Rating: 
Summary: Great Beginner PDA
Review: This is an outstanding value!
I dumped my Franklin-Covey Planner for the Palm Zire. It syncs with Microsoft Outlook without a hitch. You can carry thousands of bits of information without throwing your back out.
If you are really into playing games on your PDA then I guess you should look further. But for basic information, addresses, appointments you can't beat it. Backlighting would be nice but I rarely would be looking up things in darkness anyway.
Rating:
Summary: Great beginner PDA!
Review: I bought a used Palm Zire on Ebay, without software CD or AC cable. But it still was great! You see, the USB cable to hook up to your computer still charges it, and my battery has lasted me approx 4 weeks, not 3 like the technical data says.Those people that complain about it being too small of memory are probably power users. I was able to store as many addresses, memos, etc. as I wanted, plus two or three E-books, PLUS 25 small, fun games and still have over 1 MB left! No backlight is not a problem. There is no glare problem either. Some tips:
1) To keep your Grafitti area free from scratches, put a piece of clear tape over it. You can replace it anytime, and it helps you to write, too! Less slippery.
2) You can get lots of free games, utilities, and more from www.PalmGear.com - They sell some, too, but I do free and it works fine.
3) Want free E-books? You can get new books such as the CIA Factbook as well as classics such as The Secret Garden at www.MemoWare.com Everything is free! In conclusion, if you want a good item for basic use as well as fun, this is it. I hope this help you. Update on 4/15/04: I got my Zire a little under four months ago. So far, I have not had any problems otherwise described in other reviews. It was used when I got it, so it is about 6 months old. Not really a test, but with a 90 day warranty, it is good for it to last as long as possible without problems :).
Rating:
Summary: The Best PDA for a Kid
Review: I think this is a great pda for a kid well I am 13 years old and it is the best for keeping track of my school work and what I am going to do that day. If you just want to keep a to do list of the stuff to do in the day and play a game or 2 in science this is a great PDA. There is only one bad thing a bout it NO BACKLIGHT
Rating: 
Summary: Perfect for addresses, schedules, and organization
Review: I have had the Zire for about 15 months, and thoroughly enjoy it. I bought it to deal with the problem of multiple paper address and phone books that were constantly out of date (and not with me when I needed them). It has become an indispensable tool, not just for addresses and phone numbers, but for keeping a schedule and organizing lists of information. Many of these lists I didn't imagine before I bought the Palm, e.g.: o Movies recommended by friends
o Shopping lists
o Books lent out to people
o Web passwords and important numbers (password protected)
o Notes taken during meetings and so on. It has easily exceeded my expectations, and is one of the best $100 I have ever spent. If you need colour, MP3 playback, JPEG viewing etc., this is not the PDA for you. But I knew I did not need those things, and I didn't want to pay for them. The 2M memory is far more than you will ever need for storing addresses and schedules, and the lack of expandability is not an issue. Furthermore I would challenge anyone to use a Palm efficiently in the dark, so the lack of a backlight is not a problem. I have checked out the Zire 21, which now sells for the same price I bought the Zire for (about $100). I don't see any point in upgrading to it from the Zire, but for newbies it is worth a look, if only for Graffiti 2, which looks like it is a bit easier to learn than the Graffiti supplied with the Zire.
Rating: 
Summary: No backlight!!!
Review: This product would be great except for one thing: no backlight. I don't know about you, but I often find the need to use a device like this under low-light conditions. No backlight makes it far less useful for me. (With a backlight you can, for example, read e-books in bed without disturbing your spouse, etc.) Just think about it before you buy . . .
Rating:
Summary: Great for first time users!
Review: I received this Palm as a Christmas gift. Within a few days I had entered all of my contact information and entered my calendar data. I was carrying a Daytimer Calendar in my purse and it took up half my purse. I am thrilled at how easy this is to use!! I didn't want to get an expensive PDA because I was not sure I would like using it. I thought I would get frustrated with entering the text on the small keyboard, but it is really easy to use. Also, the Graffiti software was easy to learn. I just bought another one for my teenage daughter. It's really reasonably priced (especially with the rebate!). I think this will help her keep track of homework, tests, upcoming events. I would recommend purchasing this becuase it's a great value for the price!!!
Rating:
Summary: Inexpensive, light, perfect for me
Review: I bought the low end Zire to replace a M100 which was faltering badly. I read many of the reviews would like to point out, this is NOT a power user PDA. Its perfect for me - a busy Mom who doesn't want to have to hand enter reoccuring dates (birthdays, anniversaries, etc.), who needs a easily updateable, easily printable version of the month's schedule for other family members, and a place to keep my personal contacts (which number less than 300). It has an easy-to-understand UI, is sufficient for most personal's users needs and it is CHEAP. I bought it for $61 new, from amazon shortly before Christmas 2003, and there was a $20 Amazon rebate, no shipping,so cost me a grand todal of $46. My old trusty m100 which I bought around 1997(?) ran me around $160, so I was thrilled. And its so much lighter and smaller. So don't buy it already, if you are a power user who wants bluetooth wireless, 10,000 record, yada, yada. This is a great device for me and I am very happy with it. The reason I give it a 4 is that the documentation is pretty sparse and it took me quite a while to figure out that in order ot use my old address book and old datebook data from the m100 I had to use the MERGE function. This is such a common need it should have been in the FAQ and prominently features in the setup instructions.
Rating:
Summary: Great handheld for the price
Review: If anyone got this handheld for $40, I'm not sure why they would be complaining... I'm a college student with a job and this thing is perfect for scheduling all my tasks, monitoring my expenses, writing notes, keeping contacts. Granted this is my first handheld, and I should not be saying this b/c of lack of experience... but at $40!!! Please... Either you did not evaluate what you would be using this handheld for, or you did not do enough research to see if the handheld had features that would allow you to do what you wanted it to be able to do. If you're a business man who needs maximum features/functionality out of a handheld, and are making enough money to afford a cutting-edge one, then obviously this one isn't for you! Anyways, I can only think of a couple of shortcomings:
- annoying cover. I still use it, but I have to hold it back along w/ the handheld, which is easy to get used to. It protects the screen adequetly (so far atleast). so not too bad.
- apparantly it doesn't come w/ the newest palm OS.. (but I will be loading linux on it anyways.. so not really a complaint for me)
- Can't think of a time that I will need a backlight but this might be an issue w/ some people. personally I'd rather get more battery life than having to use a backlight. Again, I need to remind you at $40! Do your research, and I'm sure most of you will find that this handheld fits all of your needs.
Rating: 
Summary: Be Careful
Review: Just a note that individuals should be careful about purchasing this entry level unit from Palm for gifts or Christmas presents. Someone purchased one for me for Christmas and there was a dead spot on the screen. Since I was visiting family out of state at the time I have no recourse to return the item to the original vendor and while Palm will repair I have to have to shell out to ship the item to them. Not sure it is worth the money to have repaired. My advice is to be careful and check the unit when purchasing. Or better yet buy something else.
Rating:
Summary: Good bang for the buck
Review: When you spend 60 dollars on a palm piolet, you can't expect a whole lot of frills. This palm piolet does exactly what it says it does. The organizer works very well, and for the first time in my life, I can actually read my own handwriting. It's an awsome thing for a college student. 2 mb of memory is nothing to brag about, but it does the job. It has a daily, weekly, and monthly planner, so I can plan everything ahead. The sync program works perfectly with my computer, so I can back my stuff every day. It takes about 10 seconds to do that, and I don't have to buy an expensive memory card. All you have to do is keep the battery charged and sync it every other day. I recommend it to every cheap college student.
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