Rating: 
Summary: Battery is replaceable
Review: The battery of Zire 71 is actually replaceable. The replacement batteries can be purchased from third party on-line stores, not from Palm.
Rating: 
Summary: Best Palm ever!
Review: I have owned a Palm V, a Sony Clie 760C, and a Handspring Visor Deluxe. I also currently own a Dell Axim which is good but my Zire 71 is my main PDA. I carry it with me all of the time. If you see the screen on it, how it seems like it's right up against the glass it has the best LCD that I have ever seen. The screen is also very bright. I set the brightness almost all the way down because it's so bright. On the dark it can light up a . room. The camera is good for quick pictures. It's not for high quality picture taking. Battery life is pretty good. It also let's you play Mp3's. I bought a 64MB SD card and installed real player for palm. Then I used the quick install software to download mp3 files to it. I was amazed at how great it sounded. I recommend this palm 100%. Palm will have a hard time trying to out do this Zire.
Rating:
Summary: was dubious, but am thrilled
Review: I was very reticent about upgrading to the Palm Zire 71. Having been more than comfortable with my previous Vx and m515, I was nervous because of the reviews on Amazon. But I took the plunge, being a technology freak who has to have the latest of everything, and am thrilled that I did! It's the best looking unit out there as far as I'm concerned- sleek blue, with changeable color schemes, smaller than a lot of PDA's. While the battery must be charged far more frequently than my previous Palms, nearly everything about the Zire 71 is an improvement and fun to use. The camera, while by no means high resolution, is perfectly suitable for fun and quick snapshots while you're out doing whatever. The pictures don't blow up terribly well, but if you keep the prints below 8 x 10, you should be fine. It's a snap to use, and everyone is impressed with it. I've even used it on vacation when I don't feel like lugging a camera separately. The only major complaint I had with the Palm Zire 71 is that the camera, which is activated by sliding the top of the unit upward, doesn't really snap back into deactivation position that well. Because of this problem, I actually had to return my first Palm because I'd discover that, while in the case, in my bag, the camera had activated and my power had drained. But Palm warranties them for 90 days, so you have three months to make sure your unit works well.
The standard Palm organizer features are pretty much the same as on the m515- and I find it does pretty much everything I need it to do. The expandable memory card is a real help, and I have yet, even keeping Documents to Go on it all all times, been able to use up the space on the 64 card it came with. YOu can even get the ultra thin palm folding keyboard to go with it which turns this baby into a little computer! When I bought the Zire they had a promotion going for the free MP3 kit- not being a fan of walking around listening to music, I didn't think this would ever come in handy, free or not. But having recently become addicted to audio books, I am able to not only listen to my latest download with ear phones, but the Zire also has a pretty good speaker built in so I can listen to it without headphones.(in the car, or whatever.) It's really great.
No Palm is perfect. The battery needs to be charge pretty much every other day and I have learned the hard way that you must back everything up by doing frequent hot syncs with your computer. It runs great with a Mac, too. Only recommendation I have is that the Zire must be kept in a case that zippers closed because, especially when playing MP3's- the touch screen is EXTREMELY sensitive- the more protection you can give the Palm, the better. Overall, it's the most fun Palm I've had ever and a really good deal for the money. If you are a sucker for PDA's, you'll have fun with this. I would pay more for it than I did and still be happy.
Rating:
Summary: Great For a beginner
Review: The Zire 71 is my first PDA. It is easy to use. I use the camera a lot and love that I can email pictures to friends and family. I have not broken down and purchased a digital camera so I really appreciate this feature. I wanted a PDA that I would use and I use this one daily.
I too had the screen crack spontaneously. When I called Palm they said there was a problem with a batch of screens and replaced it free. Then the replacement started to go dead very within a day. I found that it was the appointment cards in the cover pushing the joy stick. I removed the crds and it has been fine since. My battery lasts a long time, even when I play a game on it.
Rating:
Summary: Bad Luck To Some!
Review: I think that for the features you get with the Zire 71 it is an excellent product. Camera, PDA, MP-3, audio books, games, books etc.(...) The Zire 71 is light-years ahead of my old 130. The only drawback are problems with RealPlayer Plus and downloading music. Their security codes tend to make the system crash alot. As far as the negative comments- I have no problem with XP, syncing or any other problems associated with the negative reviews. If you are looking for a PDA with more bang for your buck you can't beat the Zire 71.
Rating: 
Summary: DON'T DO IT! RUN!
Review: I just read a review about the lack of battery life. This is my reality as well. But mine never kept a charge beyond 2 days, and now it is dead every morning when I get to work. I was a Handspring user for years, with NO problems. None. I am sick knowing they sold out to Palm, (I hope they made tons of money and are on a beach somewhere!) as I would love to go back. And on top of this, I just read that it doesn't interface well with XP...to which my company just spent $$$ on getting us up-graded to. grrrrr, time to pitch it and move on.
Rating:
Summary: Cracked Screen Times Two
Review: When my palm was just two months old, I had my first cracked screen. How did it crack? I'm not sure. I was listening to music on a cross-country flight, with my Zire 71 resting on the seat beside me. After some time, I picked up the unit, and the screen was cracked. Palm replaced my unit (I did have to pay a bit, but not the entire cost of a new screen). Ever since the first time the screen cracked, I have babied this unit, always keeping it in the provided protective case. Yesterday I went shopping with my wife, carrying my Zire 71, in my pocket, in its protective case. A few hours later, I pulled it out to check my schedule, and behold, the screen had cracked, WHILE IT WAS IN THE PADDED PROTECTIVE CASE THAT CAME WITH THE ZIRE 71. I'm not sure what palm intended this unit to be used for, since it is not pocket or airplane safe. If you are looking for a portable PDA that you want to leave on your desk, in it's cradle, and never take it anywhere, then this is the unit for you. It comes with a cool pop-up camera, so for taking pictures of your office this unit might come in handy, but don't even THINK about putting it in your pocket so you could take pictures somewhere else. Your screen might crack. Move over Palm, I'm headed to Pocket PC. And goodbye to all the cash I wasted on software for this unit. :-(
Rating:
Summary: Great First PDA
Review: This is my first PDA and I had heard many stories from people who had purchased PDA's and then never utilized them. I was determined to find one I could use and this one has been great. I bought it basically for business names and addresses and the date book, but have found other neat uses - the photo capability has become my traveling photo album - not only does it take pics, but you can crop and store other pics for "show and tell". At first, I was disappointed in the "Audible" feature, but it has since been upgraded and I use it for listening to books. I did have to buy an expansion card but I have a lot of info in here. No problems hot-syncing and my battery lasts quite a while - depends on how often you use it, but when using the audio features, the light goes out to conserve battery life. I don't use it for games so I can't comment on that. Overall, it's been a great first PDA for me and I recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: I get my money's worth everyday
Review: This is one awesome pice of electronics. It's more than just a really great organizer that awesomely syncs to my microsoft outlook.It's a really cool digital camera that takes good pics(great for e-mails) not the best but I don't think it takes horrible pics.The battery life is awesome I have to recharge it about every three days not everyday like some of the other reviewers.I don't have the mp3 player attachment since I already archive my music through mini disc so I can't comment on the media player.One of the features I do get a lot of use out of is the palm reader which I think is so cool when I have time between classes and at work.It seems
as if everyone who sees me using it wants to get one and I think you sould too.The only thing I reccomend is treating it like an expensive thing so it dosen't get broke and you have to complain about it on amazon.com.I recommend the rhinoskin case for the zire71, screen protectors, palm reader, agendus, and a protection plan.I didn't think I'd use this that much but I end up using it a little bit more each day and I feel that I have gotten my money's worth.
Rating:
Summary: Zire 71 - Disappointed
Review: I am very disappointed with my purchase. The battery lasts less than a day. I am now on my second Zire, and it is doing the same as the first. I think Palm is going to have to figure out how to fix this if they want this product to be a winner. Right now, it's been of no use to me.
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