Also, programs such as PortfolioTrak and InvenTrak are not for professional traders with huge portfolios or business owners with thousands of inventory items. These programs are geared more towards everyday users who want a quick and easy way to track their IRA stocks or media collection, for example.

I purchased Power Utilities for the loan calculator and the expense-tracking feature of ConsulTrak. As a consultant, ConsulTrak helps me sort my work-related expenses by whether or not reimbursements have been billed and/or paid. But I have also used the metric converter frequently when traveling, as well as the password vault to store information about all my online accounts with their corresponding passwords.

Overall, Power Utilities offers you a wide variety of useful tools for your handheld. Unlike similar "collection" programs currently available, there's no shareware or useless freeware fluff in Power Utilities. While not the most comprehensive and powerful programs in and of themselves, they're easy to use and the collection is a well-rounded introduction to the possibilities of the Palm OS.

I bought Power Utilities for $19.99 at Office Depot, but according to the publisher, it's also available from http://www.handango.com, http://www.amazon.com, and from the publisher's Web site at http://www.onhandsoftware.com. It works with all Palm OS handhelds using Palm OS 3.0 or higher.

Adriana Rausch is a free-lance writer and editor/agent. She can be reached at arausch00@yahoo.com.