1. Price. Palm Pilot costs less than $300 and you get a complete package including:
The handheld unit, a cradle to connect to your PC, software for the PC, a leather carrying case and two batteries. Much less expensive than the newest HPC devices.

2. Size. The device is small (4.7" x 3.2" x 0.7") enough to fit in a shirt pocket, lightweight (5.7 oz.), and runs on just two AAA batteries.

3. Capacity. The Pilot can store plenty of information. With 1mb it can hold 4000 addresses, 750 memos, 100 e-mail messages, etc. I have packed quite a bit of info on mine!

4. Software. There are plenty of commercial software applications already available for the Pilot. There is also tons of shareware applications available, plus, many applications are Free! There are many games also which come in handy waiting at airports, etc...

5. Third Party Development. Just about anything not supplied by 3Com is most likely available from third party vendors including hardware upgrades, carrying cases, and add-on software!

6. Open Architecture. There are numerous Development Packages available to create your own application software. Many are Free! So if you can't find the exact software application you need, create it yourself!

7. Technical Documentation. 3Com has released specifications and source code for the hardware and the Palm OS to encourage development. Are the folks at Sharp paying attention?

8. No keyboard. Most people can't type without looking at the keys anyway. The tablet design is most likely the future of all portable devices.

9. No window closing. You can jump from one application to another, never having to exit a program due to screen clutter or memory limitations. Each application starts right where you left off.

10. HotSync. The Pilot truly synchronizes with the desktop software including documents. With HPC's, only the PIM type data (contacts, schedule, etc.) synchronizes. The word processor and spreadsheet documents must be manually transferred between the desktop and the handheld! Don't they mention that in their ads?