PalmOne IIIe Handheld

• Holds up to 6,000 addresses, 5 years of appointments, 1,500 to-do items, and more
• Measures 4.7 by 3.2 by 0.7 inches and weighs 6 ounces
• Synchronizes fast with your PC or Macintosh
• What's in the box: Palm IIIe handheld, Palm Desktop organizer software, 2 AAA alkaline batteries, DB-25 adapter

Unlike people who were "already happy" with their bulky organizers before purchasing this product, I had been wanting a Palm for quite some time. Therefore, the expectation bar was raised.

Now that I have the product, the bar was met! Some questions you may have about Palms:

1. How do I enter data? One of three easy ways: with a small pen which you use to write directly into the Palm Pilot; with a pop-up keyboard; or you can enter information on your computer and download it onto your Palm Pilot.

2. Is it hard to learn? The thing I found most amazing about this is how easy you can learn it. Usually something as robust as this product has a high-learning curve. However, that is not the case here.

3. Can you play games on it? Hey admit it, we all thought it was pretty cool when we found out we can play games on it. I have about 12 games on mine (and it takes up hardly any space at all). Now all those boring lines at the bank, airports, and sitting in doctor office waiting rooms are but a memory. ;-)

4.This one is cheaper than the others, should I buy an expensive one? That is up to you. I personally don't need to store 1,500 appointments, 6000 phone numbers, etc. I'm just a guy who likes to have things organized. This product does that and lots more. I think that one of the top-dollar ones would be overkill (at least for me it would).

5. What's the coolest thing about the product? I personally like the fact that there are literally hundreds of thousands of *FREE* programs that you can download onto the Palm Pilot.

If you are the type of person who likes to control his or her scene, I strongly urge you to purchase this product.

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Although this unit lacks the spacious memory capacity of most of its siblings, the Palm IIIe packs in most of their features and is an excellent entry level device to experience the convenience and fun of PDAs.

The sturdy unit easily slips into a pocket. The screen is sharp, and the adjustable contrast and backlighting options make it readable in most light levels, although it can be tough to achieve a balance in low light conditions. Two AAA batteries power it for a surprising amount of time (but extensive use of the backlight feature drains them fairly rapidly). File management through the palm OS is easily configurable, and the unit is very responsive. The Graffiti writing system can be learned quickly, and the on screen keyboard and number pad are readily accessible for those tricky characters.

I wasn't organized prior to receiving this device as a gift, and I must admit that I'm still not. The included address book is very usable, and the ability to beam "business cards" to other palm pilot devices via infrared makes it easy to record and keep track of colleagues' contact information. The day planning software, with it's configurable alarms and repeat dates is also very handy. The Palm Desktop and Hotsync software intelligently backs up data and files from the handheld unit, and schedules entered on your computer through the software are automatically updated on the device. Macintosh users take note, the included hotsync cradle terminates in PC cords, so you'll need to by the adapter to convert to Macintosh serial or the USB kit for newer Macs (both should be available on Amazon.com). If your machine is IrDA compliant, you can hotsync via infrared, but you will need to get some preliminary files on the unit through a cradle hotsync or beaming to do so.

One of the strong points of the whole Palm line of PDAs is the overwhelming number of third party applications (shareware, freeware, and high powered commercial programs with trial periods) that are available online through a variety of web sites. These files range from classic board games to old books in a Palm document format to graphics and spreadsheet programs. Free online services, such as AvantGo, even download user selectable web pages to the unit upon hotsync for review on the bus or while waiting in a line.

To learn of the variety of tasks that this device can perform, I encourage new users to check out online resources and books such as David Pogue's "Palm Pilot: the Ultimate Guide. (2nd Edition)" The book includes a Macintosh/Windows/Linux CD-ROM loaded with software for the Palm, and even though many of the programs have newer versions available, the breadth of the material covered in the text (and links to the software developer's websites on the CD-ROM) make it a worth while purchase.

Those interested in protecting their investment may want to investigate the reasonably priced extended warranty options available directly from Palm Computing (including a screen replacement program and a one year extension of the warranty).

Although I will likely upgrade to a unit with more memory for storing programs and files in the future, the Palm IIIe has served me well. Overall, this device is an incredible value for its price!

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I have heard a lot of people tell me not to get a Palm IIIe because it is not the smallest Palm model out there. . . This is a straw-man argument. I got a Palm IIIe and it is GREAT. 2MB or memory is not much for my desktop, I have 256 MB of RAM and 30 gigs of HD, but for my Palm Pilot, this is more than I will ever need! Don't waist your money on more expensive models, unless you are planning to write a dissertation on your palm pilot, and a lot more, it will hold it all with PLENTY to spare. As far as size, it is the exact size as most other palm models, and it is VERY portable. Someone said that it is visible in a sport coat, well they need to trim down a few pounds then, or buy a coat that fits. Not only do I keep mine in a sport coat pocket, I keep it in the smaller pocket on the inside left of most of my coats. I wear a 39 Long so the pockets are smaller than most coats anyway, and trust me, you can't see or feel it. The Palm IIIe is a Great buy, and a heck of a Palm Pilot, no upgrade is needed, unless you want to connect to the web with no wires, then get the Palm Vii and pay $44 a month. Hope this was helpful.

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I agree that the IIIe is a good value. The built-in applications are both easy to use and flexible. It is simple, for example, to display all your memos, or just those to do with work, or just those to do with personal matters.

I found the display plenty easy to read, and the software set up quickly on the computer. I found its handwriting language easy to learn. You do need to make sure, however, that you have a spare serial port on your computer; I had to install a new one, and that turned out to be a pain (so much for Plug and Play). I have had some problem using the synchonization eith Netscape e-mail; I needed a new MAPI32.DLL file, and the synchonization isn't set up well for using multiple Netscape configurations.

There's plenty of software out there for purchase or simply for the downloading. I found a very handling shopping-list program that I wouldn't do without now, and I'm trying out a checkbook program. But my favorite toy so far is AvantGo Web browsing software. It really does work. And games play reasonably well -my kids keep wanting to play them. But don't expect the crisp, active-matrix game display of a device made for that purpose.

The 2 megabytes of RAM seems to be plenty. Even after loading the IIIe up with e-mail and AvantGo (half a megabyte including downloaded Web pages) I still have nearly half the memory left.

The IIIe won't upgrade, but from what I've seen most of the software out there will run on 2.0 (my IIIe has 3.1). By the time I need an upgrade it will probably be time to buy a new organizer anyway.

The main negative is the outrageous price for peripherals. A modem and keyboard together cost more than the unit itself.

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I usually don't like PDAs, because I remember all the appointments and I use my cellular to store phone numbers, that's why I only bought a IIIe. I figured if I don't like it, I'll be able to sell it quick. Well, now I can't live without it ;) Not only do I have all my phone numbers and adresses on it, but the programs you can download are so many and most of them are freeware, I now use my Palm IIIe all the time. I don't think I'll let it go, I would prefer to keep it and buy another Palm with more memories, but not right now, I'm using only half the memory of my Palm right now, I still have time ;) And now lots of my friends are going to follow me and buy a Palm :)