An adapter having an L-shaped housing is configured for removable attachment to a conventional PDA. The adapter is electrically coupled with the PDA and includes a laser or other light source configured to selectively emanate a light beam that can be modified into a digital signal. The digital signal can be received by a photo detector on a computer for facilitating a download of data from the PDA to the computer. The light beam from the laser can also be used as a presentation pointer. The adapter further includes a photo detector which is selectively positioned relative to the laser so that the light beam from the laser can be reflected off a bar code and received by the photo detector. The reflected signal is then converted to a digital signal which is then forwarded to the PDA for storage or access of other corresponding information.