Get a cheap PDA with bluetooth capability and a bluetooth GPS and you can upgrade it in the future at a sensible cost.
Depending on your hardware and software, you may experience 'issues' in getting bluetooth to work properly
initially.
There are several PDA software solutions, eg.
http://www.anywheremap.com and
http://www.pocketfms.com
Many aviation systems use the USA NIMA database as their primary datasource, but NIMA is removing the public and free access to that data in Oct 06 so there could be issues with getting updates in the future.
I've seen posts that say the anywheremap databases and maps are not
that good or cheap for the Oz region.
PocketFMS is donationware and based in Europe.
PDAs have advantages, the multiple-use one as you stated, is a big plus.
They also have problems, the major ones being
size and processing
power.
Size, as in the screen area is a lot smaller than a 'normal' PC, therefore designing a good usable user-interface is tricky and fiddly.
Power, as in you can't do a lot of number crunching to get cute graphical effects or fast screen updates, because there are severe limits on memory
and battery capacity
and processor 'grunt'.
Having said
all that, I use a cheap Dell PDA with MS Mobile 2003, a spare battery, a cheap bluetooth GPS and run PocketFMS.
It certainly helps me with my situational awareness.
