Rating: 
Summary: Give Us the Old Razzle Dazzle
Review: I am enjoying the step up to the Zire 71 after my M505 was stolen. The speed, colors and camera are all a great improvements. It is a pretty, bright and shiny toy with lots of snazzy extras. The following comments reflect the down side of the upgrade:
1) The power supply was not upgraded. So, whereas I could go a week between charging my 505, I have to charge this one daily.
2) As noted by others, the above problem is exacerbated by the provided case actually turning the device on when you put it away. ( I have solved this with a soft universal case. The addition of velcro on the back for the case has helped me hold onto the slick little devil too.)
3) I hope that more accessories are coming from Palm.
Rating: 
Summary: Operating system can not be upgraded
Review: At first glance the Zire appears to be a Godsend. Fast Processor, Beautiful screen, hidden camera, however Palm again made a mistake by not offering this unit with a flash Rom. PALM is steadily behind. There are normally tradeoffs with features from model to model, but this issue causes concern for me. PALM is regularly releasing hardware that is not ready for the consumer market such as the Zire 71, Tungsten C, (Lack of stereo headphone out or mic and clicking problem. I am just not impressed anymore and decided to finally go with a Dell Axim 5 and completely move away from PALM OS.
Rating: 
Summary: Way to go Palm!!!!!
Review: Having a semi-obsolete Palm V I finally found its replacement! I was about to buy a Clie but the Zire 71 is just great (the camera is very cool and you dont have to pay much more in order to have it, like for the Sony), for a fair price. Awesome machine... I am very happy with it and also happy that Palm finally woke up! Way to go Palm!!!
Rating:
Summary: Happy ex-m500 user
Review: I bought my Zire 71 to replace a broken m500. I considered switching to PocketPC but I really don't need the complexity. When I saw the quality of the Zire's colour display in a store I was convinced to buy it.
The databases for the built-in apps (datebook, address book, etc) hotsynched to the new machine without trouble. Pay attention to the Quick-Start instruction sheet that comes with the machine, it points you to info on Palm's website about upgrading from older devices. I did as they suggest and prevented all my 3rd party applications from being hotsynched automatically to the Zire. Instead, I added them manually one by one and tested them. It turned out to be a good idea because some do not work on the new OS. The most annoying failure was my Rand McNally Atlas card that I paid good money for.
I'm still retraining myself to use Graffiti-2, so my data entry is slower than it was. I find the new letter "i" tricky, and a lot of my "o"s turn into "g"s. Time and practice should fix this.
The camera is a clever trick but of limited value. The few pictures I've taken are pretty poor quality: inaccurate colours and not sharp. It is extremely easy to use (literally point and click) so I guess it could be useful in a pinch if you have no other camera available.
The screen is definitely optimized for indoor use. It is almost impossible to see anything on it outdoors in bright light, even if you try to get out of the sun, or shade the screen with a hand. This is another blow for the camera capability since you need to use the screen as the viewfinder.
I haven't tried playing MP3s yet.
I use my Palm mostly as an organizer and ebook reader. I don't have any real need to do anything cleverer, except occasionally sharing documents with MS Word (I'll get DocumentsToGo or an equivalent for this). The Zire 71 is fast and easy to use, and is an excellent upgrade from the m500.
Rating:
Summary: Love it but.....
Review: When the battery totally dies thats it, its not replaceable.
I am not sure how other products with litium batteries are but...its sad to pay so much for something that is only estimated to last 2 years with normal usage.
But on the other hand its like a computer and computers are upgraded so fast 2 years is quite a long time.
I got this to upgrade my M125. So going from monocrome to a full color AND backlight is 200% better.
The camera is very handy and hopefully the MP3 player will be too once I figure out how to hold such a big file on the memory card and not the too small for MP3s internal memory.
I had to get a little used to Graffti 2 writing I was just getting used to regular graffiti. Graffiti2 too is much easier for newbies. One complaint before I read the quick tour was tha I did not know how to use the 5 way navigation button.. The button assignments are interchangable so I put my to-do list back where I am used to it.
I guess the only other small complaints but very minor is lack of screen cover and the thing turning on when I put it in the pouch.
So if you want some handy gadgets with your Palm AND you can afford the 300 only to have to upgrade again in about 2 years get Zire 71
Rating:
Summary: Great product and the OS -IS- upgradable!
Review: After doing some homework on the Zire 71, it appears that the OS -IS UPGRADABLE- after all! The Zire 71 is equiped with a flash ROM which should allow patches and upgrades later. This makes the Zire 71 a very interesting device. It be sweet if SDIO cards could be available for it too...
Rating:
Summary: Just a little short of perfect
Review: First thing let me say that this is my first PDA. I walked into staples buying office supplies and made the mistake of going to the electronics counter. The Palm Zire 71 is packed with a lot of great features(the high resolution screen being the best). The Hotsync feature allows you to link your PC to your PDA, and have your information transfer easily between the two. The software titles that come with it are good, depending on your individual tastes. RealOne audio player comes bundled with the software, which is a good mp3 player however it wasn't loud enough for me, so I downloaded aeroplayer(... it rectified that problem,it also has downloadable skins!). I would still keep real player for transferring files(very easy once you know how). A fellow reviewer complained about the graffiti2 handwriting recognizer, I learned how to use it in a few minutes. The key is to read and follow the instructions. Purchasing extra overlays(the plastic screen protectors) is recommended. Buy an expansion card, the larger the better, because to use the Zire 71 to its full capibilities you'll need a lot of extra space. I agree with another reviewer that a PDA this good, you should have bluetooth compatability, as well as a live sound recorder! One last thing, don't even look for a hard case for the Zire 71, it has been out for less than a month, and there none available.
Rating:
Summary: Beware memory cards!
Review: Having bought, relied on, then broken the m500 palm pilot, I was looking for a replacement to use. I had my memory card just recently backed up so figured it would be easy to buy a new palm pilot and reinstall all my data. Unfortunately it wasn't that simple... Having been sold the Zire71 as a replacement and assured it would work just fine with my old memory card, I've had no end of hassle. Basically the software on the two palm pilots just aren't compatable - a fact palm say:
1. They are working on - but don't know when or even if they will sort out.
2. They have told retailers about - but J and R in Manhattan at least have either not been told, or aren't telling us about it (in fact I was specifically told they ARE compatable). The long and the short of it was that I found that I had a choice of either taking this otherwise great palm (after all I've still given it a 4 star rating) back to the store and changing it for an older model that uses the same software as the m500 OR keeping it and losing some of my contacts and notes. I've done the latter as I can't bring myself to give the Zire71 back - but I do want to warn other people to take any promises that memory cards mean your data is safe forever with a HUGE pinch of salt. And one last question... why has palm released this now, when all their software design problems haven't yet been ironed out? (From their website it appears this isn't the only software related problem users have had). If you're not in a hurry I'd suggest hanging on and buying your Zire71 in a few month's time when other people's hassles have got Palm to sort their act out.
Rating:
Summary: 1st Upgrade
Review: I Fried (Power Surge) my handspring Visor over the weekend and went to BestBuy with my "Service Protection Plan" They gave me full credit towards a new device ($...). I had to upgrade. My choice was between the Clie and the Zire ($... extra). The Zire won hands down. It's speed is fantastic, those of you who have older 33MHz chips will notice. The Colors are rich and bright and the interface is easy to use. Graffiti2 takes a little getting use to but it is easily mastered. The camera is just a neat addition, I mean it's not designed for professional photography. Thats what a 5megapixel digital camera is for. But it's great for taking little memory shots and having pictures of your kids available. And the device itself looks good too. I do agree 16megs is a bit chincey esp when only 13megs is available for application usage. My biggest gripe is the carrying case. The Elastic is so tight that it sets off the joystick every time I insert it. I miss the hard plastic cover from my handspring. Palm could have given better protection than that. That's why it gets only 4 stars. Anyone looking for an up grade from their old PDA would do well to steer in the direction PALM has taken. Top of the line device, though you may want to get a hard shell case to protect it.
Rating:
Summary: from pocketpc to palm
Review: i just switched from a pocketpc to the palm zire 71. the pocketpc was functional, yet boring and a battery/resouce hog.
since i got my zire 71, i couldn't put it down cause it's so much fun. I was able to sync with outlook or palm desktop without any problems and the camera feature is so cool! Good pics as long as you hold your hand steady. Zire 71 is very fast and you definitely get alot for your money. Well worth the price.
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