all handhelds and pdas

As a long time PDA user (Palm OS and Pocket PCs) I was always looking for the latest, greatest new piece of tech. The Zodiac's specs and price impressed me so much that I started my own news and community site for it.

I bought the Zodiac 1 back when they first came out (end of November, 2003). It's compatible with most any Palm OS application and there's tons of freeware and inexpensive shareware apps to be found. While Tapwave is hyping this as a gaming console, it's really a do-everything device. Pair it with a Bluetooth cell phone and you can surf the internet or check your email. Pair it with a Bluetooth GPS and you can use it to navigate you around town or across the country. It has a Yamaha sound chip which gives you MP3 playback superior to an iPod and you can even play music in the background while you play games or do other things.

The library of cutting edge games is a little small right now, but it's growing. And, like I said, there's TONS more that you can do with this thing besides just gaming. But if you do want it for gaming, consider this...it's got a 3.8" diagonal 480x320 pixel screen, an analog controller, several action and shoulder buttons, and support for multiplayer gaming over Bluetooth. And Tapwave isn't being greedy with some proprietary nonsense either. You can use regular old SD memory cards to expand your storage space for MP3s, videos, applications, and games. Yes, you can download games over the internet and store tons of them on one single SD memory card rather than carry around dozens of cartridges.

If you want to take advantage of some of the advanced features, sites like Tapland will help you along. Plus, there's lots of useful game, productivity app, and accessory reviews there.

If you want more built-in storage, you can pay an extra $100 for the Zodiac 2, but my personal recommendation is to get a Zodiac 1 and use the extra money to buy a really huge SD memory card.