Carry your life in the Palm of your hand, with the m505
Written: Jun 20 '01
Product Rating:
Pros: Color screen, Plenty of memory, Familiar design for Palm users
Cons: Price, Some unnecessary functionality, There are better color screens out there
The Bottom Line: Great mid-range handheld device. If you're looking for low end, buy an earlier Palm, and if you're looking for high end, go with a Compaq H3670.
The m505 is one of the latest in Palm's long line of hand-held devices. While in most obvious ways it seems a far cry from, say, my Palm III, it retains a familiar design and feel -- partly due to its continued use of Palm OS (Version 4.0 to be specific). Users new to the Palm family of products will enjoy its impressive array of features and capabilities, and seasoned Palm users will enjoy the same things along with a comfortably similar feel to the earlier devices they're used to.
I'm sorry, but I just can't go any farther into this review without marveling at this product's size. Measuring in at just 4.5 high, 3.1 inches wide, and 0.5 inches deep, the m505 is even smaller than earlier, less-capable Palm models. At under 5 ounces in weight, you could carry the m505 just about anywhere -- in a shirt or pants pocket, in a small compartment in your carry-on luggage, or wherever.
Amazingly, even with all that portability, the m505 doesn't seem to sacrifice much of anything in the way of capability. With 8 MB of memory standard, the m505 will hold literally hundreds and even thousands of entries in your address book, along with just about as many memos, notes, to-do list entries, appointments, mail messages, and other items as you can store. The folks at Palm claim that, even packed with all the aforementioned information, you would still be able to have as many as 50 add-on applications, but the truth is that it depends on how big your applications are.
As far as productivity is concerned, the m505 handheld is sure to meet your needs. Included software will allow you to work on your documents and spreadsheets. Moreover, easy exports to Microsoft Word and Excel on your desktop computer will allow you to make serious use of your time while you're away from the desk. And, of course, HotSync will allow you to synchronize all your contacts, appointments, e-mail, and other information between your m505 and your desktop machine.
The Palm m505 is wireless internet capable, if that kind of thing matters to you. Last time I checked, though, any kind of wireless internet access was still prohibitively expensive. Well, I suppose that all depends on your own personal definition of what's too expensive, but I seem to recall it being around or in excess of about $50 a month at its cheapest. That seems pretty silly to me for something which has very little practical application -- especially since many cellular phones can double as web browsers (albeit shoddy ones), while PDAs generally lack the ability to act as cellular phones. In other words, it doesn't seem to me that wireless internet access has quite passed out of the "wow-factor" stage and into practicality. If you insist on having internet access on your handheld device, however, the Palm m505, with Palm Mobile Connectivity, AOL for Palm OS, and MulltiMail SE software all included, should be more than capable of filling your needs.
One of the biggest improvements in the m505 over previous Palm PDAs, however, is in its screen. Although it's only about as thick as a pack of gum, it sports an impressive 16-bit Advanced LCD with backlight. Aesthetically pleasing, it can display as many as 65,000 different hues. Sure, the quality is not going to be nearly as good as the display you have at home, but it's certainly more than sufficient for entering contact information or checking your date book; the quality is even good enough that you can view full-color video clips and image files, using the included MGI PhotoSuite Mobile Edition software. You can even view web content offline if you so desire, using AvantGo software, which is also included.
If you travel a lot and you really plan to use your Palm m505 on the go, there are numerous accessories available which purport to increase your productivity. A wireless modem, a travel charger, and a folding Palm keyboard are all available, along with many others, I'm sure. For the most part, it's my personal opinion that many of these items are just for show and are, in actuality, pretty unnecessary. One accessory that probably will prove to be useful in protecting your investment, however, is one of the thin leather cases for the Palm.
In summary, the m505 is capable, portable, and functional, and it may indeed be a glimpse into the future of mobile computing.
Built-in 8 MB memory stores thousands of contacts, appointments, to-do items, and notes Displays over 65,000 colors--view photos, video clips, and mor...More at Amazon Marketplace
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