>Joe
>
>Did you say "lousy"?!?!?!
>
>That's it. I'll never talk to you again!

*smile* Are you sure that VB isn't the way you should be going on this? *grin*

>< bg >
>
>My office looks like a Cradle farm at the moment, it isn't easy to pick what plastic/metal slab plugs in where! But I don't have a Psion. Seriously, should we be assessing it for the need I described?

Your most salient points dealt with the need for extreme ease of viewing and carrying around. Palm-type form factors seem to have the edge here. Sure, a Psion can be carried in one hand too, but it is not usually the full "around-the-back-grab" like with a palm. This is especially true for the S5 or 5mx which are longer and heavier.

I guess the Handspring Visor intrigues me most. How far are they from having a hardware voice recorder or hardware handwriting recognition unit? If someone makes these things in hardware, they will be fast and robust, and your problem is that much closer to solved. I suppose the cost may go up a bit...is that a big issue?

Finally, you are right in comparing Psion to VFP for one very good reason -- app development. I know Psion has good support, but WinCE and PalmOS developers are probably easier to find (maybe not in the UK though?)...

Judging from some of the threads I have read which involved you in the past, I have no idea that you will perform due diligence. You might just want to hit Psion's or Symbian's web site to see what they have to offer. There is one thing I hadn't mentioned -- Psion has an industrial family of hardware as well, meant to be used as true handhelds in a commercial (even manufacturing) environment. I know absolutely nothing about that side of their product line, but it might be worth a look. Perhaps they have testimonials and such from other commercial endeavors...

Good luck! I am sure your final solution will be far from "lousy"! *smile*

JoeK