Palm LifeDrive Mobile Manager
by Palm
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Palm LifeDrive Mobile Manager
Customer Review: like it, wouldn't give it up
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought my lifedrive back in June just prior to going on a business trip. The thought of lugging around a laptop through airports was not attractive. Before I left, I ripped two DvD's to avi files after reading the the LD would play video. I hooked it up to my mac and began dropping files on the send to handheld icon. A couple hundred family and vacation photos, about a gig of mp3s, 2 movies, a couple spreadsheets, a half a dozen docs. I set up my work ldap mail and my home wireless network and experimented with browsing. Everything worked well, movies were vieweable but not shareable, After one movie on the plane I noticed the battery gauge dropping and shifted to mp3 listening, playing video poker or solitaire for the rest of the flight. These seemed to use less battery power and when I landed I still had 25% battery left. For the rest of the trip I continued to check email through the wireless in the hotel, surf the net checking news sites, yahoo, and doing a few searches on google, I found it very handy when traveling and performed for the most part as advertised.
It did lockup a couple times but I attributed that to my sloppy pointing. A simple push of the reset rebooted it and it gave me a error message detailing what happened.
Also forget surfing and listening to music at the same time. The starts and stops are way to irritating.
Customer Review: space and function!
Summary: 5 Stars
OK, first, I do not want all my data in my cell phone since my cell phone goes places which are dangerous and my PDA does not (mountain hiking, kayaking, etc.) Also, I want my cell phone to remain small and light. I chose the LifeDrive for its storage and functions of external documents, email, WIFI - all the "mini computer" functions I like to have without carrying a laptop. And I love my LifeDrive. It has functioned great, handles document transfers great, music, internet, you name it. Yes, I've had a Palm PDA since 1997 and hung on it for dear life all these years but I also did my homework of reviewing all the new products (PDAs and cell phones), and talking to users of those products, from doctors, casual users, to just plain geek heads. The LifeDrive came out on top in all those conversations and not just for the 4G size. And I've been happy with mine, it has done all it said it would. I've been thrilled to download GEO CACHING documents and have a larger screen to view them as i bush-whack through the woods, "big screen" photographs to show friends from my trips, my work and personal WORD and EXCEL documents to work on where ever I want to be, not to mention the eReader books! This PDA has been a wonderful addition to my electronic arsenal and I now can not imagine making a move without it by me (except on those mountain tops....)Customer Review: One of the worst products ever manufactured...STAY AWAY!
Summary: 1 Stars
I had high hopes for the Lifedrive. I was excited by the specifications for the device (its relatively large storage capacity and its large display); However, I encountered substantial problems within weeks of my purchase:
a) The initial version of the Lifedrive's operating system was VERY unstable (for example, the screen would frequently go blank/"white" for no apparent reason when turned on and would require a system reset to enable to system to "boot")
b) The system resets required to 'un-freeze' the device occasionally wiped-out all of the software I installed on the device requiring me to reinstall everything and re-enter all of the product keys
c) After several months of frequent system freezes/system crashes the Lifedrive's mini hard drive completely failed: when the device was turned on it made clicking noises but would not boot (in case you're wondering, the device was handled carefully and had a nice Rhino metal case with foam padding - perhaps a strong breeze damaged the device)
Palm's technical support was poor. I spent hours on the phone applying suggested 'fixes.' The replacement Lifedrive shipped to me also failed at which point I gave up on the device.
The Lifedrive is a horrible product. Save your money and your time by avoiding this device.
Customer Review: Waiting for the LD2...
Summary: 2 Stars
I really, REALLY, wanted to like and keep this PDA.
+ great screen
+ bluetooth
+ lots of storage space
+ tablet-like form factor
+ leather case
+ voice recorder
+ headphone jack (a bit loose though)
+ palm OS with encryption for personal data
+/- included software are usable "lite" versions of originals
+/- there is no cradle
+/- "lag time" issue when accessing HD
- unit randomly resets itself
- wi-fi and blazer set unit into a loop
- alarm hangs sometimes
- sometimes unit wont turn on without soft reset
- sometimes unit wont turn off without soft reset
- PalmOne customer support needs to be improved
I'm sure that there will be patches coming up and that most of the issues are software related. But for $499, why should the customer be the BETA tester? I like the LifeDrive, but feel that until the bugs are worked, it might be better to wait for an update or new model. (Remember the T, T2, and T3?)
UPDATE: I returned the unit and bought a TX instead. With a cheap 4GB sd card, the TX is everything the LD should have been (minus the voice recorder). With the money I saved, I was able to buy a nice metal case and still have change left over.
Customer Review: 4GB insufficient hard drive, poor customer svc, short battery life
Summary: 1 Stars
... I loved the idea of the LifeDrive. But I also have a cell phone, Palm Z22, and an iPod - and I have to tell you honestly the LifeDrive is the worst of the four products. I wanted something that would do it all except replace my cell phone (which I adore). I needed something I could have my entire calendar & address book on, store over 500 photos, keep track of notes & tasks, and try Wi-Fi. So about 7 months ago I bought the LifeDrive. The dislikes far outweigh the likes.
Dislikes:
-The iPod's memory for photos and music makes the LifeDrive's 4GB a joke.
I can't be carrying memory sticks around everywhere either.
-Overpriced at $399 compared to getting 80GB memory on my iPod for $330 which has a calendar, but can't do wi-fi or Palm-organizing.
-Slow as molasses Wi-fi
-Poor battery life
-Freezes for no reason
-Lousy disgraceful customer service, no email contacts from Palm, no one to answer questions. Very disappointed there.
Likes:
-As always, Palm has great calendaring. You can't beat their calendaring system.
-Love the voice recorder
-Wi-fi is wonderful to at least have even if it is slow. I can get into email during meetings and send emails with documents to business associates.