Take Your PDA Abroad

Put your handheld to work as a tour guide, translator, and more.

James A. Martin

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Feature: Traveling Abroad With Your PDA

On international trips, I used to carry in my backpack one or two guide books, a foreign language dictionary, a calculator for currency conversions, a transit map, some antacid tablets (you never know about foreign food), and a bottle of water.

This fall, the spouse and I are heading to Prague and Berlin. And in my dreams, my backpack will contain only my PDA and, because some things never change, some antacid tablets and a bottle of water. The guide books, foreign language dictionaries, currency converters, and other essentials would all be stored on the PDA. Not only would I have less back strain, but I'd also have more information easily available--and it would be more up-to-date--than the books and maps would have provided.

As I said, that's the dream. The reality? I'll still be carrying a bunch of stuff in my backpack this fall--along with my PDA. Here's the lowdown.

Travel Guide E-Books: Helpful, to an Extent

Fodor's has produced an extensive series of e-books based on its popular paperback destination guides. I downloaded Fodor's Prague and Berlin e-books from Palm Digital Media. At $9, they're affordable, useful resources. For instance, you can quickly search key words, place names, and other criteria, instead of thumbing through a paperback. The guides include reviews of local restaurants, hotels, sites, and other practical information.

But the two e-books I downloaded are copyrighted 2001, while their paperback counterparts are more recent. Given that both Prague and Berlin are currently undergoing big changes, this is a serious limitation. For example, hotel rates in the Berlin e-book are listed in deutschmarks instead of euros. Also, the Fodor's e-books are text only, lacking the maps included in the paperback guide books.

Meanwhile, many Frommer's guide books are available as downloadable e-books from Amazon.com, at various prices that range from about $9 to $16. The Frommer guides are PDF files that can be transferred from a computer to a Palm OS device (but not to Pocket PCs).

Unlike the Fodor's e-books, the Frommer's PDF guides can be viewed on a PC as well as a Palm. They contain the paperback book's original typeface and graphics, including maps. And from the titles I browsed, it appears that the Frommer's e-books are as up-to-date as their print counterparts. But the multiple-step process of transferring the PDF e-books onto a Palm device--which includes registering your device with Adobe digital rights management--is cumbersome and time consuming.

Travel guide e-books for Pocket PCs require the free Microsoft Reader utility and are limited to the Rough Guide series (about $8 each title). The Rough Guide e-book editions I saw at Amazon.com were all dated 2001.

For details on the Frommer's and Rough Guide books, browse Amazon.com's e-books section.

Bottom Line: Your best e-book bet is a Frommer's guide on a Palm OS device. Otherwise, skip the e-books and carry the paperback guide.

Audible Foreign Language Translators: C'est What?

Don't know how to ask for a glass of red wine in French? Look it up in the Audio Translator, a $40 MultiMediaCard device for Palm PDAs that's available from PalmOne. Voila! The software speaks the phrase aloud for the wine steward to hear--provided your PDA has a speaker, of course. The software provides translations from English to Spanish, French, German, and Italian. The card also worked on my Dell Axim X30 Pocket PC, too, though the Palm site doesn't mention Pocket PC compatibility (for obvious reasons).

Not surprisingly, the software's pronunciations sounded overly mechanical. Also, the sound coming from a PDA's speaker doesn't travel far in a noisy environment, such as a restaurant. So don't expect your waiter to always comprendez-vous.

Bottom Line: If you're somewhat familiar with the language you'll be speaking, a dictionary or phrase book is probably more practical. Otherwise, the Audio Translator might be useful as a tool to help you practice speaking foreign words and phrases yourself. I'd still pack a dictionary, though.

Currency Conversion: Now We're Talking

If you didn't plan on taking your PDA abroad, WorldMate will change your mind. This easy-to-use program lets you simultaneously convert one currency (such as dollars) into two others, get local weather updates, view the current time in five cities, convert clothing and shoe sizes as well as measurements, create a packing list, find international city and country dialing codes, and more. It's a beautifully designed, essential program for Palms, Pocket PCs, and some Sony Ericsson wireless phones. And when you have an active Internet connection, WorldMate is updated every time you HotSync. Those with wireless PDAs can get updates wirelessly.

The standard version is $25. The $70 professional edition adds a one-year subscription to the OAG worldwide flight schedule, weather forecasts for over 38,000 global locations, an itinerary manager, and a tip/tax calculator. You can try the programs for free.

PC World's Yardena Arar also reviewed WorldMate. Read "Software for the Road" for her take on the software.

Bottom Line: Don't leave the country without WorldMate. Period.

Transit Maps: Staying on Track

Handango offers downloadable urban transit maps/schedule planners that help travelers find their way in unfamiliar cities. The programs are called Tube guides, in homage to the London Tube (subway).

I live in San Francisco, so I downloaded and used the San Francisco guide. I was impressed with its color maps of the Bay Area Rapid Transit system and its ability to easily plot out a BART trip via the route scheduler.

In addition to London and San Francisco, Tube guides are available for Athens, Berlin, Miami, Moscow, Sydney, Tokyo, and other major cities. Prices are $8 to $40, depending on the destination. To find the programs, go to Handango, search on "tube," then select your PDA platform.

Bottom Line: Sometimes getting lost in a foreign city is highly recommended (Venice comes to mind). But when you've got a particular museum across town in your crosshairs, a Tube guide on your PDA can help you get there--without having to wrestle with a map.

Your Favorite Travel Tools?

Do you rely on your PDA for information when traveling abroad? If so, tell me about it.

Notebooks & Accessories

Reader Tip: Zap Pop-Up Ads

Responding to my recent article about keyboard shortcuts, Joseph Longshore, an IS network administrator in Santa Fe, New Mexico writes that his favorite, Alt-F4, is a great way to quickly shut down annoying pop-up ads in your Web browser. (My article simply mentioned this shortcut as a way to close open application windows.) "I love to nip 'em in the bud by hitting that combo!," Joseph writes.

Reader Tip: Extra-Fast Route to a Web Site

Speaking of keyboard shortcuts, several readers wrote to tell me of a super-fast way to enter a standard.com URL in Microsoft's Internet Explorer. Go to the address line and type in just the main part of the Web address, such as "amazon," "ebay," or "pcworld." Then press Ctrl-Enter. Internet Explorer automatically fills in the "www." and ".com," and you're off and running.

Tips: How to Buy a Notebook for School

It's hard to believe it's that time again. (Back to school--yuck.) If you're shopping for a notebook for school, you'll want to consider five key things: price, weight, battery life, Wi-Fi access, and entertainment (an essential part of any student's curriculum). Read my tips on finding the best notebooks for school in "Cool Laptops for School."

Gadgets & Services

Tips: Finding the Best PDA for Students

I've been hard at work on the back-to-school beat. Along with my article on notebook buying tips, I've got tips for students on finding the best PDAs. Read "PDA Picks for School" for the full scoop.

Review: Dell Axim Offers Good Value

PC World's Yardena Arar gives Dell's new Axim X30 Pocket PC 4.5 stars out of 5. Having tested the Axim X30 myself, I second Denny's praise.

Dell adds Intel's latest mobile chip, Microsoft's updated PDA operating system, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and enhanced security to the Axim's already impressive feature list--for only $349. And as of this writing, Dell was offering the high-end X30 for $314 with rebate. The 240-by-320 display is one of the brightest, sharpest PDA screens around, and the recharging cradle's slot for a second removable, rechargeable battery is a smart, useful extra.

Read the full review, "Dell's Axim: Still the Best Pocket PC Deal."

News: Beethoven, Bach, and a Pocket PC

The New York Philharmonic is testing a program called the Concert Companion, which provides real-time commentary about a piece being performed. The information is beamed to wireless Pocket PCs, which concertgoers rent.

How well does it work? A New York Times reporter said the PDA he rented froze three times during a concert, and his wife "hacked her way to the device's operating system and was happily playing solitaire."

Suggestion Box

Is there a particularly cool mobile computing product or service I've missed? Got a spare story idea in your back pocket? Tell me about it.