Laptops UK
Palm Zire | |
Brand: Palm CPU Speed: 16 MHz EAN: 0805931007605 Label: Palm Manufacturer: Palm Model: P80707ML3 Platform: Mac OS X, Palm OS Publisher: Palm Sales Rank: 54813 Studio: Palm Accessories:
Editorial Review: Amazon.co.uk Review: Palm's decision to split its product line into two has resulted in some new product names: Zire is the new name for the consumer family of devices. First, the Zire scores very highly in the looks department, with its eye-catching white fascia design. It's light too, at just 109 grams. The Zire has been designed for newcomers to the PDA world and has been kept as uncomplicated to get to grips with as possible. To that end, there are just two application shortcut buttons on the casing rather than the usual four. These open the Date Book and Address Book, stressing the fact that over and above everything else the Zire is an electronic diary. These buttons can be reassigned to launch other applications, as can the four that surround the Graffiti area, one of which is designated as a Favourites shortcut. To help keep the price low, Zire is supplied without a HotSync cradle. A USB cable performs this task, and also recharges the internal lithium-ion battery, which Palm says should last for three to four weeks for the average user. You get a mains adaptor for those times when you are away from your PC. Palm Desktop is supplied, but if you'd rather store your contacts and diary in Outlook you can use the supplied PocketMirror software which will synchronise Outlook with the Zire's applications. The 2MB of RAM may seem a bit on the small size compared to other PDAs, but it's plenty enough for everyday use as an electronic diary. Unfortunately, it can't be augmented as there are no slots for memory cards. If you think you are likely to want to install extra applications, it could be a drawback. The mono screen is pretty good, though it may let you down in dingy indoors conditions, and the processor, while slow by modern standards, is fine for general PDA functions. The Palm Zire is small, light and fully-functional. If you are on a tight budget and are looking for a basic PDA, Zire fits the bill. --Sandra Vogel Palm See more information on Palm Zire at Amazon UK or at Amazon.com Average Rating:  Rating:  - not hardy enough!Great little organiser for someone who wants no gimicks but main criticism is that mine wasn't hardy enough. After a living in my breast pocket for 12 months screen frequently failed to respond to the stylus and despite efforts to get it to work reliably still does this. If you are going to get this one make sure you buy a hard cover case for it to protect it. Its a fragile flower! Rating:  - Good for the price at the timeThis was okay for the cost when it first came out, but now it's very very dated. You'll be better off paying more for the updated version. If you only needed it to store addresses, a calculator and the occasional notes, fine. Anything else and you'll be disappointed. Still paper tends to be better for most things atill... Rating:  - XP SP2 FineThis product is great and I had no problems installing it on XP with service pack 2. Rating: - XP and SP2 INCOMPATABILITYI bought two Palm Zire's for my wife amd myself to keep addresses etc., replacing 6 year old Sharp items. However, the Palm Zire will not HotSync with a PC that has XP and SP2. As there is no user guide, I had to pay to talk with Zire Technical staff and was told to uninstall SP2 which I did but it still didn't HotSync. Palm Zire's incompatability with SP2 certainly wasn't in the sales blurb - shame on you Zire or Palmone or whatever name you hid behind. Rating:  - Good but...I bought this about six months ago and find that overall the Zire is a great little machine at a great price and it looks good too. However, I have two main gripes: - I carry it to work and back in my bag and generally have my mobile phone on me at the same time. If I receive/send a text message and the Zire is within about a foot of my phone I can lose all of the information on it. This isn't a complete disaster as I sync it up with Entourage on my Apple Mac at work. - The second is the lack of a backlight. The second problem comes with hindsight and is not such a major issue when you think about how cheap the Zire is. But I wasn't aware of the first problem at all and so need to be careful to keep my mbile clear of the Zire. If I had to choose again I'd probably buy the next model up with a colour screen but all in all this is still a bargain machine. Palm Zire | |
