There are now a number of small laptops available for under $1000 (AUS). There are also a number of normal sized laptops available at this price but they are not so portable. I think these smaller laptops could be a good alternative to a pda.
Here is a list of the websites of the currently available devices:
Acer Aspire One
ASUS eee PC
HP Mini 2133
MSI U100 Wind
All these laptops would be fine for internet, email and basic file editing and because they are small one could sit on a table or bench and give quick access to the internet. The thing they need is to have instant on like a pda though if you plug one into mains power you could leave it on standby.