We are spoiled by technology and wireless everything, but with all that is available, nothing could surpass my chunky leather day planner at keeping me organized. I could whip it out during a meeting, flip open the date and know within seconds my availability. New contact information was scribbled in on the fly. I saw no reason to trade in my trusty black book for high-end technology. That is until I found the Palm Z22.

The Palm people must have followed me for a day when designing the Z22. It does everything busy people need without all the high-tech gadgetry to run up the price and complication factor. Let's start with the basics: Calendar, Contacts, and Tasks. A hot button on the front opens the Calendar and Contacts functions. Adding new entries is quick and easy using the stylus by either tapping at a virtual QWERTY keyboard or printing directly onto the screen. The Graffiti software recognizes printed letters and numbers as you write them on the screen, translating your handwriting into text. The memo pad allows a quick virtual note to be jotted onto the screen, saving the image just as you wrote it.

Appointments can be personalized and color-coded if you track appointments for family and business. The Tasks function lets you create a to-do list, prioritize and check-off what you've accomplished. To give you options, information can be typed in on your computer then synchronized to the Palm using the HotSync function. A regular HotSync means always having a back-up in case of data loss, which did happen to me one time. I had to reset my Palm which temporarily lost all my data. A quick HotSync and all my data were restored.

With 32 MB of memory the PDA can hold about 6,000 addresses, 10 years' worth of calendar appointments, and plenty of photos with room left over. Additional programs are available including an expense-tracking tool, shopping list, a world clock, and an e-reader. With added software, your Palm can be anything from a language translator to giving you the recipe for your favorite cocktail. The Z22 also syncs with Microsoft Outlook on your computer for e-mail, so even though you don't have instant e-mail access like your Blackberry toting buddies, you can manage e-mail until the next time you HotSync.

It is one of the smallest and lightest on the market at 2.7 by 4.0 by 0.6 inches; 3.4 ounces. The no-frills styling gives two shortcut keys for calendar and contacts and a 4-way navigation button with a center Select key. The

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