Rating: 
Summary: Great product
Review: I have had mine for a few weeks now. It is great. It is as simple as my old m100 (which i liked very much) but has that extra coolness factor. The camera is OK. It dosnt deal with motion very well, but if you are taking landscape shots it is good. I agree with the reviews i read that said it turns on to easy. If you are carefull it is fine, but it is very easy to press down the joystick. Overall i am very hapy with the performance of my 71 and would strongly suggest it to anyone looking for a pda.
Rating:
Summary: amazing
Review: im amazed that such a good product can be sold so cheap
Rating: 
Summary: Palm Zire 71--The good and the bad
Review: Positive:
Having purchased the Zire 71 in early December, 2003, I am quite satisfied with it. I have an MP3 player, video player, camera, and anything else the older palms had all in my pocket. I originally bought an m125 with a monochrome screen, now the color hi-res is a big jump. I'll keep the m125, but I shall never again buy a monochrome screen. Camera is ready whenever I need it. Note that it won't work if you run the battery down to about 15%, but who'd do such a thing? The screen shuts off at my programmed time while listening to MP3 and I can continue listening. Hours of music and hardly a dent in the power reading. Mono speaker sounds great! Can't hear it too well in a loud room, but if it is quiet, it is loud. 5 way joystick is an improvement over the 2 scroll buttons in older palms. 16 MB of RAM is great, but I feel the near future would make 32 ideal for the knowledgeable pda user. The SD/MMC slot is a must have anymore, and that was wise to include. OS 5 permits better games such as the Sega Classics card, Atari Retro card, and Astraware is also up to something... It may seem deceptive, but if the battery were to fail, which it likely would in the years to come, it CAN be replaced. Just look for the battery, instructions and tools included. It recognizes screen inputs better than the m125. Infrared can beam pictures and any other file to your palm and pocket pc friends, or enemies. Memo pad files and pictures are two types of files that I know are inter-compatible. Fast processor, I like it. My Zire 71 loads from the card in a fraction of the time that it took my m125. I do not understand some peoples' complaint about this palm not synching with Windows XP. I only used Windows XP (Home Edition) to synch this palm and it worked flawlessly every time.Negative:
Don't get me wrong this is a nice palm, but it does have setbacks. First, the case, what were they thinking?? Every time the palm is inserted into the case, it comes on. Problem solved, free button disabling software. The case is now my friend rather than enemy. Still, not too brilliant. The camera is nice, but resolution is not so great. I'd still recommend the camera. The software for the camera is poor. You can view the photo, rotate it, or copy it to the card. I do not need any enhancements, that can be done on the laptop. However, it would have been really nice if I could have magnified the picture. Good 3rd party programs with this feature generally want your money. OS 5, isn't it wonderful, guess again. Palm's bluetooth card for upgrading palms with expansion slots does not support OS 5. (I read the specs thoroughly before doing anything, so I did not fall into owning a useless card.) Some programs, make that quite a few, do not support this newer operating system. You CAN use Wi-Fi wireless radio, but I shall get to that later in my neutral section. You can use it as a remote, but would need a separate program using the infrared. I had a little fun turning on televisions with it, but the developer wants my money for me to keep using it. Palm should include a universal remote application like HP does. Neutral:
Standard organizer features included with this palm. Unlike my other palm, this one wasn't dropped like 3 times on a hard floor, so I do not yet know how it handles to that. If it is like the other palm, it should be quite durable as the other one works perfect. Price seems about right compared to other current palms. Battery is rechargeable, seems properly suited to the palm's power need. Universal connector, a must have, assuming you would like to expand to a keyboard, modem, extra battery, or other components sold by other companies. Wi-Fi, THIS JUST IN, you CAN expand to Wi-Fi via the universal connector at the bottom. Go to http://www.enforawireless.com/shop/detail.aspx?ID=1. But this Wi-Fi upgrade is going to cost about $170, yet it does provide Wi-Fi, battery, and a nice case for the palm. Compact Flash isn't really necessary, so it is logical to do without. This palm packs features, but seems a bit thick compared to the Tungsten E, which is no problem to deal with. Blue color is a variety from the grey tones of the tungstens. It has Graffiti 2, sure it is an adjustment from the original, but it is not bad. I personally prefer the original Graffiti, but not much anyone can do about it in any newer palm, although I did hear of 3rd party apps for this...my guess is they would want your money though. Don't see how Tungsten C users can enjoy using that thumb board. Free palm programs including the button disabler available at www.freewarepalm.com To buy a replacement battery for this or another palm try www.palmbattery.com. Site also has nice pictures of this palm disassembled. Lithium-ion batterries are rated for a shelf life of 7 years. (Don't expect daily use and a life of 7 years, though)
Rating:
Summary: Perfect for a Newbie
Review: My husband gave me the Zire71 for Christmas. It is the first Palm I have ever owned and I love it! It is so easy. The display is wonderful and I am having so much fun finding reasons to use it. I am using it for personal reasons and as a teacher and was able to import my sub plans using Documents to Go. The camera is okay, a nice feature but I have a digital camera I use all the time. I like the fact that I can listen to music while using the other applications. I think this is perfect for the new user.
Rating:
Summary: Better than the rest
Review: I got this Zire 71 for Christmas 2003, and I am really enjoying it. It takes pretty high quality (at least I think so) images, plays mp3s, and (with the right software, such as Documents to Go) lets me carry a copy of my resume around with me, should anyone ask for it... :) The only downside of it would be great if WMA files were supported, and that there were more onboard memory. I was debating whether to get the zire or a Sony Clie, but the Sony models in my price range were kinda blah. Other than the two cons, it's worth the buy, especially over the Sony models!
Rating:
Summary: Cool PDA for the money
Review: I have had the Zire 71 for 2 weeks now, and I am very satisfied with my purchase. It is definitely one of the best PDA's for the money.
I know there are other PDA's with features like Bluetooth and WiFi. However, Bluetooth is only a convenience feature because USB already does everything as long as you have a cable. Also, you don't need WiFi to access e-mail if you have a GPRS phone, and most of us don't rely on our Palm pilots to surf the web. Notebook computers are much better for that.
The built-in camera is great (WOW! factor). It doesn't replace a digital camera, but it's always available. Pros
-Bright, clear, vivid 320 x 320 resolution screen.
-Accepts SD memory cards. I also have SD cards for my camera and camcorder. In my opinion, SD rules!
-Universal connector for cradle, charger, and hotsync. All of those functions are working fine.
-Ability to run almost any software designed for Palm OS. I have yet to see a piece of software I want that requires a better Palm. -Speed. I know there are faster Palms and Pocket PC's out there (for more money), but for the applications I run, I can't imagine why I would need anything faster.
-Joystick (great for games). Cons
-Only 13 MB of memory for applications. You can solve this problem by purchasing a high capacity SD card.
-Kinoma player does not convert Windows Media or RealPlayer formats.
-Joystick (not so great for productivity applications). Tips
-Get a high capacity SD card (at least 128 MB) ASAP. Use it to store all your pictures and movies.
-If your movies are in a compressed format (ie. Windows Media, RealPlayer, Quicktime) convert them to AVI or MPEG first. Then convert them to Kinoma format. I use Windows Movie Maker to convert my Windows Media files to AVI.
-Get a hard case specifically designed for this model. With a hard case, I can put my Zire 71 in my front pocket and not worry about damaging my Palm.
-If you want to use e-mail, get a GPRS phone.
Rating: 
Summary: POOR DESIGN
Review: This is an extremely poorly design piece of technology. If you plan on keeping this in your pocket, be prepared to buy a new screen for it often. My fiance has been through TWO screens because for no apparent reason (ie: he hasn't run into anything), while in his pants pocket the screen has cracked. Overall, Palm was blind when designing this--they should have come up with a HARD cover or case to protect this little investment.
Rating:
Summary: i smell a class action lawsuit
Review: Someone should start a class action lawsuit against Palm (and perhaps Apple as well) for selling Palm products without any warning that the Palm 4.1 HotSync software does NOT WORK with OS X 10.2.X software ...........rendering the Palm product USELESS!!!!!! No matter how many checks and uninstalls and reinstalls, the HotSync ends in "Conduit Manager is locked" or "Conduit Manager unexpectedly quit." Palm says that they are "working on a fix," but it has been a few months since they've been saying that. Not to mention that their Tech Support is not well informed to this problem. It took me 3 emails before they even acknowledged this problem, but simply directed me to Apple.com Discussions. How is it that a manufacturer can get away with essentially false advertising (marketing that a product will work fine with latest Apple software) and apathetic accountability?
Rating:
Summary: For the money, Palm finally beat Sony!!!
Review: I've been a Sony NX series owner for a few years. With the latest Sony's going for $500-700, I new I was getting into ridiculous price ranges. So I gave the Zire 71 a try. It is great. The camera is better than Sony's NX70V, and the UX series. Plus, its soooo much smaller. I can really take it anywhere. The MP3 player is RealOne, and its quite functional. You can add songs through Hotsync or through your computer's RealOne player. Or, if you got the $99 audio kit, its even easier (mine came free!!) Although the MP3 player could use a bit more volume, the whole package is definitely worth the reduced price tag of $249. In fact, the Sony's that are comparable are almost twice that much!! Plus, the Smart Media cards are really affordable, compared to Memory Sticks (256mb for only $80!) This is definitely my favorite palm yet (even more user-friendly than the T3- which I ended up returning for the Zire 71!) Totally the best value out there right now!!
Rating: 
Summary: Palm71 Dead in a Purse
Review: It's ironic that something that is supposed to make life easier is a constant frustration. If you are a woman and considering purchasing this product you need to know that if you are carrying this item in a purse your life will be consumed with pulling it out of your purse to retrieve information and not being able to access the info because the "71" is dead. I'm back to paper and pencil. The majority of the carrying cases are soft and when the Zire71 is compressed by things in the purse the buttons at the bottom are pushed in and cause it to stay on in your purse until it is dead. The auto off mechanism doesn't turn it off because compression keeps the buttons, particularly the center knobby one, pushed in preventing autooff to work. Palm has come out with a hard plastic carrying case but it is still not hard enough to solve the problem.
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