TEST DRIVE

TIME's Technology editors get an early look at dozens of new high-tech gadgets each month. In this occasional column we'll offer short reviews and information about some of the best.

A HANDFUL OF BITS US Robotics' Pilot is the first fully practical palmtop organizer

Surely one of technology's most understandable seductions is miniaturization: microprocessors that fit on the head of a pin; TV sets that fit inside a pair of spectacles; even, goodness, computers that nestle in our open hands.

Well, not so fast. For most of this decade the shrinking game has petered out when it hit our palms. Trying to build a handtop computer like the Apple Newton or Sony's Magic Link was a sure route to digital Edseldom. It was just too hard to fit anything useful into a space the size of a deck of cards.

Now US Robotics, a company known for its compact and reliable modems, is bidding to change that with Pilot ($299 to $369; 800-881-7256), a palmtop that stuffs all the dream functions of a pocket computer--scheduling, to-do lists and an address book--into a box the size of a memo pad. The 5.7-oz. organizer is the first to take that essential step from nifty techno-gadget into the realm of real-world utility.

Pilot users can jot notes and addresses into the machine with a tiny penlike stylus that traces letters onto the touch-sensitive screen, like an Etch-A-Sketch. To help Pilot turn those squiggles into English (the Achilles' heel of the Newton, which was likely to translate GET LUNCH into EAT COUCH), users must write in Graffiti, a simplified written language that replaces each letter with a geometric pattern; an A looks like an upside down V, for instance. It took us 10 minutes to learn, and after a week we were up to about 80% of our normal writing speed.

Pilot also comes with a cable that connects it to a PC, letting users shuttle appointments, to-do lists and addresses back and forth from Pilot to programs like Lotus Organizer and Sidekick.

We turned a couple of Pilots over to a test panel of TIME readers. The machines got a double thumbs up. David Yarmosky, a TIME subscriber from Beltsville, Maryland, used the one-touch link between PC and Pilot to store a full day's notes and appointments in his pocket. Steve Korovich of Woodhaven, New York, was pleased with Pilot's simple iconic interface. "I liked the machine," Korovich said. "It ran quite smoothly."

By happenstance, we also recently spotted a man doubled over a Pilot on the New York City subway. He turned out to be Andrew Manitsky, a TIME reader, who was scrolling through page after page of sports scores downloaded from the Net. Manitsky, a lawyer who dumped his Sharp Wizard in favor of a Pilot, uses his new palmtop to keep track of schedules, phone numbers and the occasional great notion, as well as a link to E-mail and the Internet. But it's not all work: Manitsky also loads up the palmtop with gaming programs like Tetris and Space Invaders.

Our testers were concerned about the fragility of the Pilot, which comes sheathed only in a thin gray plastic case. The screen seems especially delicate; we cracked one by accidentally sitting on it (hardly a fair test). Fortunately, US Robotics offers quick repair service, and Pilot comes with a substantial warranty. US Robotics promises that the next version will be more durable--and possibly smaller still.

THE LATEST AND GREATEST Oil Change ensures your computer is running the newest software

These can be dizzying days for PC novices. By the time they've managed to install the latest software, it's already become yesterday's news, rendered obsolete by even sexier versions. Keeping up with that fast-food pace can become a full-time occupation. But Oil Change, a product that just hit stores from CyberMedia, a firm based in Santa Monica, California ($39.95; 800-721-7824), can take over the job itself. Oil Change works by connecting to a constantly maintained software database, automatically updating your PC with the latest versions and patches. The program indexes all the software you have on your hard disk and then scouts out the latest updates across the Internet; new versions of computer programs arrive over your modem and self-install. It doesn't get easier than that.