Rating: 
Summary: Very Happy wih Palm m500.
Review: I just purchased one of the new Palm m500's. I had a Palm IIIc for a while and was very happy with that. However, I purchased a Palm Vx for someone at work and was impressed with the small size. I then looked at the m500 and m505 for myself. I liked the screen on the m500 much better than the m505 color. It seemed sharper and easier to read. The backlight is really cool. In dim light or in darkness, it creates a "negative" image and is very easy to see and use. All the hardware and software work well, just like other Palms. The battery life has been very good so far. The size is just awesome. I think it is the smallest PDA and fits very nicely in my shirt pocket. The expansion slot seems to have a lot of potential, but it has limited uses right now. Also, the accessories for the m500 are limited and not stocked in all stores. I have not used the Internet or modem on this PDA. Overall, I think this is the best "executive" PDA on the market and love the size, screen, and future expansion capabilities.
Rating:
Summary: m500 - thumbs up
Review: Ok...I just finished reading all the reviews between the Palm m500 and the Palm m505 (color). This is my first Palm so this review is coming from a novice point of view. I decided to go with the m500. I made a wise choice! I really don't need a color screen. I don't play games or anything like that. So I decided to go with the m500 and save almost a hundred bucks. I bought it for the address book, the memo feature, the to do list, and the additional memory you can buy. I really don't need to see these things in color. Many people complain about the screen clarity, size etc..etc..I really don't have a problem with it. It is nice and clear. I can see the fonts no problem, and the palm icons are nice and clear. The screen is a good size too. The illuminated light is nice and bright. The screen is dark while the fonts and all the graphics nicely light up. It comes with alot of extra software too. It was also very easy to operate. I started to feel confident within 5 minutes after I pulled it out of the box. It's navigation is very straight forward and easy to understand. I just installed software that allows you to view and edit Microsoft Word and Excel files right on your Palm!All in all I am very satisfied with the m500. I would highly recommend it to beginners who want basic Palm functions, but also want the option of exploring and using the other great features that puts the m500 at the top of the line of Palm handhelds. You also save some money too!
Rating: 
Summary: Software?
Review: Looking for some 'cheap' electronic organizers, I came across this one. The floor model was on sale, so it made it a great deal. The software was not included and I wasn't told that I needed software to make it work with my computer. The sales associate made it sound as the Palm would install the needed components on my computer. No where on the box did it mention a CD-ROM to install. With this lack of software, this thing is pretty much useless.
Rating: 
Summary: Palm m500 review
Review: This is very usefull as it holds a great deal of medical PDA software. I just upgraded from a Palm VX. The expandable memory and price on this makes it a good buy. I didn't want a color PDA as I find color distracting and a bit unprofessional.
This PDA is not as well built as the Palm VX but has the advantage of more memory and the added notepad feature which can store hand written scribble.
I purchased mine directly from Palm as Amazon was out of them for a while. The price here on Amazon is much better.
The Palm brand hard shell case for this PDA is very poorly made when contrasted with the hard shell case for the Palm VX.
I purchased my Palm m500 with a 16mb expansion card so that I could add the PDR software which is available free to physicians. So far this PDA is running smoothly.
Although the palm m500 looks a great deal like the Palm VX, it is designed so that NONE of the peripherals that go with the Palm VX will fit this palm ie the keyboard and hot sync apparatus.
As one upgrades to this it requires the repurchase of EVERYTHING. This was disturbing.
Rating:
Summary: The worst product EVER
Review: I received the Palm m500 as a Christmas gift. Within 2 months it wouldn't hot sync. Technical services made me jump through all kinds of hoops to fix it including a regedit on my PC. I'm now dealing with customer service hoping to get some resolution, so far no help. I'm going to go up the chain to every supervisor. I have never in my life had such a bad product with such terrible support. I had the old Palm 3E which never gave me problems. Take my advice - STEER CLEAR. I'll never buy a Palm product again. If I could give it negative stars I would.
Rating:
Summary: I like it
Review: I've had my m500 for just over a year. Like many others, I replaced my venerable VX with this. It does with everything the Vx did with some nice additions. To be fair, the lack of compatibility between the m500 family of Palms and the Palm V's was disappointing. Clearly, this is a marketing ploy to boost peripheral sales from customers who have upgraded. Back to the m500 itself; I do everything with it. I use it as an organizer, syncing nicely with MS-Outlook. It serves as my ebook reader with the 8MB in memory holding several books, including the entire Bible. I use the Note Pad function to handwrite quick notes or drawings for later reference. I use a Stowaway type keyboard to take notes in drawn out meetings at work or to do personal writing in my free time. I take it everywhere, in a hardshell case, and its proven most durable. The available, yet limited expandability in the removeable card media is convenient should you deal in massive amounts of data. I still haven't exhausted the internal 8MB of memory since I compulsively discard useless data and applications. This is a good low frills electronic organizer. It doesn't take up much space. If you want impressive audio and videa on a PDA (egad!) then you would be best served to look elsewhere. If you need a good organizing enhancement, with limited nice-to-haves, this is a good little tool to have.
Rating:
Summary: I am sick and tired of my Palm m500 not working - do not buy
Review: I read the reviews here about one and a half years ago to decide whether or not to buy this model - and the reviews were generally positive then so I bought one. However as you can see from the REVIEWS FROM MID 2003 ONWARDS - this is a bad machine - many people have had problems with it. I had the hotsync problem which peole are speaking about - this issue was brought to court in a class action by a lawyer in the US - but Palm refuses to recall this machine. I am also having what they call a digitizer problem - I have called the service line a number of times and now they want me to pay $140-$198 to pay for it to be fixed or to get a "as good as new" replacement - repair could take up to 5 weeks. I have really lost faith in Palm - in my opinion this is a hopeless product - and I beg you to benefit from my loss and do not buy this machine. If you do buy this product buy an extra 5 years of warranty if your store has this option because I believe you will need it. I generally do not go out of my way to post a negative review but this product has got me so frustrated and dissapointed. (I wanted to give this zero stars but Amazon doesn't allow you to do that.)
Rating:
Summary: Hot Sync problems are unacceptible
Review: I bought my m500 Palm in May, 2002. After about 6 months, it kept turning itself on and then the battery would die almost immediately, so I got the hard case for about $40 but that didn't cure the problem. I purchased their on-line help for another $40. It wasn't very helpful. Then it wouldn't perform a hot sync. They finally admitted that there was a problem that had to do with electrostatic discharge (ESD). They sent me a card and complicated instructions for resetting the palm pilot. I thought that that took care of it but it all happened again: turned itself on, died, wouldn't hot sync. The tech support was again not very helpful but I went through the steps to restore it and it is functioning again but I lost some important data because I hadn't hot sync'd for more than a week. People with this problem should know that there has been a class action suit and Palm will replace the cradle but you should also demand the reset card. It's a pain in the neck but it seems to work. Also, hot sync daily or you'll be sorry. The website for information is www.EleySettlement.com.
Rating:
Summary: Steer clear.
Review: Even though I took very careful care of my m500, it was completely non-functional in 2 months. It's replacement was also carefully cared for, and was dead in less than a month, as was my third Palm replacement. Through the ordeal, Palm support ranged from inept to hateful, and you can shoot me if I ever buy another Palm product. The device that is supposed to help keep me on track is way too important for this kind of shoddy quality.
Rating:
Summary: Poor Palm QC drove me away
Review: This product, while useful, is a lemon. I've owned 3 Palms (M105, IIIxE, and this m500) and have had problems with each of them. I had to send my 105 back; used the replacement for a while until I got the 3xE, had to send that back after about 6 months; after it completely broke, I went to the m500. My first one worked fine for almost 8 months, then died. I sent it back, and the replacement died after three months. The replacement I have now (#3) requires a soft reset almost every time I hot synch, and will often reset itself as soon as I remove it from the cradle. I'll be sending it back, and E-baying the replacement, as I have just bought a new Ipaq.
Palm's lousy quality control drove me away from a very nice product-- but I won't trust them again. No more Palms for me.
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