Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

The new Zire Palm is essentially an updated version of the Palm m100, with the following changes: * An even !Smaller! screen. * A new, stylish form factor. * A rechargeable battery. * A funky new name. All of the other limitations of the m100 still exist. The memory is not upgradeable, and 2MB is pathetically small, allowing for only the most basic address and scheduling functions. The three PALM programs that I consider essential would overwhelm this puppy. They are: Mapopolis (a mapping program from Mapopopolis.com with keyword-searchable street maps), Avantgo (an online news service that downloads articles to your palm) and Vindigo (a restaurant, movie and city guide). The lack of memory is riduculous, especially considering that the m105 model that this also replaces has 8 MB and a slightly larger screen! Believe me, screen size matters when you are pointing and clicking on a tiny keyboard on your Palm. And this has to be the smallest screen yet. To me, this model is only for those misguided and poor folks who would have bought the now-discontinued m100 model but want a rechargeable battery. There are far better models out there for only a few more bucks. You can still find some of the excellent Handspring Visor leftover models around for about the same price, which feature the large screens and 8 MB. And Sony's CLIE line of Palm OS handhelds basically now own the middle of the PALM product line. Here's a basic PALM product guide: Zire/Palm m100: Bottom of the line. Designed to suck you in but leave you wanting more. Think of this as the Chevy Chevette of Palms. Plagued by small screens. Palm m105: The 8MB version of the m100. Fine, except needs batteries and plagued by small screen. Palm 125: Ooh, expansion slot that you will probably never use. Still plagued by small screen. Palm 130: Adds color, lithium battery to m125. Not bad, but screen still small, low res. Palm m500: Still the standard for monochrome Palms. Lightweight, with a clear, large screen and a classic form-factor that gave the company its name. 8MB, expandable, lithium-polymer battery. Triple-Aces. Palm m505: Discontinued color model features horrible washed out color screen. AVOID. Palm m515: Soon to be discontinued Color PALM. Very good, but no Palm TUNGSTEN T. Palm TUNGSTEN T: The top of the line. Finally, Palm builds a PALM that can compete with a Pocket PC. Too bad they priced it like one too. Triple Aces design, with fabulous ergonomics, fantastic high-res active screen, battery, bluetooth, and drop-down graffiti pad. For competitors, check out the new Handspring Treo models, which feature thumbpads and a small form factor (some with phones), and the Sony CLIE line. The CLIE models, which start at just over a hundred clams, have a nice form factor, and upper-level models feature the best high-res color screens for generally less than what you'd pay for a similar PALM-branded model. CLIE's feature memory-stick slots and lithium batteries. But I've heard Sony's customer service is weak compared to Palm's easy-as-pie returns. These things do break from time to time, so keep that in mind. Enjoy!