially when your company pays for it! :-)