One of the biggest problems with the Palm IIIc and the Handspring Prism is screen pixelation, otherwise known as the black grid. About half of the people who own these units don't even notice the black grid on the screen, and another 30 percent or so notice but don't care. The rest of us unfortunate souls find the screen unusable. I myself fall into this last category. I know they have the same screen, but I find the pixelation is worse on the Prism than the IIIc. The pixelation has an extreme effect on me - I can't use a IIIc for more than a minute or two without getting a severe headache. I can't even look at the Prism without turning away. I was hopeful new color models would bring a solution to this problem.
I got the chance to see the m505 last week when Palm presented at the New England Palm Users Group. The brave soul from Palm sucked in his breath and actually passed the device around the room. Amazingly enough he got it back - it didn't disappear into the sea of lusting technoids.
Basic Specs
The m505 comes with a 33MHz Dragonball Vz processor, OS4, 4MB of Flash, and 8MB of RAM. Palm uses 2.5MB of Flash for the OS and accompanying applications, so the m505 provides approximately 1.5MB of usable Flash. It measures 4.5 x 3.1 x 0.5 inches (11.4 x 7.9 x 1 cm) and weighs 4.9 ounces (128 grams) and comes with a Lithium Polymer rechargeable battery.
At release, the m505 will sell for $449 US, the now standard release price for Palm branded high end devices.
Look and Feel
The first thing I noticed was that it was based on the Palm V design. It looks like a silver V with a few minor differences: the top of the unit flares out a bit and the power button is a cloudy white. The hotsync port looks slightly different and there are two small holes about half way down the back of the unit on either side. There is also an expansion slot on the top of the device just to the left of the IR port (when the screen is facing you).
I didn't have a V in front of me for direct comparison, but the m505 felt slightly heavier. It was still very lightweight and should meet the size and weight expectations for people looking for a color Vx.
The Screen
I took a deep breath and turned on the device. I was met with a very dim screen that could pass for a Vx. I had to really look to notice that there was some color on the screen. Everything looked faded and washed out, and the screen was a dull green-gray. Unlike the IIIc and Prism, the m505 is not backlight. Instead it uses a reflective screen with two sidelights (one on each side). When you turn the device on, the side lights are off.
In this darkened mode, there was no noticeable pixelation. The screen looked like a Vx screen with some faded color. I turned on the sidelights and got a somewhat brightened screen. Unfortunately the lights are either on or off - there are no adjustments or middle ground. When turned on, the color was much more apparent. I'd say in with the lights on, the screen moved to a faded white, slightly dimmer than an iPaq in middle brightness mode (if any of you have iPaqs). Unfortunately with the added brightness came signs of the dreaded black grid. It was definitely less visible and much less bothersome than on the IIIc or Prism but definitely still there.
I only got the chance to look at the screen indoors. I am sure the screen would have been brighter outside. I also wonder if the black grid would have been more visible as well.
The Universal Connector
Palm created yet another different hotsync port for the m500 series that supports both USB and serial syncing. They have promised that this new universal connector will be used in all Palm branded devices for at least two years. Hopefully they will keep that promise.
In addition to the new port itself, the universal connector includes the two small holes on the back of the device. These holes will remain a set distance from the port and each other, allowing accessories that use the hotsync port to clip onto all devices with that port interchangeably. I have yet to see any devices that use the new port or these clips so I don't know how well this will work in practice.
The new cradle (which should also work with any device with the universal connector) looks very much like an easel. It doesn't have the stylus holder like the V cradles but it does have a light that indicates when a unit is charging. The new devices come with a USB cradle but serial cradles can still be purchased.
The Secure Digital Slot
It is becoming increasingly necessary for Palm devices to have some type of expansion slot. Before the release of the m500 series Palm itself was the only Palm OS device manufacturer without some type of expansion slot. Palm chose to include a Secure Digital slot that supports SD devices and MMC memory cards. The problem with this choice is that there are no SD devices in existence at the moment - either cards or other devices with SD slots. SD is effectively vaporware. I know that this will change, but I like having the ability to take a card out of my digital camera, move it to my MP3 player, then put it in my Palm. Right now, only the TRGPro with its Compact Flash slot and the CLIE with its MemoryStick slot allow for this flexibility. Of course, MemorySticks only work if you buy all Sony products.
MMC cards are currently limited to 64MB. Granted, this upper limit is expected to grow over the next year and more, but CF supports 1GB microdrives now. MMC cards are also more expensive than comperable CF cards. The only advantage to SD/MMC over CF is size - MMC cards are smaller.
Alarms
The m505 ships with OS4 and has some new features that take advantage of new functionality built into that OS. One of these new features is the Attention Manager which support for LED and vibrating alarms. I mentioned above that the power button is now a cloudy white color. The reason for this change is that there is now a small LED behind the button. If desired, you can set the m505 to flash the LED to indicate an alarm has gone off. There is also a vibration mode which makes the entire device vibrate. The vibration was fairly strong and easy to feel with the device in hand. I am not so sure that it would be noticeable through a case, but I suspect that it would be okay on a beltclip case that isn't too thick.
Accessories
Because the m500 series uses the new universal connector, none of the III or V accessories that use the hotsync port will work with it. I suspect a m500 Bridge will be developed in the future, but for now accessories will be limited at best. Also, because the m500 and m505 have a slight flare at the top, I suspect any tightly-fitting V cases will not fit. Some V cases that aren't designed to for skin-tight fit may still work with the m500 series.
Palm is working to develop m500 series accessories and there are some planned to coincide with the release of the device. A new Palm Portable Keyboard compatible with the universal connector is planned, as well as a few different cases and some basic MMC cards. Most of the MMC cards already listed on the Palm site are preloaded software cards. Various travel packs with city guides and a dictionary/thesaurus combination will sell for $40. A games pack will sell for $30. These seem outrageously expensive to me, although if the games pack includes registered versions of the games it actually represents a significant discount over the separate prices of the games.
Included Software
Like all m-series Palms, the m505 comes with both the Clock and the NotePad applications. The clock can be launched by pressing the up button when the device is off or by tapping the new clock icon in the upper left corner of the grafitti area.
The m505 also includes some nice bonus software: Documents to Go v3.0, MGI PhotoSuite, AvantGo, Pocket Mirror, Palm Reader (formerly Peanut Reader), powerOne calculator, and AOL for Palm OS. Documents to Go is a particularly nice addition allowing you to view and edit (in a limited way) Microsoft Word and Excel files on your Palm.
Conclusions
I have very mixed feelings about this device. Color is no longer revolutionary, nor is an expansion slot. I don't feel terribly excited by any of the features of the m505. I still prefer real batteries to a built-in rechargeable, but I recognize that I am in the minority on that. These new devices bring a new hotsync port and a new expansion type. I would have been much happier to see some attempt to settle on an industry standard for both of these (I know Palm claims that they will not change the universal connector for two years, but it still seems like every new device brings a new connector). By using new connectors and a new expansion format, Palm ensures that people will need to get an entirely new set of accessories for these new devices. I'm sure that makes the accessory manufacturer happy, but as a consumer I am less than thrilled. The builtin LED is cool, but hardly revolutionary - Tale has been making LED alarm modules for many years. The same thing holds for vibration.
I would reluctantly recommend the m505 to someone who feels that color is a necessity of life with the warning that they should look at the device before buying it, and preferably compare it side-by-side with the IIIc and the Prism. Some people who are not bothered by the pixelation may prefer the brightness of the IIIc and Prism. If you are one of the unfortunate people who are really bothered by the black grid, the m505 may still be too pixelated.
If you do not feel that you must have a color screen, I would not buy a m505, at least not until a critical mass of shipping SD devices has been reached. Even then, if you do not care about color, you are probably better off buying the m500 and saving $50. Instead, I would look at the TRGPro (see my review at http://quasar.epinions.com/cmd-review-701-391D6862-3A4F9BB1-prod5), or if small and rechargeable are important features to you, the Sony CLIE (see my review at http://quasar.epinions.com/content_12664802948).
Built-in 8 MB memory stores thousands of contacts, appointments, to-do items, and notes Displays over 65,000 colors--view photos, video clips, and mor...More at Amazon Marketplace
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