Rating: 
Summary: A Great Choice for Handheld Organizer
Review: I've had my Palm IIIxe for about a month, and I love it. My Franklin Planner has been relegated to a spot on my bookshelf for historical reference.Reasons I picked the IIIxe: (1) It gives you 8 Meg of memory, for hundreds of $ less than the Palm Vx; (2) Subjectively, it "feels" more solid than the Handspring Visor units; (3) I don't need color; (4) the Windows-based pocket PC's are, for my needs, bloated and overpriced. (I don't need/want to work on spreadsheets, listen to MP3's, or "surf" the web on a 160-pixel screen! -- and AvantGo lets me download web pages to my IIIxe for offline viewing anyway!) Since buying it (my first PDA ever), I've been pleasantly surprised by (1) the intuitive interface, and (2) the accuracy and ease-of-use of the handwriting recognition (Graffiti). I'd figured on buying one of those plug-in keyboads, but I changed my mind - No need! Spend 20 minutes and learn Graffiti! I've bought Pocket Quicken (which works very nicely) and downloaded some shareware utilities and a few e-books; still plenty of room left in the 8 Meg ! Comparing Palm memory with desktop PC memory is not apples-to-apples (pardon the pun); Palm memory use is VERY efficient. Bottom line: If you want a functional, flexible PDA and you don't need color or other bells and whistles, buy the IIIxe!
Rating:
Summary: PDAs for Newbies - This Palm's for You
Review: This review is for PDA newbies, written by another newbie. You might have done some research and know a little about what you're getting into, (which I highly recommend) but it still seems like a $300 replacement for a Rolexdex plus desktop calendar (which is exactly what it is). I was turned off by some other reviews because of the sheer detail that some experienced users go to. People literally come to depend on this things so much that when new features come along they go insane =) If you are like I was, you simply want to know if this little thing is worth the money. The basic function of any PDA is to organize your life, period. You will get more use out of the basic calendar, address book, To Do List, and Expense List than anything else. PDAs syncronize themselves with your computer at work and at home. Most people don't realize how nice this is until they use it. Now that I understand it, I do it with everything. I download my bank statements from the Internet into Quicken, and then into my Palm. If I mark a purchase on my Palm, it automatically updates in Quicken when I get home. At work I track everything with Excel spreadsheets, and now I can carry my entire job at my fingertips, in my Palm. At home, I used to keep email addresses only on my computer, and phone numbers on a Roldex in the other room. Now the information is everywhere at once, and the clutter of these extra things is gone. Should my palm ever get lost or stolen, I've got a hassle-free backup on my PC at work and at home. It has freed my life by making organization easy and intelligent. I got the Palm IIIxe because it has everything essential, yet is cheap enough that if I found I never used it I wouldn't feel bad about the money I wasted. It is exactly the same as a Palm Vx, except for a slightly bigger case and slightly slower, but not noticeably on either account. The Palm VII's wireless internet feature is very an expensive extra I didn't need. The color screen on the IIIc is surprising functional for the cost (these little screens can be hard to read at times). My next PDA will definitely be color. Oh, and don't settle for anything less than 8 MB of memory unless you're only using the very basic functions (in which case get an M100) Most importantly, PalmPilots offer the best experience for "virgin" PDA users, hands down. The basic features on a Palm will never throw you for a loop. And if you feel comfortable tinkering with your computer, than you can visit www.palmgear.com and get 1000's of applications to make your Palm do absolutely anything you want it to. A PocketPC offers some of the advanced features I talked about before (importing spreadsheets and such) which come ready right out of the box, while you have to pay extra for this on a Palm, and then have the hassle of figuring out how it works. Using a PocketPC is very similiar to using Windows, but like Windows, it tends to crash. They do have more memory than Palms, and can be expanded if you somehow run out. They also play MP3 music, but with the money I saved I bought a dedicated MP3 player which is much, much better than a PocketPC could hope to be. They also play movies, but who on earth would want to watch movies on a PDA? For the basic features, they offer little over a Palm.
Rating:
Summary: Powerful and friendly device
Review: I've been searching around the web looking for my first PDA and, even though I am not an experienced PDA user I feel that this is a great purchase. With all the basic features like calendar, tasks, addresses and memo pad the IIIxe is very easy to use. It has an excelent screen lighting for midnight brainstorming. The graffiti language is very if not fully comfortable. The number of free and shareware software is amazing. Being truthful, this high grade of satisfaction leave me thinking that if any US$500 Pocket PC deserves its price as this one does I will go for them I soon I decide to spend that amount of money. Finally I am grateful to this product for letting me manage all my important ( and not so much ) information and for the progressive order that is infusing in my life.
Rating: 
Summary: It didn't change my life but I find it handy.
Review: There are many other reviews that get into the technical aspects of the Palm IIIxe. I just wanted to share with you why I bought it and how I use it. There are many good reviews here. I didn't want to spend too much money so I didn't want to buy a Palm V, color Palm, or Pocket PC. I feel that PDA will only get better in the next couple of years and I don't want to feel guilty about upgrading later. However, I was willing to spend a little extra money because this one had 8mb of memory. I also considered buying the Handspring PDA but my company would pay for part of my purchase if I Palm PDA. I use Microsoft Outlook at work and home. I never had much success with using a DayTimer. It was a real pain to write things down in the DayTimer and then type it into Outlook. It was also a big waste of time to write my Outlook meeting into my DayTimer. Worst of all, I hated lugging the DayTimer everywhere I go. The Palm Pilot is a very nice solution. You don't have to duplicate your efforts and it is very compact. I use it to synchronize my PC at work and home. I don't do email with it; I prefer using my PC. However, I do use it for scheduling, contact lists, and tasks. I also like the memo feature so I can make notes to myself. It is nice to jot things down on the Palm and then synchronize it with you desktop. I also like using the AvantGo service. If you haven't heard of it go check out www.avantgo.com. It lets me download stock quotes, the weather, sports scores, BBC News, Wall Street Journal, Slate, and the New York Times. It comes in handy when I'm are on a train, or in a waiting room or airport. It is a lot less cumbersome than a newspaper in a crowd. I purchased two accessories for it: (1) a Palm PalmGlove Neoprene Case - this is a very nice case, great protection and it is waterproof. (2) a Palm HotSync Cable - it's cheaper than the HotSync Cradle. I use it to synchronize Outlook on my home PC.
Rating:
Summary: Functional & Simple - A great product
Review: I have had a Palm IIIx, and planning to buy a IIIxe just for the additional memory. But I feel this is still not going to be good enough since I am going to run out of memory soon. Palm really needs to get its act together and add more memory to its devices. With the popularity of the Palm devices and the thousands of applications out there (I have a lot on my Palm IIIx and have now run out of memory), this is a major drawback of Palm. I considered switching to Compaq's iPAQ, but two things about the Palm have delayed that switch (a) its robustness (doesn't crash like Windows), and (b) the large number of third party applications that make this a truly useful device all the time. I use a Qualcomm QCP860 cell phone and I can connect to my Palm anywhere, any time - check email, surf the net, or use my Yahoo messenger. But if Palm doesn't continue to improve its devices I might soon switch to the Compaq iPAQ. But until then, I am going to be a loyal Palm user!
Rating:
Summary: The Palm IIIxe
Review: Well when you first look at it you think WHAT? 249.00? FOR AN ORGANIZER? NOT ME BUDDY! But when i got mine i was amazed at all the things i could do with it, i mean games,datbases,avantgo maps of my hometown,and towns of other FREE software, if you are looking for an inexspensive Palm this is the one to get.
Rating:
Summary: all the bang for your buck
Review: short on cash but want a palm w/ 8 mb and flash? this is the answer.
Rating:
Summary: Replaces my need for a laptop
Review: I've had mine since July 2000, and I love it! Mine did not have the faulty memory issue, and I would have been quite upset if I had to install a software patch on a brand new unit (so beware before you buy). The screen tends to scratch too easily, and I wasn't impressed when I called Palm or checked their website concerning the screen extended warranty. Consider using WriteRights. I also have been happy with the Palm Leather zippered case I purchased, especially since I read of problems with cases damaging screens that don't have the flip guard installed, and I didn't want to attach velcro to my Palm either. "PalmPilot: The Ultimate Guide, 2nd Edition" by O'Reilly is a good reference book to help you get started.
Rating:
Summary: Not intimidating
Review: I purchased a Palm IIIxe earlier this week,and the minute I turned it on, I found it extremely easy to use and very intuitive in accessing virtually all of the features. Setting up the Hotsync was easier than a piece of cake. I keep finding more and more reasons that this little gadget is really useful! I really wrestled over this or the Handspring Visor...the only apparent advantage that the Visor had was the plug in modules they offer, and so far, they all seem pretty gimmick-y. I'm really happy so far with the Palm. After seeing all the useful things this thing does for me, my wife wants one for herself, too! The only thing I'd like in a PDA is one that is a slight bit smaller and lighter.
Rating:
Summary: Great Product!
Review: This is one sweet device! This is the best value for your money in a PDA. Its far more economical than the Vx or even V for that matter. I personally like the looks of the IIIxe over that of the V series especially since the IIIxe is jet black(versus the onlder III models with the gray case). The case also seems more rugged and sturdy than the Visor series. Buy this!
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