Rating: 
Summary: Not so good as I was expecting
Review: As a user of a palm IIIxe and a Vx I was expecting more from the m505. The design is fine but the batteries deffinitely lasts less than the regular ones from my palm III. The color is not as usefull as I was waiting for and the pictures you can see with it area waste of time and space. I think that it is really a good product for a new user but for those that have a palm III ou V the upgrade is useless
Rating:
Summary: NICE PRODUCT
Review: I recently bought the M505 and I love it I used to have the IIIX before. This is so much faster than the others and I have not had any bad experience with mine. The hot sync no problems? The color yes isn't like fantastic but it is much better than looking at the green/black monochrome. If your out looking at this model and the M500 compare the speed between the 2 the color(M505) is much faster than the M500. I also use the fellows screen protectors and this help cut down any glare you may have and it also protects the screen. Try it you will like it. Spend the extra and buy the color or a monochrome.
Rating: 
Summary: m505 color issues
Review: There's so much ado about the colors on m505's screen that it's hard to not get confused. The commonest complaint is about the colors being dull. However, those who complain do omit an important detail: The screen is obviously designed for improved visibility, not for bright colors per se. Unlit, screen does have a metallic sheen which makes its white to be silvery-gray - no problem perceiving it as white after ten minutes spent getting used to it. Lit, it is comparable to other TFT screens. But the point is, it does not *require* a backlight to be seen as the bright and vivid alternatives. Under poor lighting, it is still readable without a backlight, only dulling the colors somewhat. In bright sun - where no backlight would save a standard TFT screen - it is readable. Note also that people complain that backlight is battery gulper... but most other TFT screens can't be viewed without a backlight at all! Now for another matter altogether. The pixels of m505's screen are rather big, and the screen background is black. This means that there's a discernible dark grid on screen, which may interfere with reading in some people (including myself). I traced the effect down to a point, and I believe it occurs if you are very nearsighted and have to wear glasses even while reading, especially when your glasses have different compensation on the right and left eye. The effect manifestates as an unpleasant "moire"illusion. This is something to be aware of, and I advise to take a look at a "live" m505 first if you are in doubt. You might want to stick to the grayscale m500 instead, which is more suited for reading texts off screen than the color unit. Otherwise, the PDA is an exemplary piece of design, introducing no bells and whistles but bringing the standard to top quality execution.
Rating: 
Summary: Very good device --- Go for it !
Review: This is one of the many PDA's I have used. Last one was a Handsping Visor Prism. I can really compare it to the 505:1. Handspring has no bugs. Never crashed, never got a problem with hotsync (and I have a lot to synchronize each time). However, there is a fix from Palm (at their support web site) to fix USB hotsync problems (when accessing oustide databases such as Avantgo). 2. Handspring has a better screen. No doubt about it. You must use the backlit all the time on the 505. Again, there is file that you can download that keeps the backlit on all the time. I recommend using it, even if it may drains the battery faster. But I have seen very negative comments about the 505 screen, come on it is much better than the V! And you don't use a PDA to watch photos or videos, this is ridiculous! 3. Palm is light and smaller. It fits into your shirt pocket, the Handspring does not even fit in any pocket! 4. Included software. There all a lot of included software with the Palm which are really good. Such as Document to go which helps me visualize Word and Excel documents on my Palm. The software alone prices at ..., it is free with the Palm. 5. Expansion. Yes, there are not so many expansion card at this time, but they are really using a much better technology than the Handspring, and they are much smaller. 6. OS. Much faster, by far, than the Handspring. Hotsyncs? may be 5 times faster! 7. Price. Yes, it is a little bit more expensive than the Prism, but with all included software, this is a better deal. Overall, go for it, Palm has demonstrated in the past that they can really deliver and market good products.
Rating:
Summary: Palm 505, Best PDA Yet!
Review: After owning numerous other PDAs from Palm, Handspring and Compaq the m505 from Palm is by far the most useful PalmOS organizer. The screen is highly visible and legible in sunlight as well as office light (using the backlight indoors). The expansion slot is fast and the expansion cards are CHEAP! The battery life, MMC expansion slot and true PalmOS are it's biggest assets. Even though I thought the Springboard slot was a big asset to me in my Handspring Visor, its incredibly poor screen (even the Prism is illegible in most light), the high price of Springboard modules, low battery life with modules installed and the fact that I cracked many screens on my Visors, I would say the Palm 505 is by far the best Handheld PDA I've used. The Compaq Ipaq is a beast, any familiar with it will know what I'm talking about. There are over 10k apps for the Palm OS now. ps- Be aware that many of the nonPalm devices use a modified version of the PalmOS (ie Sony, TRG, & Handspring) and are usually not upgradable by the user. I had to replace my Visor deluxe because Handsprings PalmOS on the Visor deluxe could not support IPSEC and numerous applications I needed to use.
Rating:
Summary: Better than any other PDA.. except for the color...,.
Review: I like this better than Clie (which my husband have right now). Well I got a Palm Vx as a gift and when my husband told and showed me the M505, I instantly fell in love with it and exhange my Vx to M505. Compared to Clie, I like the M505 Screen especially when you use the Stylus pen (it's soo smooth) unlike in Clie, though it's good they put screen protection, It's hard and felt sandy when u write on Clie. The only negative feature M505 have is the dead colors.. they should've chosen brighter colors like the Clie.. but other than that.. I don't care if I don't have an MP3 player or a jog dial feature... I still love this one and wont let go until something new come up..
Rating: 
Summary: m505 has disappointing subjective image quality
Review: The Palm m505 has a dull looking screen, with subjectively low contrast. Black text appears painted on a gray background, instead of on a crisp white background. I don't care if the Palm m505 is a technological marvel inside the case, when the image on the screen is so poor, subjectively. Palm should hire some experts in human visual perception and image quality, and release a product with a better screen.
Rating:
Summary: I've Seen The Light - It's the Palm m505! Read On
Review: A few have complained that the color on this model Palm is dim. I can tell you that mine is not dim at all. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised at how bright it is both with the backlight off and with it on! Mine was made in the USA, and I understand that some may be made in another country. Perhaps the ones not made in the USA are dimmer? Or perhaps only the first run older ones had that problem and it has since been fixed. These are just guesses since mine is absolutely not dim at all! I have owned several Palms previously; III, IIIx, IIIxe, and V. The m505 is by far my favorite Palm so far! The color screen is wonderful. It makes the unit much more user friendly and easier to read overall. It's quite easy to read with the backlight off under normal lighting conditions such as under a desk lamp or in a meeting room, etc. When the need arises, you can turn on the backlight (such as in a very dark room like in bed at night or when you just want the screen to look really bright). Under both circumstances, the screen looks wonderful and is quite readable. The color makes it more fun to use and I've downloaded some shareware games to play for the true arcade experience, in a palm size! The m505 is blazing fast! It's noticeably faster than any of my previous Palms! It also comes with the latest Palm OS 4.0 verison. It's also very quiet. I was expecting the color screen to buzz but I can hardly hear anything at all with the backlight on and off! I would recommend this model because it's one of the smallest Palms available (which means you will conveniently carry it with you everywhere) and it's got color, which is a great asset since most software applications nowadays are optimized for color. I do not miss my greyscale non color Palms at all! If you are concerned that the screen might be a bit dim like other reviewers have reported, I suggest either buying locally so you can see the actual unit you are getting, or purchasing from a vendor that will let you return it. All I need now is a wireless modem setup and I'll be doing full color web-browsing and emailing from my Palm! You gotta love it!
Rating:
Summary: better than the Palm V
Review: I love my palm V, but ran out of memory. I am a physician and use the Epocrates and Qid programs which exceed the 2MB available on the PalmV. The m505 works just as well as the V with a few improvements: more memory, an expansion slot which I have not needed yet, a color screen(very faint color, but still an improvement over black and green), much faster hot synching and a few nice touches like being able to store photos. So far, it is just as reliable as my palm, the software installed flawlessly and kept all my prior settings so I didn't need to reconfigure my mail settings(I use Outlook 2000).
Rating:
Summary: I am not sure what I did before I owned it!
Review: About the only thing I don't like about the m505 is the the dim backlight. It's fast, small and powerful. I have really enjoyed having it.
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