PalmOne m505 Color Handheld
by Palm
|
Our Price: $444.57 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $29.00 (click here) Category: CE See more product details |
|---|
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of PalmOne m505 Color Handheld
Customer Review: Palm m505 has functional advantage over prettier PDAs
Summary: 4 Stars
I am writing this in hopes that it will appear where others can read it but-where are the other customer reviews? I didn't see any for the m505 (even though there are plenty for the Ipaq 3765) and hope Palm m505 customer reviews come back soon!-The m505 is lighter than the Ipaq 3765 or recent Journadas.
-The Palm OS is user-friendly so you don't have to read instructions to navigate within it. The 3765 has very meager documentation and it is NOT obvious how to open a new file in Pocket Word,or do anything on the aesthetically beautiful, but unhelpful Ipaq. For user-unhelpfulness the Ipaq screen rates right up there with the C-prompt on the old DOS machines. If you don't know what you want and how to get there, forget it.
-If you need technical support to understand the Ipaq, forget it. With Palm, you can just go to palmsupport.com and you can either e-mail them and get a detailed reply in 48 hours or you can go on-line and chat with a reasonably helpful "expert". I never could find how to get technical support for the Ipaq. Try going to Compaq's or Microsoft's website and see if you can find support for the Ipaq and it's Microsoft operating sytem.
-There is no screen cover for the Ipaq, just a limp leatherette case to slide it into. The m505 has a firm leather-like "book cover", that easily flips open and which protects the screen.
Yes the Ipaq display is brilliant and the m505's is dull, but you can see it easily enough, even though it is weak in the aesthetics department. However, the Ipaq tells you to put it on the charger every time you work at your desktop, in order to get 10-14 hours of battery life . Palm's battery charges very quickly. The m505 gives you an automatic readout of battery life remaining that you don't have to be a rocket scientist to find or read. You get 3 weeks use (based on 40 minutes per day of use) with the Palm.
-The two (2) Targus keyboards I tried out with the Compaq did not fold flat, so with each keystroke, there was a little clunk, as the keyboard hit the table. The Palm keyboard laid flat and was pleasant, quiet and non-distracting to type on.
-The little on-screen keyboard of the Palm is a bit insensitive sometimes, so you really have to give each letter a solid tap or it might not register on-screen. The Ipaq's keyboard is very responsive to the stylus and is a joy to type on. However, I've heard the price one pays for this increased sensitivity is that the screen is also more vulnerable to being scratched. The Ipaq screen is also not covered by the 1 year guarantee and is very expensive to replace.
So, in sum, the m505 is a little ugly-looking compared to the Ipaq but is durable, lightweight, well-constructed, does the job right, recharges quickly, and is intuitively user-friendly, with good technical support. The m505 lets me focus on getting my work done, rather than using up the extravagant amounts of time needed to figure out the correct care and feeding required by the more elegantly beautiful Ipaq.
Customer Review: PALM vs. CE from a loyal Palm customer
Summary: 2 Stars
OK..been a Palm customer for a few years here. As of late, been holding onto my loyalty to palm for a few reasons: I hate Microsoft; palm fits in my pocket, availability of accessories,and now....color and expansion memory *sigh*. If you are one currently debating CE vs. a Palm device, read on.I recently made the switch to the new dimension in "palm" computing...color...the m505, and I am totally disappointed. I feel misled by PALM for trying to debunk the negitives without addressing the issues for customers. I work in the tech industry in Silicon Valley and know a few people inside at Palm....there is alot of damage control going there. They have lost me as a customer and many others i know. The facts are below.
FIRST, accessories are not readily available for the PALM. Many are backordered...the basics. Forget 3rd party hardware, it isnt even shipping yet. So, all those that went with the Vx and are considering sticking with the Palm for the same benefits, very few of them still exists.
Another dissapearing benefit of being a palm customer that is disapearing is functionality. I mean, unless this is the first bit of research that you have done, you full well know that all the PDA's got palm beat. In fact, I wonder what ol' Karl (CEO) is doing, because his products are down right archaic all the sudden. All the things that iPAQ, Journada can do, and all palm does is the basics....no sound for MP3, or synching documents other than in the format that PALM wants them in. Let's talk about the color. It (stinks). Really, it is the truth. Where did they come up with the claim that it has 65,000 colors? I had to call palm as soon as i got mine because i could only see 4 colors..? Also, it is very dim even with the backlight on. Not in brightness, but in richness in color. Very big disapoinment.
As for the Microsoft thing..yes, i still hate MS. Although, when you think about it, running a MS device if you are using MS on your desktop may integrate better. I have heard that the CE platform has come a long way in ironing out there bugs...much like theyt do with all teir other software (v1 v1.1 v1.2, etc....haha) But now is is tolerable, and with all the back up cards now, who cares, you just restore data if there is a crash. Get a good warrenty and 24 hrs later you are up and runnnig again. I recently had my palm crash 3 times which made me rethink my positioning. Palm sent me 3 new units, could not explain how each one was crashing, but acknoledged that it was not my fault....also had the gaul to charge me for cross shipping each time...
the only real advantage is the size. If you have alot of money to blow, size matters, and all you need is a contact sort of datebook, then this one is for you. However, if you consider this an investment and are looking to really USE it for things to be efficient and often.....go straight to the iPAQ. You wont be disappointed.
Any one wants to buy a 505 with all the goodies, cheap.....got one available....(....)
Customer Review: Good Choice For Business
Summary: 5 Stars
After trying several early Windows CE HPCs as organizers, I tried a Palm Vx. Everything about the machine satisfied me, particularly the rapid access to my most important information and the tiny form factor. The only complaint I had --- the lack of a keyboard for touch typing --- was neatly addressed with the addition of the Palm Portable keyboard. I replaced the built-in ToDo list with LifeBalance, and WordSmith software rounded the unit out with excellent MS Word compatible word processing. This was an excellent system; ironically, even for word processing it easily beat out an HPC with Pocket Word.The m505 took a device which had won me over at all levels and added an SD/MMC expansion slot, a faster processor, USB synchronization and a color display.
A single 32Meg SanDisk MMC card, which I chose because it was cheaper than its SD counterpart, not only holds the dozen or so eBooks I've purchased, but also serves as a complete memory backup with BackupBuddyVFS. Each night while I sleep BackupBuddyVFS activates and backs the entire device up to the MMC card.
The faster processor and the color display were bonuses to me. Despite the attention given to the display, the expansion capability and the USB HotSync (which *flies* with Windows 2000) are the features that compelled me to upgrade. I've seen complaints that the display wasn't as bright as this-or-that handheld, but frankly I don't see the problem. The display has better contrast than the Vx it replaced and is far easier on the eyes when backlit at night (and the Grafitti area lights up as well!). Though the backlight is required at times the Vx didn't need it, the display remains readable in any lighting conditions. A color display that doesn't jeopardize the battery life, and costs only $50 more than the monochrome m500... what's not to love?
If bright, saturated colors are the main reason you're buying a handheld, then perhaps Sony's PEG-710C is worth looking at. I haven't seen one of these myself, but I've heard it has a very nice display, with 320x320 resolution as compared to the m505's 160x160. While a bit thicker than the m505, it offers many of the same features and runs Palm software. It also adds MP3 playback capability.
Why not choose a Pocket PC? Shorter battery life, awkward user interface, less stable operating system that needs frequent resets, won't run the huge variety of Palm software available, bigger and heavier... suffice to say I have my reasons. Pocket PCs do offer better multimedia, but how many people really find watching a Star Wars video clip useful in daily business? These units have their uses, they just don't happen to suit my needs.
The Vx was an excellent PDA. Incredibly, the m505 is even better.
Customer Review: Solves the screen problem
Summary: 5 Stars
With the release of the model 515 Palm solves the problem of the poor brightness of the 505. I compared the two side by side, and the 515 is noticeably brighter than the 505. I also compared it to the Sony Peg615CS, and at maximum brightness they look exactly the same. I also compared both of them to my Palm IIIC, but although the 515 is a big improvement over the 505, and the Sony also is equally good, the IIIC is still the clear winner in the brighness contest. However, the Sony and the Palm have 64K colors, and the IIIC only has 256.However, both the Palm and the Sony have partially back-reflective screens, which allows them to be seen outside, where the IIIC would wash out. This is why the screens have a slightly milky appearance, which, while not annoying, is noticeable.
I've also compared the IIIC to the Handspring Prizm, and the Prizm looks to be as bright as the IIIC.
I've been using PDAs for several years now, having had a Vx, IIIC, Handspring Visor, and a Compaq iPAQ, so for the rest of my review I thought I'd make a few comments, not necessarily aimed at any particular Palm model (or clone) so much as why you should get one, and why any Palm is better than none at all.
Since getting my Palm, I've never been so organized. It's not only the convenience of having everything in one place--that's a great advantage, to be sure, but that's no different from a binder or notebook-type organizer.
Where the Palm devices really make a difference is in the search capability. I used to own a big, fat Franklin binder-type organizer, and everything was in there, all right--the problem was finding it. If I'd made a note on a meeting a month ago that I needed to find, well, good luck finding it.
But with the Palm, it's a piece of cake. You just do a search on a couple of keywords and you can always pull it up. And there are drop-in search utilities, such as FindHack, which I purchased for a few dollars, that are even more powerful, and add such capabilities as wildcard searches. The extra power and convenience this adds over the traditional organizer can't be overestimated.
Also, once I had all the info in my Palm, my brain seemed to rest easier too, since my aging memory didn't have to track all of this stuff anymore.
Next to my car, perhaps, my Palm is the most useful device I have ever owned. Try one and you'll see they aren't just toys, they are great timesavers and powerful tools that will make it so much easier to track all those details, big and little, of your personal and work life. Next to the invention of paper and pencil, the Palm platform and it's clones are the most powerful organizational tool probably ever invented.
Customer Review: Its true......
Summary: 4 Stars
Yes people, its true about the screen. Ive been loyal to Palm since the first PDA they introduced when it was 3Com, have owned 4 Palms, .... and was very excited to hear about the color m505. I bought it sight unseen over the net, and received it a couple of days ago. But I will NOT return it for many reasons...even though the display is ridiculously dim looking in mixed office lighting (flourescent lighting with sunlight through the windows ) and the color is sometimes there, and sometimes not...( depending on the ambient lighting ) The first thing you must know is the Palm m505 publicity photo is pure propaganda, the screen in no way resembles it. The screen is not able to produce a white background even while backlit under ideal circumstances. You will be using the backlit feature alot of the time while indoors, but read on to the pros of this unit.
Why am I rating the m505 with 4 stars then?
The most obvious aspect to this Palm is durablity in the field, and battery life. The screen problems everyone touts as the main reason to NOT buy is actually one of the reasons Im keeping it. After all, what good is a PDA if theres no electricity to power it? Palm knows this and gave us a color screen that can last up to two weeks of use before recharge. The battery life to me is more important than an insanely beautiful screen at this point of time with the technology available to Palm. AND, they have given us a REFLECTIVE screen, it actually is in full color and VERY bright in the sunlight or outdoors.
With the Palm 4.0 OS, everything syncs perfect and FAST via the native USB cable, although not much new stuff in the OS. The software included is very valuable... deduct that off the sales price The palm cradle feels solid (although it has a plastic case).
The m505 is a solid unit, buttons and case are incredible, feel good and the unit is FAST, moving through the interface is FAST.
The bottom line here is that the color of this unit is a frill, not a great feature for anyone who is really interested in a super display. I personally dont have any problems reading the display... yes it appears washed out, but still its more fun to look at than a monochrome display... the unit functions perfectly, has a vibrator alarm, as well as better and louder sounds....the unit is trick but the display is not perfect. Just remember when deciding about buying it whether battery life is important, and that the reflective display is a different type of technology that views indoors differently.