- HotSync cradle included
- Easily transfer data from your handheld to your PC or Macintosh
- Rechargeable lithium-ion battery
- Stores thousands of addresses, appointments, to-do items, memos, and more
The time arrived for me to upgrade from my trusty old Palm V. I was running short on memory, so that left the Palm IIIc, Vx and Jornada 540 for consideration.
I tried the IIIc for a month. Found the color screen a pleasure to work with. There are not that many 3rd party apps in color yet, but that appears to be changing fast. I liked the TinySheet Excel compatible spreadsheet in color. The black on white screen is very readable for e-books. Battery life was acceptable. On a 3 week business trip I had to recharge it only once. The downside for me is size, the comfort factor. You can NOT comfortably carry a Palm in a shirt pocket. I carry it in my pants pocket, with the V I would forget I had it until I needed it. The IIIc, it was just always 'there'. The only other gripe I have is that it's almost impossible to read the screen outside. Something I took for granted on the monochrome V. Bright daylight however fully washes out color screens. I REALLY like the small updates to the new PalmOS. Eg. the little shortcut bar that appears at the bottom of the screen for menu shortcuts is an excellent innovation. It makes cutting and pasting as fast as with the PC using the keyboard.
I used the Jornada for 2 weeks before I returned it. As my expectations weren't that high from my previous exposure to the platform I can't say that I was dissappointed. However, I still don't think MS is up to par. On the balance still more 'clicks' are needed than on a Palm. I couldn't find those easy to use 3rd party freeware apps such as the NY crossstreet finder, on PocketPC. On face value I liked Excel, but I found it's small differences with the PC version annoying. Knowing one, I made assumption about the other that didn't always pan out. The high resolution of the screen is nice. For e-books the Jornada would be good, if not for the poor passive matrix screen. For example, on the plane, I could put the IIIc on the tray in front of me, and read at an angle. This is impossible with the Jornada screen. For basic PDA functions it is adequate. I feel the apps still are a bit sluggish. Playing MP3's is fun, but with 2 songs at CD quality, memory is depleted which makes it impracticle for multimedia, unless you spend more to expand memory. Forget playing MP3's in the background while doing other work, the device slows down to a crawl. Size wise, the Jornada is a bit bigger and heavier than the IIIc, which to me is a problem as I already explained. Battery life seemed shorter than the IIIc, though it may be subjective because it was on a lot, while learning the PocketPC platform.
The Palm Vx is basically a faster Palm V with more memory. Just got it yesterday and I already love it. This is the one I'm keeping. I suppose that after getting used to the size and weight of the Palm V, there is no going back. However, I'm glad that I went through the hassles of trying out the other 2 models. I learned a few things:
1) Size matters.
2) Until technology for multimedia matures, color screens do not add significant value to justify their impact on size and battery life.
3) PocketPC looked good on face value, but didn't go the distance, however, I do believe that as technology advances, multimedia such as MP3 playback will be great to have. I hope that by that time Palm will have the capability.
4) 3rd party apps add tremendous value. Something I forgot until I couldn't find my favourite little add-ons that make life easy, such as AccountManager, cross street finder etc.
All in all, the best favor you can do yourself is getting one. Got my parents a Palm V 2 months ago, now I have to get them another one so they stop fighting over it.
Buy PalmOne Vx Handheld Now
Due to bumbling on the part of Palm, the Palm Vx is still the standard in small, easy to use, full-functioning PDAs. Sporting a full-size screen (compared to the puny screens on the m100, m105 and m125) and a lithium rechargeable battery, the Palm Vx remains the sleekest, lightest PDA on the market. It fits easily into your hand or your shirt pocket. Now that its price appears to be coming down, it is a great buy, especially compared to the overpriced m125.
Palm's newest high-end models, the m500 and m505, are a bit better than the Vx, mainly because of a new card slot and a slightly more tactile feel. The m505 also offers some rather anemic color. But Palm's software hasn't really improved much since the Palm Vx came out, IMHO, and the expansion slot is not so compelling to me that it would be worth paying the additional dough.
Also, as an aside, make sure that you download three free add-ons for Palm OS: Avantgo, a service that downloads articles from the New York Times, Sports Illustrated, CNN and others every time you sync your Palm; Vindigo, a city guide with restaurant and movie reviews; and Mapopolis, which has street maps that are keyword searchable.
Enjoy!
Read Best Reviews of PalmOne Vx Handheld Here
I've owned a few palm pilots over the past several years. I switched to the Palm Vx because my Palm III gave out after months of abuse riding in my back pocket. The Vx is solidly built, very reliable and never needs batteries. I use mine heavily and sometimes forget to recharge it in the cradle. I've found that the battery lasts about three weeks with heavy use as long as you don't use the backlight. I now use my Palm Vx with my laptop running Windows 2000 and synchronize my data using the infrared port. The cradle is just a charge stand for me! If you're nervous about buying this product... relax! I teach computer skills to executives in the Chicago area. The learning curve for Palm devices is about 20 minutes. There is a shorthand called "graffiti" that you will need to learn to write in your information, but you can also use your computer or a separately available keyboard to enter in your data. Newer and more powerful palm devices have been introduced since I bought mine, but the Vx is an excellent value now that the price has dropped. And it's still the smallest! If you're looking for a PDA to handle your personal and business information and do not need to display color photos, videos or play MP3s, the Palm Vx is perfect.
Want PalmOne Vx Handheld Discount?
While looking for a PDA, I was torn as to which one to get. Below are the choices I looked at and why, ultimately I didn't get them:
Palm IIIc Color is nifty, but only a luxury. The only times I see a real need for color are in graphics programs, something that I don't know if I would appreciate working on a PDA.
Palm VII Thinking of wireless communication is certainly neat, but I take the Baltimore Metro into work, and wouldn't have a connection half of the time I use the PDA
Handspring Visor It's not very professional looking, but more than that, the operating system is not upgradeable. If a "need to have" upgrade is developed sometime in the future, you're simply out of luck. Yeah, hardware might be faster than software, but who is going to notice?
Psion 5mX the neatest thing about the PDA, I think, is the ability to open it up and work anywhere. The miniature keyboard on these models won't let me do that while standing on a train.
Windows CE Models dislike for the Microsoft name simply ruled these out, but the HP Jordana 545 certainly looks nice.
Palm V 2MB of memory just doesn't meet my needs.
I went with the Palm Vx because it has everything that I needed in it. I've got the entire Bible, whatever novel I'm reading, about 200 contacts, office and home e-mail, a slew of games, and a detailed appointment calendar, and I'm barely at half of my storage capacity. Basically, it is serving as an entertainment device between home and work. I get work done, but if I don't have any work to do, I'm never bored taking mass transit. Of course, rechargeable batteries are also a plus never have to worry about running about and finding some AA or AAA batteries and then trying to remember what device you stole them from when you finally get around to buying more. The amount of synchronization that I perform (e-mails written on the train and such) ensures that I don't forget to charge it nightly (although I think you can last a good week or so without recharging and normal usage).
The only feature I would like is an MP3 player add-on, but a cheap MP3 player is more than adequate. Yes, this is an expensive device, but I think each PDA is expensive, and this one is worth the amount of money added over any of the other models.
I have looked long (about 2 years) and hard for the "perfect" PDA and finally decided to get a PalmVx. As most first time buyers do some research on a purchase this expensive (for a PDA), I looked and read tons of reviews, newsgroup messages, etc.. to try to figure out what is out there and what will still be there few years from now.
I first thought about the user population and the kinds of things I will be able to do. Palm is the dominating PDA device and a bit of research told me that I could do much more than what I needed to do. There are literally thousands of software for the Palm and the hard part is deciding which software to use for a particular task. The decision came down to Palm IIIxe, IIIc and Vx (all had 8MB of RAM). Most of the features are about the same in all three devices. I discarded the IIIc since it was the first color model (my experience told me not to trust first models of anything computer related), it is more expensive, and because of the color, it is slower. Some people have reported pixel problems with their IIIc. I thought about expandability which is better on IIIxe but thought if I wanted expandability, I would've gotten a Visor. Also, their are no current upgrades for any Palm device that will expand the memory past 8MBs.
The thing that got me about the Vx was the design. I went to the local CompUSA to compare them side by side. There was no match! I also liked the fact that the Vx has a rechargeable battery. This might not seem much, but after the initial charge of 4+ hours, I only have to leave the unit in the cradle for a few minutes each day to get it fully charged which I do anyway to hotsync (I found out in a lot of newsgroup posts, that the III series drain battery when left on the cradle even if it is off). The Vx also has a faster processor which is rated at 20mhz instead of 16 for the other models. The Vx ships with the latest version of Palm's OS v3.5.
I have been using this for about a month now and am VERY happy with it. It is a lot of money I know, but I don't think I would have been satisfied with any other model. You just have to hold it in your hand to realize this.
If (it) is too (expensive), looks and weight are not important and having to buy AAA batteries don't bother you, I suggest going for the IIIxe. If not, you won't regret getting a Vx, that is, if you can get one (most places are out of stock).
Good luck on your purchase.
Joon (one happy camper :)
