Palm PDA Roundup

Melvin writes "Hardware Extreme has a roundup featuring some of the top PalmOS based PDAs in the market (and a few coming out in the 2nd and 3rd Quarter). Being a geek's gadget, :) I would recommend you guys to check out this roundup if you are planning to get a new Palm PDA."

Comments

Review? Round-up? Where?

[tghost]

Apparently, nowadays printing the back of the box where the specs are gleefully bullet pointed counts as a review.

Palm is a sinking ship

[evil-empir3]

Honestly, I don't understand that Palm is still newsworthy. They created some innovative PDAs, but they are about to be gobbled up by all of the PocketPC vendors. The inertia is going to be too much to overcome, especially with Dell now offering a very affordable ($199) PDA that runs circles around anything similarly priced by Palm.

Re:Palm is a sinking ship

[waytoomuchcoffee]

I own both a Handera (Palm OS) and an IPAQ 1910. I do not have to reset the Ipaq 5x a day. (I did have to reset the Handera, however, every week or so, but that was OS4).

My company made a business decision on what to upgrade to. We really wanted to keep with the Palm OS, but there was no lightweight, OS 5, full screen versions out there. The Clie's are NOT made for business and are bricks, while the Palm T|T is not full screen (and is expensive).

We settled on the 1910 because of the form factor and very low weight (it's smaller than a Palm V). This is important, as if people can't stick it in their pocket they will not use them as often. They are also cheap; $300 retail, much less than the competing OS 5 models (with our business discount we got them for $264 each). Contrary to what I always thought when I used my Palm, Palms are NOT better at being an electronic organizer for business professionals. There are lots of little tricks you can do with the PPC that you can't do with a Palm -- if you move the left/right directional buttons in the Contact list for example, you can switch between different phone/fax numbers without going into the record itself. Pretty neat, and elegant.

It's a shame because I really loved my full-screen Handera. It's incredibly ironic that Palm users, after years of complaining that PPCs were heavy and were not "simplistic", are now buying up multimedia bricks like the Clies.

Re:Palm is a sinking ship

[UnixRevolution]

I am forced to disagree. Palm's machines, either by OS or by the system itself, are little more than the cheap $30 databanks you see in the stationary section of a store compared to a modern pocket PC. Every time someone refers to my Zaurus SL-5500 as a "Palm Pilot" i cringe and tell them to renounce their blasphemy. The Zaurus's organizer's functions are excellent, and i cannot imagine them being any better. The input ease from the slide-away KB or onscreen KB is excellent, and i have no complaints. It's powerful, and flexible. I could code and compile C programs, write HTML pages, or do any number of things on it if i wanted to. I could even edit images! It's got internal storage to spare, and like Palm or Handspring, doesn't need sync software or proprietary memory to work. (indeed, i've had it for months and have never synched it with another system...i just transfer things via CF or the wireless eth card.) It may have been $400, but it's well worth it. It's a real computer, just like my compaq laptop, my dual Athlon 2100+ workstation, my suns, apples, SGI, and my other x86's. It runs real linux! This also helps it cope with the instability problem the previous author was talking about. I've never had to reset my zaurus, EVER. It's a delight, and superior in every way to any palm. Even its organizer functions are awesome, especially considering i never have to worry about synching it, and i can connect to the web with full color and view real web pages, chat on IRC, and even download files with Qtella. Zaurus, and other PocketPC's, particularly the Linux ones, are the best handhelds out there. Better than WinCE Ipaq/Journada/Axiom/Toshiba systems, better than Palm and Clie, just plain better. AND they fit nicely in your pocket, backpack, briefcase, or laptop tote.

Re:Palm is a sinking ship

[emarkp]

The sad thing is that Palm is dying because it's not innovating. All of the built-in apps are pretty much the same as they've always been. The price of the new PDAs is absurd while the new PDAs don't do much more than their predecessors.

The last straw for me was when Palm pretended they hadn't heard of the problem my IIIc had (and my coworker had the same problem, and so did my brother-in-law). When the brightness was appreciably above minimum, the digitizer was totally useless. I didn't really know how bad it was until I used TealEcho to see what the IIIc thought I was writing--it was horrible. Palm claimed that they'd never heard of the problem in spite of the links I provided to discussion boards in which several people claimed to have contacted Palm with the same problem.

Fool me once...

Content Free Article?

[crawling_chaos]

Was it just me, or did this roundup look suspiciously like a "cut and paste the press releases and call it an article" job? There was no insight as to which device would be better for particular tasks, just breathless discussions of each device that read as if they'd come straight from the manufacturer's PR flacks.

Is this normal for this site? If so, I don't think that I'll be reading any more articles that they "write."

i705?

[lpret]

What the hell is the i705 doing on that list?
I treat it much lower than the Palm Vx which is the epitome of a sexy PDA. The i705 is perhaps the worst PDA ever put out by Palm in that it does nothing except extend the life of Palm.net or whatever they called it. Even the Palm VIIx was more groundbreaking than the i705.

I do have to say that after moving from Palm to Pocket PC, the thing I miss the most is a decent battery life. My Toshiba e740 gets about 3 hours, while my Vx got about 2 weeks.

Zire is the only one that make sense

[g4dget]

You can get the Palm Zire for about $80-$100 at your local electronics store. It's great for the things that PalmOS is traditionally good at: calendaring, TODO lists, and simple note taking. I think it's the only Palm that makes any sense.

The high-end Palms with high-end features (MP3, multitasking, cameras, high-resolution screens, etc.) are a horrible combination of hardware and software kludges to get PalmOS to do things that PalmOS was never designed to do. For example, many of those nifty features on the Clie have required Sony to hack their own extensions into PalmOS, and every Palm software vendor needs to accomodate those. And because each vendor hacks PalmOS to their liking, Palm can't even ship a single upgrade from PalmOS 5 to PalmOS 6--you will be able to upgrade your Sony only if Sony spends the time and money to create their own upgrade.

Unfortunately, the Linux PDAs aren't doing much better either. The Zaurus (I own one) is a brick. Several other Linux handheld startups went belly-up. And handhelds.org is fighting a constant battle to reverse engineer handhelds in order to run Linux on them--even handhelds that are developed within Compaq/HP, the company hosting handhelds.org. However, Motorola's use of Linux on their cell phones may give Linux on PDAs a new life.

I hate to say it, but if you are using Windows on your desktop and if you are looking for a high-end handheld, a PocketPC machine probably makes more sense. Even something like the iPaq h1910 ($299) runs rings around more expensive Palm models and is lighter to boot. The big problem with PocketPC is that it is completely proprietary: it pretty much only talks to Windows desktops and the primary development platform for it is Microsoft proprietary. But, then, it isn't clear to me why you would want a high-end handheld to begin with.

Overall, I'd just stick with the Palm Zire, and for the other features (MP3 player, GPS, camera, games, etc.) get separate, dedicated devices.

Re:Who needs a "Palm" device of ANY kind?

[NMerriam]

I challenge ANYONE to convince me that they "need" a computer to keep track of their appointments and phone numbers

Nobody is forcing you to buy one, and I don't think anyone is required to convince you they are worthy of owning a PDA.

that said, if you've never met someone who:

a) has a lot of contacts with frequently changing information

b) needs to share contact and scheduleing information with secrataries, coworkers, etc

c) retrieves changing information on a regular basis to be viewed at unscheduled times

d) doesn't want to wait 30 seconds for a computer to turn on just to look up a phone number

e) doesn't want to constantly worry about a battery dying in the middle of something important

Then I can believe you don't know anyone who would find a PDA more useful than paper or a notebook computer. But some of us do all those things on a regular basis.

respect the modifier!

[Ravagin]

Sorry, this has been bugging me for a long time and hell I've got karma to burn. I'm not picking on the poster, just the general grammatical carelessness to which I too am occasionally subject.

Being a geek's gadget, :) I would recommend you guys to check out this roundup if you are planning to get a new Palm PDA

Okay, so you are recommending this to us because you are a geek's gadget? Some sort of AI agent perhaps, or a sexbot? Eh?

Okay, I'm done.

In on-topic news, my second-hand TRG Pro has lasted me well for over a year now; the CF slot keeps it expandable and the PalmPix camera keeps it indispensable. Use of the PalmPix is the only real argument against the HandEra 330 when the TRG fails.

Remember when OS 3.5 was hot? Anybody? No? I'll just go read this review for some new game called Dungeons&Dragons, then....

The Palm adds real value

[SuperKendall]

I know it seems like for what people use them for, the Palm is not much better than a notepad.

But, if you carry a notepad in your pocket like you can a Palm (with a hardcase), then it (the notebook) will get chewed up over time.

Plus, if you loose the notebook you're done for. If you loose a palm (breakage or theft) your data is sitting right there on the computer waiting to push out to a new device - or even to an upgraded device if you just buy new (instead of having to copy a whole notebook worth of data when you get a notebook with more pages).

It's true I use mine mostly for note taking and contact data - but even just for that it's way better than a notebook just for the searchable access and convenience as it is ALWAYS with me. Beyond that I use it as a clock so I don't have to wear a watch, to know what time the sun rises/sets, a password holder (using "strip" so my passwords are held with at least a bit of encryption, try that with a notebook!).

I also add on custom things for different uses, like dive tables and dive log info, or whatever I might need for a trip. Handy things, these general purpose computing devices!

I would argue I do, in fact, need a good PDA... I use it so I don't have to remember trivia (like people's phone numbers) and can keep track of important thoughts for later access that might otherwise vanish. Not that all such thoughts are worth saving forever - but some are!

Not so sharp Zaurus

[iamacat]

I tried to give a cradled Zaurus access to our company's network by bridging connections. The bridge dutifully forwarded DHCP requests on the LAN to the server that the thing runs by default. Dozens of PCs got the bogus addresses and stopped working. The anger of the admin that came to my office to investigate quickly gave way to laughter when he realized just which device was acting as the "Enterprise" DHCP server.

Maybe Zaurus is powerful but its not very polished. It's bad enough that the desktop software is Windows only. Last time I checked, there was no Mac software and you had to wait for a patch for your exact version of Linux kernel, recompile it and run ipconfig by yourself. But even on Windows, it doesn't look as nice as Palm desktop and doesn't support network or modem sync.

At this stage, Zaurus is a good PDA for curious developers, not for people who want to have their address book, calendar and star trek e-books and not worry too much about setting things up.

I am holding my breath for iWalk. One can always dream, right?

That's pretty distorted.

[Trillan]

Palm licensees have access to the source code. The Palm OS 4 Sony Cliés do some unique stuff, but it's done in a safe manner. The only complaints I've heard about compatibility is the colors for the virtual silkscreen area can go odd.

Hires on Sony/Palm OS 4 is done through what basically amounts to a DLL. Applications that want to support Hires need to load the library and execute it. Applications that want to take over the grafiti area need to specify that as well.

Hires on Palm OS 5 is all done the same way, through a nw API that PalmSource has added.

But you're right, PalmSource can't ship a single version of Palm OS 6 that covers all Palm OS handhelds. But why would you want them to? Wouldn't you rather have Sony responsible for Palm OS 6/Sony compatibilty than PalmSource?

I love my Clié NR70. My next handheld will probably be a Tungsten T, but it won't be for compatibility... I've been spoiled by the small size when developing for them and I want Bluetooth at a lower price than Sony can give me.

It runs Linux, so it must be good...

[TheRaven64]

Newsflash: Linux is not the perfect solution for every problem.
I want a PDA that will play oggs, take notes / jotted drawings, connect to an 802.11b network, or GPRS when that isn't availible and un a jabber client. Oh, and I want it to fit into a shirt pocket. If it runs Linux, fine. If it runs ObscureOS(tm) then that's fine as well. Hell, I'd even be happy with it running Wince if it did what I want it to...
The original Palm prototype was a block of wood, and the only constraint that the design team was given was that their design should be no bigger than the block of wood. If I'm going to cary this thing around with me all day, I want it to be easy to carry. Linux is great in a server, but you simply do not need a full-featured, server-class OS in a PDA. Someone I know recently bought a Wince machine. It has a 400MHz CPU. It feels about as fast as a 33MHz dragonball based Palm (although the latter can't handle ogg playback).
A PDA is not a desktop computer, and should not be treated as such.

Re:Sharp Zaurus

[Hanno]

I own a PalmOS PDA and a Zaurus.

Yes, I'm a geek and I love techno toys. But I beg to differ: The Zaurus is not a good PDA.

In addition to my earlier rant:

My Palm PDA runs on one set of rechargeable batteries for two or three weeks. My Zaurus runs two or three days. Even if I'm away and can't recharge the Palm's batteries, I can get standard AAA batteries anywhere. The Zaurus battery is too small and it's a proprietary format, so I always have to bring the AC adapter.

Granted, there are Palm PDAs with proprietary batteries, as well. But I see the limited battery lifetime and the price tag of replacement batteries as two of the major minuses of the Zaurus.

I can't imagine using PalmOS with graffitti and all that bs

Yes, you obviously can't since you never did. The Palm's applications do their job and that's it - and that's all I want from a PDA.

Graffiti is a blessing. It works and I learned it within minutes, while the Zaurus' joke of a handwriting recognition software still doesn't recognize my handwriting, despite using about two hours of training on it, after which I gave up.

You're right, though, the Zaurus keyboard is great. But I would love to see Graffiti or something similar on it. Yes, you can teach the Zaurus different strokes and there is a software package with the Graffiti strokes, but it just plain and simply doesn't work as good as the PalmOS PDAs.

Considering the fact that the Zaurus CPU is more powerful than the one used in the older Palms, I'm sure that better recognition could be possible. But there just isn't anything in it now.

yes the Zaurus runs real Linux. Yes, Debian [debian.org] has been ported. Yes, a better pda environment [openzaurus.org] than sharp's is under development.

The Zaurus' Linux environment is neat, but in daily use, the PalmOS standard software is way more productive for me. The Qtopia apps aren't as well thought out. I personally don't mind, but the Palm PDAs are easy to understand and easy to use for everyone (including my Mom), while the Zaurus is a techno toy that also includes a mediocre calendar and addressbook software.

It's nice to write software for the Zaurus, though, much nicer than for PalmOS, since there are so many alternatives to choose from in the Linux world. Yet it's kind of sad that the Linux sync support of the Zaurus is so bad and kernel driver needed for the desktop side still crashes the PC every now and then.

Yes, having a wifi CF card and a 256mb SD card is the high life.

If you can afford them and can live with the limited battery lifetime of your PDA as a consequence.

Yes you can connect that that serial terminal or k/b up.

Show me a decent serial keyboard that's not sold for a ridiculously high price tag. Also, the cable needed to connect a serial keyboard is sold at 40$ and above.

So add the Zaurus, a CF wifi card, a 256 mb SD card, a serial keyboard and serial cable (or, alternatively, an IR keyboard) and you basically get an overpriced Microlaptop, but not a PDA.

I use the Palm for my daily calendar and address book. I use the Zaurus as a (great) techno toy and I sometimes wonder if I should have saved the money I spent on it.

Integrated mobile phone

[StrawberryFrog]

Why would anyone ever need anything more than what the current top-of-the-line Sony Clié has to offer?? Camera? Got it. Mp3 player? Got it. Plenty of memory? Got it. Help me here.

Integrated mobile phone a la handspring treo.

It's what I want. Otherwise I have to carry 2 gadgets.

Why do US publications not REVIEW?

[gilgongo]

This question is a bit OT, but it's been annoying me for a while: why do so few US websites and print magazines seem to independently review products like they do in Europe? All the PDAs on show here just have re-hashed press releases to read. I could just go the manufacturer's websites and read that. Christ it must be boring to write as well.

Are there any sites that say things like "After three weeks of using the Zarus, I was ready to catapult it into a tree" or "The Clie is wonderful, but if you want to use it more than 10 feet from a power socket, forget it."

Granted, there aren't many European publications that go to the extreme of actually panning a product, but if it's fair comment, they will. Most at least try to inject some insight into comparative reviews, however terrified their editors might be of losing advertising revenue.