Kev

Hi all

Since the sad demise of my trusty Psion 3a I have to start looking for a replacement ... gee what a minefield I've spent the best part of the afternoon getting reviews and visiting web sites all over the planet trying to get a decent non-biased review .. the more I look the more I get .... well lost for a choice.

I first looked at the Palm505 with the new palm 4 o/s but then the PocketPC with the 2002 o/s looks good too with lots of memory and functionality .. I'm spoilt for choice What do you guys use ??? what views about your current choice do you have ... and should I go for a Palm or PocketPC or Psion again ??

Boomer - How do you rate your Palm505 ? Seen a few negative things about the display is it as bad as some folk make out ??

Kev

boomer

Kev,

i've had all three!

Forget Psion - they are getting out of the PDA market. However, if you seen any EPOC32 (Symbian) devices being made by other (phone) manufaturers then they may be worth a look.

Thus it is PalmOS or PocketPC.

I have a Palm M505 (8MB) and a Compaq iPAQ 3660 (64MB) in front of me at the mo!

The iPAQ has a faster CPU, but it does need it to run the Microsoft Bloatware It has a bigger screen with a higher resolution n'all, but this makes the device itself relatively large. Lots of potential expansion capability, but that ends up costing more than the device itself if you get carried away. It's battery life is crap (a few days at most, even if not used), especially if you are used to Palm or Psion standards. However, the think that pi55es me of most about the iPAQ is the OS, which attempts to "seamlessly" integrate with your PC (MACs anyone!) and continues to enforce the Microsoft view of the world on your life. You just can't get the ActiveSync icon off your toolbar - it's always running. Whenever your PC starts, the iPAQ wakes in it's cradle, and whenever you plug in the iPAQ it attempts a sync - regardless of whether you want it to. Oh, and the iPAQ seems to wake up of it's own accord at midnight - thoughts of 1950's horror movies where the on-off switch on household appliances fails to have any effect springs to mind

The M505 has less power, lower-res screen, simpler applications but is easier to understand, sync and use. It comfortably fits in your shirt pocket and lasts weeks on a charge. It is a true PDA, rather than an attempt to be all things to all men. If you need more functionality than you can get on a Palm (and there is loads of add-on stuff) then you may be better going for a small laptop, rather than a big PDA.

mb

Kev

Gee Martin What a reply .... ever writen for a magazine

I was impressed with the Palm we had a sneak at before Christmas .. but I've never seen the 505 screen. From what I've read people tend to favour the Palm for it's simplicity, I agree 100% with if you want an mp3 player you go get a dedicated player and if it's a multimedia device you need a laptop is your answer ...

The question has to be why do Palm's come with so little ram .. I assume the 3rd party apps are very small .. I'm concerned as I have been biten by the Psion 512k memory problem where you run out of memory to run apps on the device .. I know it's expandable and all that ...

Glad I've had a reply from someone who's had or got both .. so can make a genuine comparison ... any more takers ??

K

michael_clarkson

I'm in the fortunate position of evaluated these devices as part of my job.

I have the latest Palm models including the 505, the latest Handspring devices (should have Treo arriving soon), Pocket PC devices including the iPAQ and a whole selection of SmartPhones (Ericsson R380, Nokia 9210, Motorola Accompli 008)

Out of all these devices I use a Palm device daily, used to be my tried and trusty Palm Vx but I've just started using the M505 daily.

The Palm device beats the PocketPC devices hands down, for PDA usability, battery life, ease of use etc.

If your also considering a MP3 take a look at the Sony Clie 700, as Amazon have them in the sale for the same price as the M505 (£299). This is a very nice device with twice the screen resolution of the M505 and has a built in MP3 player, the only downside would be the requirment for a memory stick for expansion instead of MMC/SDRAM on the M505 and a lack of third party periphals at the moment for the Clie.

If you have any questions feel free to drop me an email

Michael

boomer

Kev,

...because you don't need lots of RAM (unless you are Microsoft that is)!!!!!

My Palm has 500 Address entries, 2300 Date Book entries (over three years worth) and currently has 6.5MB of Free Space in the 8MB model. This is despite having PalmReader (177KB), PhotoSuite (153KB), SheetToGo (326KB) and WordToGo (189KB) installed. Thus i have YEARS worth of room left.

Try one - you'll like it

mb

michael_clarkson

And if you have a new M500 or M505 EFIG model i.e a european version you can free up another 1.7Mb in flash, using JackFlash & JackSprat Software from Brayder Technologies.

I use it on my M505 and have had no problems, check out:

http://www.brayder.com/products/jackflash.html

Also if a you want a PalmOS Handspring do 16Mb models and the Sony Clie 700C also has 16Mb


[Edited by michael_clarkson - 1/5/2002 10:52:56 PM]

Kev

Thanks both ...

Looks like I'll be getting a Palm505 then I don't really need another mp3 player so the lure of another product from the god of Sony will be a long way away ... I had a good mooch around at Palm software last nite and I'm amazed at what's out there .. there is no shortage of apps to do everything.

I'm playing the waiting game now, my insurace company has all the stuff so I just have to wait for the 'ok' then I'll be off to get one .. errrrrr that's if I can wait for the settlement

Martin - Thanks for the reasurance on the RAM side, the apps I was looking at last nite are 'ickle in comparison to PocketPC stuff .. so there is no problem there .. and to be honest the price of the MMC & SD cards are not shocking so I can see no draw backs.

The question I have to ask both of you ... a lot of the reviews say the display is not very clear ... is this true ??

Kev

michael_clarkson

Ah The Palm M505 Screen question raises it's head :-)

My recomendation would be to pop into your local Dixons or equivalent and take a look for yourself.

The display is no way near the quality & clarity of the latest PocketPC devices, Sony Clie 700C or Nokia 9210, however it is usable and improves substantially with the backlight on, Palm seem to have accepted this fact by posting software on their site that remembers the backlight state, so if you prefer to use the backlight you don't have to continually switch it back on.

Michael

boomer

Kev,

the M505 display is slightly smaller, and a lower resolution than, say, the iPAQ - but perfectly adequate for PDA usage.

The backlight on the iPAQ is much brighter that the M505, but that is what eats batteries.

When not backlit (normal daytime use) i think that the M505 has less reflections on the screen, so is easier to read.

But as i said earlier, a laptop has an even bigger screen, with higher resolution, but won't fit in your pocket!

mb