Rating: 
Summary: Dont be lured by the color screens of other PDA's
Review: The "windows CE Hewlett packard Jordana 430" has a color screen, expandable RAM, and an MP3 player built in. It was enough to make me curious, so I bought one, imported my palm V info into it, and carried around for two painfull days. I came to the conclusion that there is no alternative to the Palm. I sent the HP brick back: Windows CE was very buggy and slow, and overall, the CE device just didn't have Palm's streamlined styling, inside and out.The Palm OS is by far the most successfull operating system for portable devices. Its just a matter of when and which one you get. You might have seen the palmOS-powered "Handspring Visor" advertised elsewhere. Check it for yourself, it has the same (palm OS) but know this: it has the old blurrier palm screen, and doesn't feel as sturdy. Right now on amazon, the V costs 100 dollars more than the IIIx. Your cost-value analysis should consider how much you value pocket space, because the V is half the volume of the IIIx. (Memory wise, the V is smaller too, but still has plenty). Examples of extra palm software you can easily download for free: Drawing pads, Tetris, Chess, books, calculators, web browsers, translators, dictionaries, Universal remote control (for TV/VCR etc.) Enjoy your day...
Rating:
Summary: Amazing!
Review: I spent about 2 months trying to decide whether an organizer could be worth this much money. I just bought my Palm V last week, and it's hard to imagine life without it now. The Palm V is simply the best purchase I've made in a long time. It's an incredibly small and sleek little machine. It fits right in your shirt pocket, even with the hard case I bought for it. It has all the standard things you'd expect from an organizer (address book, to do list, agenda, expense report). The Graffiti system (writing instead of typing) only takes a little while to get used to. The Palm Desktop software and cradle allows you to back everything up in a few seconds. No batteries are necessary, because you can recharge the Palm Vin the cradle. Hundreds of extra programs and games can be downloaded. If you're trying to decide which Palm to buy, I definitely recommend the V. The Vx is about the same, but it has more memory (which I don't think I'll need) and costs a lot more, the III series is great but not as sleek, and the VII has the built-in modem, which doesn't interest me much. Go for the Palm V. If you're trying to decide whether it's worth the money, the answer is a resounding YES!
Rating:
Summary: Great addition to my life
Review: I've become a fan since purchasing my Palm V from Amazon in December. I like having a computer with the computing power of the original Apple Macintosh with me wherever I go. It's great having access to phone numbers, notes and numbers with me whenever I need them. When I first got the Palm last month a colleague who owns a Handspring said "now you can buy the titanium case" I thought he was kidding and I bought a Coach case instead. But then I encountered the switch on problem and bought the titanium case from Rhinoskin - I love it! It's amazing to carry a Palm V in your back pocket and not worry about crushing it. The technology is very mature. Synchronization is fast and painless. I have only crashed my Palm once with a third party application and it was no problem to reset it through through the pinhole switch. You can enter information through the graffiti interface or a simulated keyboard interface. The graffiti interface takes a while to get used to and I generally prefer the keyboard interface. Somebody recently beamed a Pong-like game to me and it took lesss than a second to transfer from her Palm to mine. The backlighting is really nice and crisp. You can read the screen very clearly in a dark movie theatre. It's better than Indiglo lighting on a Timex watch. I highly recommend Palm Pilot: The Ultimate Guide. This is a excellent book chalk full of great information that also includes CD full of recommend apps that you can use on a trial basis. My two favorite apps are Actioneer and Quicksheet. Actioneer is sort of a front end to all the standard Palm apps and Quicksheet is a Excell-like spreadsheet that handles up to around 600 cells. I also like the MathU RPN calculator app. The GoType! Keyboard is handy if you need to enter a lot of information and you are away from your PC.
Rating:
Summary: Fun and easy
Review: I've now had my PalmV about one month. I love it! The installation of software is easy and quick. The hot sync feature is something I thought I would never use, but have found I use it often. I entered all of the basic settings on my PC and just transferred everything over in a matter of seconds. Entering info is very easy to learn and takes just a little practice. I enter EVERYTHING in here! No more little slips of paper with little notes jotted down and getting lost. I just write into my PalmV and it's there when I need it. This unit is light weight and fits easily into a front purse pocket for easy access. The only complaint I can come up with so far- it is difficult to get the writing stylus out of the snap in holder. There is not much to grab and I usually end up getting the power button pushed in the manuevering process...but then, if I'm getting the stylus out, I need the unit to be on anyway. Maybe with wear and time, this feature will be a little easier. Hint: When setting up my phone list, I entered categories for appointments/school/work/ for each member of my family. I type in their name in the usual field, but under the phone # field, I enter "appt" or "school", etc. (The phone # field accepts alpha entries.)Each family member has multiple entries, depending on their daily obligations and lifestyles.Each person is on the list all nicely grouped together for easy pickins'. When I am plotting out my schedule, it is a 'drag and drop' thing. Choose the person/event that's appropriate for the schedule and slide it over. Fast and easy without retyping the same thing over and over and....... Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: Fix the "Self Power-On" Problem!
Review: If you carry your Palm V or Vx in a purse or briefcase, then buying the hard cover is your best bet. If you carry it in your jacket, though, this is a tip a friend gave me to FIX THE TOP flap so that the PDA doesn't turn on, without adding any additional volume or weight to your palm. Here's what to do: 1) take the flap off the Palm 2) place a pen, pencil, or similar object on a table. 3) Slightly bend the flap over the pencil in the lower center, where the scrolling buttons would be located. 4) slightly bend the flap over the pencil where the power button would be located. It worked for me, hope it works for you!
Rating:
Summary: The BEST PDA!
Review: 3Com's Palm PDA's are definitely the best PDA's on the market. You can read the other reviews to hear how this device will help you organize your life and how wonderful it is. As a Palm collector (I have all Palm and Pilot models), I will rather compare the Palm V to the Palm Vx. The only difference between the two is that the V has 2MB of RAM, while the Vx has 8. I have thousands of addresses, thousands of appointments, and many more to-do items, documents, etc. in my Palm. I also have fax, e-mail, and internet software installed, among many other programs. I only use about 1.5 MB. Therefore, although I have the Vx, I don't use any of the additional memory. Technically, because of the additional memory, the Vx is faster. Nonetheless, because Palm applications are so small, this difference is truly negligible. Therefore, before you spend $100 more on the Vx, make sure you're going to use the additional memory. It's the only difference. Now, remember: the V series is rechargable, while the III series uses AAA batteries. Therefore, travelling with a V palm means you'll have to carry around the cradle. If you'd rather use batteries, maybe the IIIx is better for you. Good luck!
Rating:
Summary: I'm finally organized
Review: I needed one centralized location for all my information, especially appointments and phone numbers. The Palm V has given me exactly that. I've installed a couple of shareware applications, but have not found that I use them, so the 2 MB memory is going to be fine for me. The interface is elegant and simple, and it's easy to input data with the stylus. After using the included cover, and then trying the leather case, I finally ended up with the hard case, and I like it the best. All the Palm users who talk about how it has changed their lives are not just blowing smoke.... this device has succeeded where countless paper organizers and calendars have failed. And it's fun, and looks cool!
Rating: 
Summary: great design and low of memory and battery.
Review: I love the great design of Palm V, this is my first palm and now I use it all the time to organize my schedule. MEMORY : Palm V provides only 2 MB of memory, which is one of the major drawbacks. Installing all the softwares that I needed took about 1.2MB, left me about 0.8MB for data and stuffs. (btw there are lots of great freeware available which most I found are better than the correspondence shareware) BATTERY PROBLEM : 3COM advertised that one charge will last about 1 months, only true if you don't use it regularly or you use your cradle everyday to charge it. (it also takes about 45 minutes to 1 hour to charge in cradle daily) One charge last less than 2 or 3 days for me, well I almost use it most the time, organize my schedule, expense, and playing games while waiting for my appointment. PC ORIENTED : Palm products are also PC oriented, I use unix systems most the time, and use my PC just to charge or synchonize with the palm. (it will be nice if they can provide a unix compatible cradle) Anyway inspite of all the drawbacks, I love the Palm V, go get your own and you will feel becoming a different person. SEVERAL ADVICES: 1. check for available freeware b4 you buy the shareware version. 2. You will need at least a slim leather case. (the one coming with Palm V, cause more problems than the benefits like the never off beeping) 3. Buy Palm Vx if you have more money. 4. If you decide to buy a Palm or its accesories, always search the net first, don't buy at the first place you found it. You might end up paying 20%-50% off in other place.
Rating: 
Summary: I like the Palm IIIe
Review: This Christmas I decided to treat myself to a Palm computer. After reading the specs on the Palm V and the Palm IIIe, I decided to buy the Palm IIIe. It seems that the only differences are about $200, the Palm V has Flash RAM making it upgradeable, the cool look of heat blasted anodized aluminum. I got a soft full-grain black leather case, which makes the Palm IIIe look as cool as the Palm V. I feel that the Palm IIIe is more portable because you can get AAA batteries anywhere and do not have to rely on the cradle / charger. The funny thing is that I'm still using my Casio SF-4985ER Digital Diary with 256 KB memory for my electronic organizing needs.
Rating:
Summary: An outstanding example of a good ergonometric interface
Review: I have owned the Palm V for over two months, having given up my 30-year Week-at-a-Glance usage. It took a little getting used to at first, but after 2 months of going paperless, I'm totally hooked. EVERYTHING goes into that machine. It is so intuitive to use that the learning curve was almost flat. Some things take a little study, but that's the investment one needs to make- this is no 4-banger. At 6.2 ounces with the hard case, it's not t-o-o bad in the shirt pocket, but is unnoticed in a suit coat pocket, and fits nicely in a briefcase or glove compartment. I haven't submitted it to any abuse such as handling it roughly, dropping it, or getting it wet, thus no performance problems so far. Don't forget to order the O'Reilly publication: "PalmPilot: The Ultimate Guide (2nd Edition)" Lots of good instructions to argment the instructions that come with the Palm V.
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