Palmtop Computer: Utility of Palmtop computer.

A palmtop computer is a very small computer which you can hold in one hand and manipulate with the other.

These kinds of computers have specialized keyboards or keypads to enter data, or small QWERTY keyboards.

Other names for palmtops are handheld computers, pocket computers and PDA.

The main features of these computers are that they are small, light, draw power from a battery and are intended for general usage.

Their input includes a typewriter keyboard and the output consists of a small, full-color LCD display.

The palmtop has a word processor, a spreadsheet program, a calendar and a phone book.

An important characteristic is that its operating system is compatible with that of a PC.

Various programs can be installed and run and the data may be transferred to and from a desktop computer. In contrast to personal digital assistant, it has more memory, a keyboard and many available programs.

Handheld computers usually do not have disk drives due to their small size. They have PCMCIA slots where disk drives, modems, memory or other devices could be put into.

Palmtops that do not use a keyboard but a pen are called PDAs or hand-held computers.

Recently a union was established between a Rochester software-development company and a California supplier of wireless hardware.

Its purpose was to release the first wireless LAN connection between palmtops and data base of corporate systems. This allows the palmtops to execute the same functions as laptops and have access to electronically stored information.

One of the most common and significant uses of palmtops is with security forces. Unlike before, when they had to write their plans on paper, militants nowadays make use of palmtops where they store the information about their operations, locations and other important details. As they admit, they keep a great amount of data in these small computers.

As researches among students have shown, one of the best benefits of palmtops is the built-in Database program. It is used to store information about different projects and daily tasks as well. The data are easily found in it and never get lost.

Nearly all PDA devices are not operational with a keyboard as palmtop computer. As an alternative, they used pen based and rely on particular hardware that are familiar with handwritten inputs.

After tapping selections on menus you can display printed characters to write information. A number of Palmtop computer can also incorporate an on-screen keyboard used for better accessibility.