As a top-of-the-line model, the LifeDrive has several wireless options built in: infrared, Bluetooth (1.2–oops, a fact check showed that it’s only 1.1), and Wi-Fi (802.11b).

For a long time now, Palm users on many a message board have been screaming for a Palm handheld with Wi-Fi. And really, they can’t be blamed, because top-of-the-line PDAs from most other manufacturers had it. They thought it would come in the Tungsten|T3, but it did not. Then the T5 came out, and it did not have Wi-Fi. The SD Wi-Fi card provided little consolation because of the price (P8,000) and the fact that it worked only with a few models.

Bluetooth has been present on many palmOne models from the Tungsten|T onwards, so that’s nothing new. It’s still a rather useful feature if you have other Bluetooth-enabled devices such as phones and laptops. You can leave your sync cable behind and HotSync via Bluetooth when on the road, and can connect to the internet with your phone in a pinch. Even IR has its uses in this day and age. I find that it’s the most convenient way of sending over a contact to a cell phone.

But Wi-Fi is easily the most anticipated feature of this handheld, because it multiplies the LifeDrive’s usability several times. Whereas large-screen models like the T3 and the T5 were useful for working on office documents—even large spreadsheets—they were limited to just working on documents. Wi-Fi adds a kind of immediacy to the work you do with the LifeDrive, like pulling down some data from the Web, reading and responding to an urgent email, sending out updated versions of Word or Excel files.

If need be, you can also connect to your office server via VPN, though I never had a chance to try it as our office network wasn’t set up for it. But I had not trouble accessing other sites, whether through open hotspots (at home) or public, commercial ones (I tried it out on Airborne Access, which gives every LifeDrive buyer a two-month free subscription).

Overall, I still think that a PDA screen makes for cramped browsing, and it’s not something that I would do for extended periods. But definitely, Wi-Fi makes the LifeDrive much more useful, and there are many occasions when I would rather much bring a LifeDrive and a wireless keyboard instead of my laptop and still get as much work done.

Conclusion: The LifeDrive has some rough edges, but that’s pretty much expected for a first product in a new class of handhelds. It’s the most full-featured handheld in the market right now, so the rather steep price is justified. I’d recommend it to early adopters who are willing to put up with a few shortcomings, and to those who’ve sat out the upgrade cycle for the last couple of years.