Rhetorical Functions in Academic Speaking: Comparison and contrast

Exercise 2

Students at university need to organise their lives, control their finances, keep records of phone numbers, remember assignment and exam dates etc. Some students use paper diaries and notes for this, but the use of electronic Personal Data Assistants is becoming more popular.

The table below compares 19 PDAs.

Using the information given in the table, recommend one of the PDAs for general student use. You will need to describe what a student has to do, describe some of the PDAs, compare and contrast the ones you have chosen, look at advantages and disadvantages and finally recommend one.

PDA	Price	Operating System	Memory	Size	Weight	Power	Screen Size
Casio Cassiopeia E-125	£499	Microsoft Pocket PC	32MB	131 x 84 x 20mm	250g	Rechargeable Lithium-Ion	240 x 320 pixels
Casio Cassiopeia EM-500	£399	Microsoft Pocket PC	16MB	128 x 82 x 19mm	218g	Rechargeable Lithium-Ion	240 x 320 pixels
Compaq iPaq H3630	£449	Microsoft Pocket PC	32MB	130 x 83 x 16mm	179g	Rechargeable Lith-Polymer	240 x 320 pixels
Compaq iPaq H3130	£338	Microsoft Pocket PC	16MB	130 x 83 x 16mm	163g	Rechargeable Lith-Polymer	240 x 320 pixels
HandEra 330	£335	Palm OS	8MB	81 x 121 x 17mm	167g	4 x AA batteries	240 x 320 pixels
Handspring Visor Deluxe	£144	Palm OS	8MB	130 x 83 x 16mm	163g	2 x AAA batteries	240 x 320 pixels
Hanspring Visor Edge	£269	Palm OS	8MB	119 x 79 x 11mm	136g	Rechargeable Lithium-Ion	160 x 160 pixels
Handspring Visor Prism	£349	Palm OS	8MB	120 x 75 x 21mm	194g	Rechargeable Lithium-Ion	160 x 160 pixels
Handspring Visor Platinum	£189	Palm OS	8MB	122 x 76 x 18mm	153g	2 x AAA batteries	160 x 160 pixels
HP Jornada 548	£389	Microsoft Pocket PC	32MB	118 x 79 x 18mm	260g	Rechargeable Lithium-Ion	240 x 360 pixel
HP Jornada 710	£599	Windows for Handheld PC 2000	32MB	189 x 95 x 34mm	510g	Rechargeable Lithium-Ion	640 x 260 pixels
HP Jornada 720	£665	Windows for Handheld PC 2000	32MB	189 x 95 x 34mm	510g	Rechargeable Lithium-Ion	640 x 260 pixels
Palm m05	£169	Palm OS	8MB	79 x 118 x 18mm	125g	2 x AAA batteries	160 x 160 pixels
Palm m500	£329	Palm OS	8MB	114 x 79 x 10mm	113g	Rechargeable Lithium-Ion	160 x 160 pixels
Palm m505	£399	Palm OS	8MB	114 x 79 x 10mm	139g	Rechargeable Lithium-Ion	240 x 320 pixels
Psion Revo Plus	£300	EPOC 5	16MB	79 x 157 x 17mm	200g	Rechargeable N1MH	480 x 160 pixels
Psion 5MX	£400	EPOC 5	16MB	90 x 170 x 23mm	320g	2 x AA batteries	640 x 240 pixels
Sharp ZQ-770PC	£100	Proprietary	3MB	82 x 160 x 20mm	220g	2 x AA batteries	239 x 80 pixels
Sony Clié (PEG-S300)	£199	Microsoft Pocket PC	8MB	71 x 115 x 15mm	121g	Rechargeable Lithium-Ion	160 x 160 pixels

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