Rating: 
Summary: You need to see this Palm and decide for yourself
Review: It is all in the screen. If you read the other reviews, you can see that people are bitterly divided over the screen on this new Palm. Honestly, I was disappointed when I first saw it. It appeared dim and if you don't look at it straight on, the colors are washed out. However, having used it for a week or so now, I've adjusted to it. Now that I know the angle to hold it at, the screen looks great. It has an energy saving mode, but this is too dim for all but brightly lit environments.Compare the M505 side-by-side with the Palm IIIC and there is no comparison. The IIIC screen is much brighter and easier to see. Although the IIIC only has 256 colors and the M505 is claimed to have over 65 thousand colors, you won't notice it when you directly compare them. Palm claims that the M505 has a screen that is easier to use in direct sunlight. I have to take their word for it because I work indoors and can't imagine ever using my Palm in direct sunlight. If you a lifeguard or work at the beach, this is definitely the Palm for you! The unit is smaller than the IIIC and fits more comfortably in the pocket. The memory is expandable which is a major advantage over the IIIC. And gone are those incredibly annoying and unreliable batteries. The unit has rechargeable batteries and it charges up whenever it is in the cradle. I don't know how long the batteries last, but it easily lasts the day. I recharge mine every night. Overall, this is a nice palm. I bought it the day it came out, based upon its tremendous prerelease press. That only goes to show that you can't trust the reviews and, perhaps, that you should look before you leap. Honestly, I wouldn't trust this review either. Although I've adjusted to the Palm M505 and I'm happy with it, I'd advise anybody contemplating its purchase to compare it directly with the Palm IIIC and whatever other color handheld you may be considering. You need to compare the screens directly and decide for yourself.
Rating: 
Summary: Great PDA!!
Review: Guys; don't let yourselves be fooled by all the comments regarding the poor screen quality. I just got mine and it's here to stay! Believe me it's worth every penny.
Rating: 
Summary: Palm should recall this product! Try the m500 instead!
Review: In the race to be the first to have the thinnest vibrant color handheld palm has failed miserably! Palm should recall this product. If you can live without color try the m500 instead.
Rating:
Summary: Palm m505... best yet!
Review: I have been an avid Palm Pilot user since the Palm Pilot Personal came out several years ago. Like many users, I never gave up my old Palm Pilot Personal. I even purchased a replacement housing after so many accidental drops to the ground. I would have not retired the old Palm Pilot until recently, when I received a Palm m505 as a gift from my wife. It only took me a few minutes to load the new software on my desktop computer, attached the HotSync cradle on one of my USB ports, docked the new unit, and completed the HotSync process which loaded every information including password protected items into the new unit. It was a no-brainer! The display is great and gets even better when needing to turn on the backlight which provides an awesome contrast. I don't have to carry a thick wallet filled with pictures of my loved ones anymore. I download their pictures using the MGI's software (included in the box) and I can stare at them and even run a slide show for anyone who wants to see pictures of my family. Great resolution by the way. Battery drain you might ask? no problem I take down notes with the backlight on and I still have plenty of power to use and besides if you think it starts going low beyond the hi mark of the battery symbol, just dock it on to the HotSync cradle and it gets charged in minutes. I have done my own research on the latest PDA's and by far the Palm m505 is the best one out there. I will give you more info on this new Palm unit later to cover other features such as the expansion card and others. Enjoy this one!!! -Tom L.
Rating:
Summary: Great overall product
Review: A couple weeks ago I purchased the m505, my first Palm computer. I have no regrets. It is a marvelous piece of hardware and software engineering and I am sold on its elegance, simplicity, functionality, and performance. The small size is absolutely great and its design is beautiful. It fits fine in coat pockets and is not obtrusive in or out of view. Admittedly, the color screen washes out under adverse lighting conditions. But the m500 is only ... cheaper so I figured that for an additional 12.5% cost I would find its color useful more often than not. However, it is something that Palm can improve in subsequent models. Installing the PC software went mostly fine, and I was synching up with Outlook 2000 within minutes. I have had some difficulty getting e-mail to synch up without crashing the synch program on the PC, but I suspect that has more to do with what I have installed under Windows 98 than with the Palm software. The standard applications are good and easy to use. Finding other applications on Palm's website is, however, like treading through an "organized jungle" of thousands of programs. And downloading and installing programs could cause the Palm to crash (it happened once on mine), so I am much more careful about what I install now. The built-in batteries have been fine so far, giving enough power for what seems like 8 to 10 hours, if not longer. Recharge is quick. Attaching the Palm m505 to the cradle is not as effective as it could be. It has to be inserted at a particular angle and then pushed back to rest. Removing it from the cradle also is more work than it really needs to be. Seems that repeated action would cause premature wear on the attaching mechanism. m500/505-specific accessories seem not to be available in stores yet so these have to be ordered online. Many of these accessories seem a bit pricey, and could knock overall out-of-pocket costs into PC pricing territory. But they probably are very helpful and satisfy a specific need. In the final analysis the ability to whip out the m505 in-between ballgame innings to quickly check or respond to e-mail or write notes or create to-do lists is fantastic. Overall, I give it an honest 4 stars for what the m505 provides--information truly and elegantly at my finger tips, anytime, anywhere.
Rating:
Summary: It's a trade-off
Review: OK, the color screen on the m505 is not the brightest in the world, but hopefully it can be adjusted with the addition of an OS patch. Overall, I'm very happy with the m505, and here's why: 1. The size. Do you know any other color Palms that are this small? The IIIc and Visor prism are BULKY. I'll sacrifice a little screen brightness to avoid the aforementioned mammoths. 2. The expansion slot. No, it's not a totally perfect solution, but neither is the Springboard or the CF slot on the TRG Pro or Handera. There are certain limitations to what you can put on the card, but overall it's a helpful thing to clear up some RAM on my Palm. I use the Handheldmed reader for my medical texts, and it works fine with the reader in RAM and the books on the card. And again, the units with a CF slot or a springboard are so much bigger than the M505! 3. Speed. It feels much faster than any of the Palm PDAs I've used, both in data lookup and HotSyncing. It's not a perfect product, but if you're looking for the compactness of the Palm Vx with a color display and expandability, you'll be happy. Do take a look at the screen, though, to make sure it works for you.
Rating: 
Summary: Needs a brighter screen
Review: After using the Handspring Visor Standard for the past year I decided to upgrade to a Palm Computer with 8Mb of memory. I have been a fan of the size and weight of the Palm V but preferred the expandability and the ease of the USB cradle of the Handspring products. When I saw information on the new Palm M500 and M505 I figured it would be the best of both worlds, a Palm V with the benefits of a Handspring Visor. Seeing that there was only a $50 difference between the mono and color units I decided to go color. After using it for the past two days I whish I saved the $50 and went with the M500 instead. The color display is so washed out looking it's hard to even tell that it is color. Other than the display I am very pleased with the product. Syncing with the USB cradle is a snap. The faster processor is noticeably quicker than my old Handspring Visor when trying to perform a find function in a large address database.
Rating:
Summary: Definitely not worth waiting for...
Review: Like many Palm-heads, I had anxiously awaited a color Palm device that featured an expansion port and the light weight of my Palm Vx. Unfortunately, the Palm m505 is NOT the answer... Being a user of both Palm and Windows-Powered Pocket PC devices, I was discouraged to see that Palm decided to sell a vastly inferior device at the same price as most Pocket PCs. The $449 Palm m505 might have the same display technology as the $499 Compaq iPaq, but the iPaq can do much more - provide seamless integration with Microsoft Office out of the box (without having to buy extra software!), play MP3/WMA files with outstanding quality, and much more. The iPaq has a 206 Mhz ARM processor and blindingly bright screen, while the Palm m505 uses a pokey 33 Mhz DragonBall processor and has a dim, depressing display. My take on the m505? Either wait for Palm to come out with a fix for the dim screen AND a plug-in MP3 player, or spend the extra $50 and buy an iPaq. Even the new Sony Color Clie looks like it will thrash the m505 soundly (and IT will play MP3s AND video!).
Rating:
Summary: What was Palm thinking??
Review: As a long time, loyal Palm user I was so disappointed with the color screen on the 505 that I returned it! I own a V and a IIIc, my 11 year old son has a 100 and a VIIx, and I cannot believe Palm actually introduced this product! The screen is unreadable in my office or home under flourescent or incandescent lighting, even with the sidelight on. I have ordered a Sony Clie 710 and will see if their promotional photography is more true to form! If you want a new design Palm, go for the 500, or get a IIIc. Avoid the 505, you will be very unhappy! Note to Palm: Resolution is useless if your users cannot see the screen.
Rating:
Summary: One Awesome Piece of Technology
Review: I love this Palm. Its sleek, fast, beautiful, feels solid and is simple to use. This is my third PDA and my second Palm. I had a Palm Pilot Professional then switched to a Compaq Aero Windows CE Palm PC with a beautiful color screen. But the batteries only lasted between 2 and 3 hours on a charge. Setup, synchronization and installing software was much more complicated than with the Palm. And it was bulky. So I decided to switch back to Palm and got the m505. After a week of use, I'm extremely happy with my Palm. I think the screen is fantastic. I can use my Palm under any lighting conditions, which is a real plus. Of course you should be able to use a PDA anywhere, but that's not always the case. It is with my m505. I downloaded "glowhack" so that the backlight is on by default (an option the Palm folks should provide--and make the default for shipped units), and I only turn it off if I'm outside in bright light. The batteries seem to last forever compared with my Compaq. My kids will play games on it for hours on end (with the backlight on), and it'll still have half a charge left. And then it charges up very quickly. The main functions of the Palm, the calendar, address book, to-do list and memo-pad are very simple and quick to use even if you need to do something a little odd like add an appointment for every third Tuesday of the month. That's another reason I came back to Palm. The extra software included is very useful and cool. You can put Microsoft Office documents, video clips and pictures very easily on your Palm. You can even run a slide-show showing off your pictures. I didn't use to carry pictures of my kids, but now I do. The only downside is the stylus is a little too hard to get out of its slot. I'm told that it'll "loosen up" over time, so I hope it does. But it seems like a manufacturing flaw to me. I expect later units will be better in this regard. Overall, I love this Palm. With its combination of size, speed, style, great battery life with quick charge, use-anywhere screen and Palm simplicity, the m505 is a real winner.
| 
