...use excell and word, track appointments.? I don't want a bunch of expensive extra's but the ability to read and modify excell and word documents is very important as I want to use it to collect research data.Thank you all for your answers - it helps narrow down the field, now I can do more indepth research on each one. Since I already have a cell phone I may go with the Dell Axim, but I'll have to see what kinds of plans I can get.

DEFINITELY the Palm Treo 700- It's windows based and just came out. It's expensive, and I know you said you don't want a lot of extras, but for e-mail and excel it's the best. Take a look at it on these sites, I think you'll be impressed.

you can chose Dell Axim X51v PDA just with 350$ and following specifications:64 MB Installed Memory - 256 MB Installed ROM - 624 MHz Processor Speed - 480 x 640 Resolution - Color Display - Slot Types: CompactFlash Card, SD Memory Card - Battery Type: Lithium ion

i think nokia 9300 is the best option. it costs around $300 with a cingular plan. its a bit bulky but has a nice big screen display which i think is perfect for word and excel documents.

onlinestorez.cingular.com