Newton, Mass —"Better, faster, cheaper" is the mantra of today's highly competitive manufacturing/ sales conglomerates, especially in the microcomputer business. First, personal computers got smaller, lighter and more powerful with each generation. Then, laptops took over the "small but powerful" title for several years. More recently, personal digital assistants, computers for the palm of your hand, increased in power and became capable of handling all your mobile computing needs.

Now, the PDA is an all-in-one tool including phone, computer, message center, business organizer and Web browser — all wireless. Companies like Palm, Inc. and Handspring have developed machines not much bigger than a deck of cards.

Palm's i705 weighs 5.9 ounces and comes with rechargeable batteries. Besides its organizing capabilities, the Palm operating system allows creating and editing Microsoft Word® and Excel® documents. The company's wireless service, Palm.Net, offers always-on connections.

Handspring's Treo Communicator 180 came out in late winter. It has a flip-up cover that contains its earpiece, looking much like the communicator from the Star Trek television series.

Treo weighs 5.2 ounces, has rechargeable batteries and a stylus-activated touchscreen. It allows access to Microsoft Outlook^® e-mail files. Treo carries the Blazer™ wireless Web browser, so you can view nearly any Web site rather than being restricted to "mobile access" sites.

Both miniature computers can be synchronized through your PC. Treo offers cell phone activation through a variety of vendors. They use the PalmOS^® operating system, which has thousands of available applications for PDAs. Both companies offer optional keyboards for easier typing.

As they get lighter and faster, it's likely the multi-function PDA will soon replace your laptop, cell phone and address book. Their tiny size gives these mighty mites the advantage over every other device, saving precious space whether checking for answers via e-mail in a customer's plant or traveling.