Moving from big computers to small ones -- and in this market, we have an unnatural state of simplicity. For people who want a basic handheld that will also play music and show off family photos, Palm's Tungsten E, at $199, is the way to go. It's rare for me to make a blanket recommendation, but when you can get a high-resolution color screen, MP3 playback, SD Card expansion and 32 megabytes of memory in a device this compact and this cheap, it's an easy call.

Looking for just the basics? Palm's Zire 21, $99, will do. But for another $10 or $20, Sony's entry-level Clies will offer a much sharper screen and better controls.

Handhelds based on Microsoft's Pocket PC operating system may look tempting, but unless you really, really like the Windows interface or rely on Microsoft Outlook to schedule every last minute of your day, they're just too complicated and inefficient to make sense for this job. A handheld should be something you can use at a glance, not something that requires extended work.

If you want a handheld that's also a phone -- or is a phone that's also a handheld, Handspring's Treo 600 is the best game in town, combining Palm organization software, your choice of CDMA or GSM wireless phone capability, a tiny, low-resolution digital camera and an SD Card expansion slot.