The modified PDA is the staple of budget pocket personal computing. Those instruments are capable of handling simple computational tasks while providing the user with a easy to use graphical interface. Due to their antique nature most of them come air-gapped by default, making them ideal for simple control processes.

Modifiable from obscure interface connectors with ease, these instruments also expose their USB data and RS-485 serial connection, interfacing them is a matter of time before the connector is reverse-engineered.

Running a variation of Windows Mobile, compatibility with .NET compact framework programs is guaranteed, but development for programs is better done in a language that requires no interpreter.

The image shown on the right features a Pideon BIP 5000 Scanner-PDA with a modified connector adapter, exposing the pins for easier testing and access, a far cry from the long-obsolete proprietary connector. This device features alongside a barcode scanner a Bluetooth and WLAN module, not to mention the existence of a simple GPS module, as well as an IrDA link.

Because of the obsolete status of the instrument on the Market™, they are in great availability in alternative sourcing channels for sums of money so negligible that it rivals the price of a sandwich.

• Display: YEAH, 320×240 to 640×480
• Memory: between 32 and 512 megabytes on a sunny day
• WLAN: Sometimes yeah
• Bluetooth: Mostly yeah
  Additional card slots:
• Compact flash x1 (Possible CF to IDE adapter potential has to be tried)
• SD/SDIO (Maximum capacity of 4 GB NON-HC for WM5, higher capacities for newer versions)

These simple Pocket PCs can be used in a large variety of situations where an SBC with a simple network and serial connection would be needed. The already present user interface makes it an ideal choice for information displays on stationary and mobile equipment (such as thermostats, personal weather stations, handheld measurement instruments, etc).