Review on 📱 Xircom Rex-3 DS Organizer and Docking Station by John Koch

I bought my REX to solve the problem of carrying a standard sized PDA with me when I just need a phone book and my notes like a shopping list or a quick note. I would feel silly looking through my palm hero at the grocery store, so the size is a HUGE plus. Every existing PDA is bulky, and I think anyone who's ever had one will agree (even owners of ultra-slim 3Com models). I think it's worth every dollar I spent on my REX as it costs next to nothing and comes with a docking station which costs more than the entire set if sold separately (which makes no sense to me results). It has a leather case, which I found very attractive, more than enough storage for its features, and Xircom has pretty decent tech support (but no 1-800 number, so be prepared to pay long distance). BUT. I have a laptop and when I was about to buy it I thought "It's good that I leave my COMM port free and put it in my PCMCIA slot for syncing" but I could never do that, I cried contacted tech support and was told that the REX does not support multiple OEM PC card slots - I can tell you with certainty that the Texas Instruments 1131 bus controller is one of them. I wish I had a list of conflicting hardware before purchasing. So if you want to use a PC card slot to sync, check with your hardware manufacturer first, otherwise you'll have to use a base station (minus desk space and plus an extra cable) and you'll lose your connection. But overall I found it very useful, very cheap, and the size will make you forget all its shortcomings. Regarding the previous comment Ð It is possible to import contacts and calendars from Outlook to the REX desktop software, but when you make updates in your Outlook you have to import the new version again and again. I now have 2 organizers on my computer, which may not be very convenient, but I can live with it. I think it might bother you if you sync two different organizers to the same computer. If you just want to use REX - you can use their software - I found it nice and handy. A backlit display would be a huge plus, but then again, what do you want for the $. I'm sure a paper notebook with a leather cover would have cost more.