While shopping for a PDA a year ago, it came to my notice that while Palm OS machines simply exuded coolness, their Pocket PC brethren were significantly lacking in sex appeal. I became the proud owner of an XDA II Pocket PC Phone (branded T-Mobile MDA II, Qtek 2020 or i-mate Phone Edition elsewhere) because it seemed the epitome of PDA geekiness without actually looking the part.

Late last year, its Taiwanese manufacturer, HTC, launched two more machines running on the Pocket PC Phone Edition OS, one of which is the O2 XDA II mini. For calls on the XDA II, I,Aeod chosen to do without a handsfree headset (too ugly) and the Bluetooth alternative (too fiddly), but I appreciate that not everyone wants to hold a brick to their ear. The XDA II mini (i-mate JAM, T-Mobile MDA Compact, Qtek 100), measuring only 58 x 108 x 18.1mm, is less likely to draw amused looks. Possibly the perfect meld of form and function for fans of Pocket PCs, it manages to fit much better into tiny handbags, and still outdo the XDA II slightly in features. Personally, I couldn,Aeot begin to imagine how I would surf the net with it, even with the NetFront browser, but there,Aeos certainly been plenty of interest among female friends.

I,Aeod love to say that I,Aeod been able to play with one of these babies before I wrote this, but they,Aeore already on backorder in both Singapore and Hong Kong. In the US, it,Aeos most commonly available as the i-mate JAM, but actual availability appears limited.

What I really want to get my hot little hands on is its geekier big brother, the XDA IIs/III (Qtek 9090, MDA III, i-mate PDA2K), with its cool slide-out QWERTY keyboard (I,Aeove always wanted one). What to do with the 3G bandwagon, though?