While portable Web access may be convenient and useful at times, most devices that link you to the Web wirelessly are still clunky and limited in their features.
A page that would take seven seconds to download with a 56-kilobyte modem can take anywhere from 27 to 41 seconds to receive on a wireless device. Thus, wireless services try to get the most bang for the data buck by downloading stripped-down Web pages with few or no graphics.
There is a cachet to being hooked to the wireless Web, of course. And with the right device in hand, it can be downright fun, if not terrifically productive.
The major wireless Internet services' mobile phones — AT&T's PocketNet and Sprint — transmit snippets of data, such as sports scores, stock quotes, news headlines, traffic and weather. Snippet service costs $10 a month in addition to your basic phone fee.
But you don't realize how small a cell-phone screen is until you try scrolling through a seven-line headline on a four-line screen. Typing is even worse, with anywhere from two to five keystrokes needed for a single character.
Perhaps the best of the current crop of smart phones is the Sprint NP1000, made by NeoPoint. At $129, it's on par with other high-end Web-enabled phones. It has a generous 11-line screen that's actually readable, a keypad with a directional button, and a slim profile.
When it comes to the other big wireless promise, e-mail, cell phones don't cut it yet. Again, the screen and the typing make it tough, and sending and receiving eat into your service-plan minutes.
Because accessing Web-based information through a cell phone isn't yet efficient, the most promising wireless Web services use Palm's popular personal organizers.
The Palm VIIx (deals can be had for less than $400) is an all-in-one wireless organizer. It offers greatly increased memory from the Palm VII, allows access to nearly any e-mail system and boasts a large network of Web sites.