Back in college marketing, we learned that for any manufacturer, the most effective positioning of a product's brand name is when the name actually becomes used to identify the product. Some examples: the name Kleenex when referring to tissues, a Xerox instead of a photocopy, Jell-O instead of gelatin snacks, or a Band-Aide rather than an adhesive bandage. To many, the name ROLODEX can be substituted for any number of products involving a small box of alphabetically tabbed flash cards that generally resides on a desk, and is used for quickly looking up numbers/addresses etc. Primitive by today's standards of technology for certain, but effective nonetheless. Today that brand name tends to represent a much more varied market segment, including a series of electronic organizers in conjunction with the Franklin brand.

Physically, the unit was quite pleasing and familiarly laid out. At merely 3 x 4.5 inches and 1/2-inch thick, the RT 8214 is more streamlined and slimmer than most dedicated PDA's. Weighing in at 5 ounces with batteries, the hardware feels stable and well constructed, albeit feather-light in the palm. Franklin clearly put some R&D into the aesthetics of the hardware as well, with concaved sides that seem tailor fitted to the curvature of the hand. This, coupled with a convenient thumb-operated dial makes most navigation tasks a breeze.

The unit also comes equipped with five convenient hot-keys positioned across the lower front panel of the organizer, just below the screen. Made of a sturdy, soft-rubber compound, they're responsive to the fingers, but especially receptive to stabs with the stylus. From left to right they are: Contacts, Calendar, Calculator, Scheduler, and Memo.

A majority of data input is done via the virtual, touch-sensitive keyboard and included stylus, although the said hotkeys and thumb dial do serve specific purposes in terms of making one's way through the proprietary operating system's menus. In addition, the unit runs on 3 CR-2032 Lithium batteries which are included in the package. Although a rechargeable lithium ion would be convenient, I suppose this factors into the unit's ability to retail for so little (a mere $34.95 list price).

Internal memory is quite abundant for a digital organizer at 2MB, 1.9 of which are available to the user. Initial power-up requires a system reset to access the OS, which is broken down into three basic categories, System Setup, Basic Programs, and Extra Programs. These can be accessed any time with a tap of the stylus on the MENU icon on the lower right portion of the screen. System Setup allows for control over the system's settings including the key tone toggle, display contrast adjustments, time format, date format, and file password protection (known as File Lock).

Basic Programs refers to the pre-installed applets including Home Time, World Time, Daily alarm settings, PC synchronization, and contact file. Most interesting is the Extra Programs section, which include an Internet manager, an expense manager, a thorough carbohydrate listing, and a blank spot which allows an application from the enclosed mini-CD to be downloaded onto the PDA. It's unfortunate the system can only toggle one downloaded application program at a time, as these are some of the most useful programs available on any unit.