Handbook of Fx - Palm or Paper

This is like a personal preference question. What would you personally prefer? I had the paper version. During my ortho rotations, the two books that I read were Handbook of Fractures and Netter's Orthopaedic Atlas. I didn't even waste my time with something like Rockwood and Green, although I know I'll be reading something definitive like it as a resident. I personally would find it kinda annoying to have to read a book from a handheld. I highlighted a bunch of stuff in my Handbook of Fractures. However, if you're only gonna use it for a quick reference while in the hospital, then the handheld version would probably be more practical because it takes up less space in your white coat. I've never used the handheld version though, so I don't know how easy it is to use.

I have both the paper and Skyscape Palm OS version and have to agree with Dingleberry... while the PDA version has the entire text including pictures, it's difficult to skim / scroll through large amounts of text quickly so if you're going to spend dedicated time to do some reading as you would from a textbook, the hard copy is definitely better. However, if you're working in the ED and need a quick reference for fracture classification, etc., the PDA version is great. It's organized like all other skyscape products with an index and then each topic is broken down by section like it is in the book (mechanism of injury, classification, operative / non-operative Tx...) The picture quality is adequate if you have a 320x320 resolution PDA.

About how big is the book - does it fit into a coat pocket?

It does fit in your coat pocket.