When I found myself faced with needing a new Palm, the first thing I realized was that the world had moved on since I got my Palm III 3 years ago. Much like it’s older brother the computer, PDAs continue to advance in leaps and bounds, often becoming obsolete before the weekend’s sales have concluded.
Down To Brass Tacks
So the first choice I had to make was, did I want a PallmOS based PDA or Windows based PocketPC.
The gadget guy in me really wanted a PocketPC. Over the last 3 years they’ve come down in price (or maybe it’s that PalmOS based PDAs have increased in price!), so much so that the cost for a good PocketPC was the same if not less than the PalmOS based PDA duJour.
In the past, the big draw of a PocketPC was the ability to work with Microsoft Office applications on my handheld, as well as give me provide similar options (MP3s, MPEGs, etc.) that were available on my desktop. These days, all of that functionality is also available with a PalmOS based PDA, so if that was functionality that I was interested in, I didn't have to go the PocketPC route.
But the more I read the more complaints I encountered about the stability of of the pocket version(s) of Windows. More than one user has written that during periods of intense computing, reboots every 20 minutes or so were normal. And I had to be honest – was I really planning to use my handheld as an extension of my desktop?
So I pretty quickly came to the conclusion that a PalmOS based PDA was more than sufficient.
Clie or Palm
Having thought I’d made the hardest decision, I next turned my attention toward this generation’s version of the Cola Wars: Sony Clie vs. Palm.
Until recently, the Clie’s screen had a better resolution, came with more memory, was thinner and lighter, and had inexpensive storage expansion options.
However, the warranty was minimal (90 days) – apparently, this is a cause for concern since a disproportionate number of people talk about scratching and cracking the screen because of the lack of a hard case at $150 per repair.
Additionally, a lot of people say that the battery runs down constantly because the power button is easily accessible, often turning on inadvertently when you slip it into a pocket or a bag.
Next, there’s the issue of upgrade ability. As it stands now, the OS on a Clie is not self upgradeable. In an instance where Sony deems it appropriate (and I could only find evidence of this once) to upgrade the OS, you have to send the unit to Sony. However, in most cases, you stay with the OS loaded at the time of purchase.
Finally, let’s talk a little about options. The newest generation of Clies has a lot of bells and whistles – MP3 player, digital camera, headphone jack, the now famous “jog dial” – most of which I’m really not interested in. Add to that a very expensive expansion option (the Sony Memory Stick), and it looked like the Clie cost the same as the M515, only it wasn’t nearly as versatile, was structurally inferior, and came with a lot of options I wasn’t interested in.
Advantage: Palm.
Let Me Tell You About the m515
Don’t get me wrong – the one thing the m515 isn’t is revolutionary. It’s the catch up model; all the things that Palm should have been leading with instead of scrambling to catch up.
For starters, this is the first unit with a TFT color screen with brightness controls and support for more than 65,000 colors. In English, this means that the m515 has a color screen a lot like your laptop, so you can actually see it outside and in bright light without too much trouble.
It also has 16MB of onboard memory, an expansion slot, is thin and lightweight, and has 33Mhz processor – all the things that Sony offered more than a year ago.
But it’s got Palm’s name, support and reputation behind it, as well as the legion of developers creating applications for it that helped Palm pioneer the PDA market.
The m515 has a rechargeable battery that typically lets me go 3 – 4 weeks in between charges. I was leery at first, having had a REALLY bad MP3 player experience with a built in rechargeable battery, but the m515 has been wonderful.
So is this PDA Nirvana? Hardly. I’d love something higher than 160 x 160 resolution. I’d like a slightly larger writing area. Better out of the box integration with Microsoft Outlook would be great. And CompactFlash support would be phenomenal.
But all in all, just like the Palm III I had before, the m515 is an excellent PDA that I expect to get years of use from.
Palm organization and style at an affordable price Easy to learn and use--even if you've never used a handheld before Mini-USB connector allows easy t...More at Amazon Marketplace
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