Get Your Act Together With The GBA PDA
David A. Dodson

With the processing power of the GameBoy Advance, it sort of makes you wonder what kind of portable computer it would make if someone took the time to do some modification. Wonder no more. With Innovation Technologies' new GBA PDA, your GameBoy Advance can become a pocket computer in no time flat. The GBA PDA cartridge slips into the game port of you GBA, instantly giving it abilities such as a world clock, calendar, calculator, personal organizer, daily planer, address book, pocket notebook, text pad and more. It also boasts such features as customizable interface, password security protection, desktop music, and the ability to transfer files to another GBA.

Can it really do all that? So far, yes, it delivers on everything it promises. Set up couldn't be simpler, just pop the cartridge into the back of the GBA like any other game and turn it on. From there just use the icons on the desktop. Text, such as names, addresses, phone numbers and email addresses are entered via an on screen keyboard. With an internal memory (SRAM), your data is stored in the GBA PDA cartridge even when it is out of the GBA.

The only way that this would have been better is with some sort of interface (USB perhaps) between the GBA PDA and a PC. It would be so useful to be able to download and upload information to and from this device. That would really have made this a must have peripheral and more than justified its thirty dollar price tag in my book. Its absence is sorely felt when entering anything more than a few lines of text into that absurd little typing interface (a designated "shift" button would have been a nice touch also).

Overall, this is not a bad accessory to have, and is in fact quite handy if you already carry your GameBoy Advance with you all of the time anyway. The unit itself is about the size of an old GameBoy Color game cartridge, so it shouldn't take up much room with your other games. For about thirty bucks (the price of a game) you can get one just about anywhere games are sold, or online at ebgames.com.