Rating: 
Summary: A great piece of equipment
Review: I was looking for a PDA that could replace my big, bulky day planner and really was just looking for something to keep appointments, things to do, contacts, etc. I didn't need something with all the bells and whistles. I won't be using this for the internet or pictures, so the Palm 31 really fit with everything I was looking for and you can't beat the price. Yes, I could have spent more and got a Ipaq Pocket PC, but who needs Pocket Word and Excel on the go. The Palm 31 is small and fits in my purse...I love it. I would definitely recommend this for someone who wants to keep track of appointments and things to do easily without having a bulky dayplanner. I've had it for a few weeks now and absolutely love it.
Rating:
Summary: Great Product!
Review: I've had my Zire 31 for well over a month now. It's great!
SCREEN: The color screen is great. It is a bit difficult to view in bright sunlight but that's a minor set back.
PHOTOS: The ability to carry all my photos around on this one compact device is also a plus. You can not zoom in and out of the photos but you can edit photos via the Palm Desktop (crop, rotate, red-eye, etc.).
MP3: The MP3 feature is also great. The sound quality is amazingly decent for such an inexpensive, small device but it sounds REALLY great via headphones. It's a shame, however, that the expansion cards (required for MP3s) are so expensive...
GRAFFITI 2: It took me a little while to adjust to Graffiti 2 but I now find it even easier to use than the prior version.Overall, for the $149 price tag, you absolutely can't beat this deal. I would definitely recommend this product!
Rating: 
Summary: Do you want to be a guinea pig?
Review: Is the Zire 31 any good? I really don't know, but I do know these two things: 1) The Zire 21 model has a serious defect that causes frequent resets (data loss), and 2) Palm continues to market the known defective Zire 21 with no warning to consumers. I urge potential buyers to read all the Amazon.com user reviews about the Zire 21. Then decide if you really want to be a guinea pig for the Zire 31.
Rating: 
Summary: Very nice
Review: It had everything you need and a little more. Works with most expansion cards that I have gotten. The external speaker is surprisingly good, though the quality is better throug headphones. I had no problems using hotsync.Resolution could be better. Overall, It's better than I expected.
Rating:
Summary: Great gift
Review: It was a birthday gift for my husband who was having a tough time managing his day to day scheduling. He now can have his contacts at his finger tips, manage his finance,and also listen to some music. The music is a little disspointment though since its not upto the mark, has a tweeny sound to it..But this is a scheduling and managing device and shouldn't expect anything more! He still has some more figuring out to do--i guess not too bad with the manual that has come along ..all in all a good buy.
Rating: 
Summary: Buyer Beware - Palm Service is Terrible
Review: My first try with the Zire 31 was a disaster. I got through step one of the set-up procedure, Charging the battery, but the screen would not accept any input. It was dead.
I contacted tech support and spoke with someone in India who was hard to understand. Eventually he agreed the unit was defective and we decided to have PalmOne replace it. They were to send an overnight box via FedEx to me. I'd send the unit back via overnight FedEx and they would send me a new unit overnight by FedEx as soon as they received mine.
That was last week, I've yet to even receive the FedEx box. Finally, I just returned the unit for an exchange from where I purchased it. Since I received the new unit, it works fine and does everything my old m100 did and more. I like the color screen. I don't use the pictures much yet, or the Mp3 features. I had an old SD card from my digital camera and popped it in and that works fine, too. If you buy one, be sure you can exchange it from where you bought it! It seems like a good value, but watch out if it doesn't work right! Check the PalmOne customer forums for more stories about the terrible Palm service.
Rating:
Summary: Read this review if youre a first time PDA user
Review: Ok, this is my first PDA...so i dont know very much about it. But if youre in the same boat, then read on. I searched and searched...looked at the Zire 21, Sony Clie TJ-27, and every other PDA in this price range. And then i came across an amazing deal: a Zire 31 for $142... wow, what a bargain. This PDA does everything i want, and MORE. Not only can i keep track of all my contacts, etc etc...i can view photos (and put them in the background)... it comes with two e-books...Last of the Mohicans and The Wizard of Oz... it comes with a really cool Database system that has area codes all over the U.S., airline phone #s, Hotels, dietary info for a whole bunch of foods and drinks... it comes with solitaire...and an Expenses program to keep track of credit card and bank account balances... there's an MP3 player included, which i havent used (because you need to purchase an SD memory card separately...and because i just dont want to drain the batteries for that...i mean, for the same price as an SD card, i can just buy a Sony Minidisc player that runs on one AA battery, and save my PDA battery -- which isnt user replaceable, so only has a certain life-span). Hot syncing...where you transfer info from your computer to the PDA and vice versa is incredibly easy. Just touch the button on the screen, and tada! magic. Done. This PDA gets a 4 out of 5 for one reason and one reason only: the screen. 160x160 isnt bad resolution...but it isnt good either. I mean, it's just fine for me, because im not using it too much, and im not serious about viewing pictures and stuff like that. However, i often find myself playing around with the brightness, contrast, backgrounds, and color to find something that's easy and beautiful on the eyes. It takes a while, but youll find a setting that makes you happy. If youre a beginner, get the Zire 31. A big step up from the Zire 21...and better than the Sony Clie TJ-27 in terms of price and practicality...i mean -- who wants a real crappy digital camera anyways? Dont bother with it...if you want digital pictures, get yourself a real digital camera (i.e. Canon Powershot A75). One last thing -- i almost forgot --... dont listen to people babbling on about the 90 day warranty. As long as you get this PDA from a self-respecting retail store, youll automatically get a one-year warranty from them. And you can purchase an extended warranty for about $20 or so. For something this cheap, they'll most likely replace your PDA right away if there's a serious problem. Check with them first.
Rating:
Summary: Good entry level color handheld
Review: Originally I want to buy a Zire 21, since I think I do not need color.
However, after viewing the terrible feedback of Zire 21 on Amazon, I changed
my mind to buy a more expensive Zire 31. (It's a shame to see PalmOne continues
selling Zire 21.) I have been using this handheld for two months. Zire 31
does a good job for the handheld at this price.
The Zire 31 feels very light, and responses fast. For PIM applications, I'd
say Zire 31 is wonderful. The most excited thing I discovered about palm PDA
is there are tons of 3rd party applications available. Although I never
thought I will use all the 15M free RAM, I ended up using 14M of it.
The built-in battery can last one week or two, depending on how you use it.
The good thing is whenever the handheld is connected with the USB cable, it
gets changed. So I did not use the separate battery charger often (only one or
two times), and I never run into the power shortage problem. However, the
buttons on my Zire 31 is not well made. I need to press harder for up and
contact keys. I think more expensive palm handheld may have better and finer
hardware buttons.
The color display is not as good as the those used in notebook. It looks good
under indoor light, but is completely dark when viewed from outside. Since I
mostly use it indoor, this is not a big problem. Another problem of the LCD
is when battery is low (<80%), the backlight becomes faint (more yellow),
and it makes reading the screen harder (especially when reading ebooks). If
you need to read ebooks for hours, this screen is not as good as black/white
screen. Also backlight can not be turned off on Zire 31 (Without backlight
you'll see nothing on screen of this kind). Photo display is terrible for the
low price screen, which only supports thousands of colors. If you want to
display photo, or play some fancy games on palm, I suggest you buy one with
bigger/better screen. Anyway for the usual PIM task, the screen is very good.
It gives you the feeling of setting your PC in 256 color mode.
One problem I frequently encountered is system crash, especially when loaded
with many 3rd party software. PalmOS is wonderful, but not perfect. I have to
resort to hard reset twice so far, with soft reset from time to time. The good point
is that no data is lost after a hard reset. Just re-sync with your PC you
get all your data back. The bad point it that the stylus came with Zire 31
does not have a reset pin, which I found quite inconvenient when the palm locks
itself, especially when I'm out.
In sum, Zire 31 is a good entry level PDA for budget limit first-time buyer.
It's not perfect, though. I'm quite sure the next time I buy a palm I will
get one with 320x320 true color screen and 2 more hardware buttons, which
will deserve a 5-star.
Rating:
Summary: Get your money's worth...
Review: PROS:
1)does everything you need, as far as basic PDA needs.
2)SD slot for expanded memory, photos, and MP3.
Cons:
1)problem with locking up.(only once)
2)HotSync will sometimes drop halfway through. (rarely, about a 1 in 10 chance) Will work on second attempt if this happens.
doing research on PDA's, i found it difficult to find one that didn't have it's share of flaws. flimsy casings, fragile screens, faulty software, worthless battery life. i've gone through 3 PDAs and so far this one has seemed the best for it's price. i bought it with basic needs in mind: address/appointment book, sync with Outlook, and photoalbum feature. no frills, just necessities. the only problem i have expirenced is it locked up once within 2 4 months of owning it. it was completely frozen, even turn off with the power switch. i had to let it run it's power down and start over. HotSyncing seems picky from time to time, usually less often than not. the second attempt will prove successful. other than those inconveniences, it's proved it's worth overall.
Rating:
Summary: Perfect for the Serious BUSINESS User...
Review: Purchasing a PDA/Smartphone/Camera/etc. can be a daunting task. There are too many choices on the market, and too many confusing reviews. I am thrilled with my Zire 31, because it does everthing I need, and not too much more. If you are considering this PDA, don't be put off by the many reviews that claim it is right for novices or technophobes. In fact, I believe it is perfect for the serious business user, because it does what most professionals need.
Firstly, it is light and compact. So no problems to take it with you to each and every meeting (my former iPaq always seemed bulky). Secondly, it syncs perfectly with Outlook (and with OS X, too, which means I can finally sync my work PC with my home Macs). The color quality is good enough for showing a few pictures of the kids. It is the perfect tool for managing a busy work and home schedule. My only complaint is the MP3 player. I wish they wouldn't have included one. Who needs it? The unit could have been even smaller without, no doubt!
More positives include the lack of a camera. Why would someone - especially a busy profesional - want to take pictures with a PDA? I already have a digital camera, and I take it with me on trips if I want to capture a few moments. And the quality is excellent.
Fortunately, the Zire 31 also lacks bluetooth and wi-fi capability. I carry my laptop with me everywhere. Who wants to surf the web on a handheld, other than a masochist? Crazy. This might sound like a must for a busy executive, but from my experience, your laptop is the way to go mobile over the internet. I never travel without my laptop, which has both wifi and bluetooth. So problem solved.
Another advantage is lack of phone functionality. My advice: buy a proper mobile phone. Most combination PDA/phones look terrible. The Treo is a good example: it's too bulky (although sleeker than most), and in the end you get an expensive PDA with too many features and a so-so phone. And you can never leave the "phone" or the "PDA" at home. You are stuck with both of them. It's not a feature, it's an inconvenience.
Some people have discussed the poor video quality when playing games and watching videos. Hello? You are a busy executive and you want to play Doom on your PDA? Give me a break. And don't get me started about people who try to watch videos on their handhelds. Crazy.
If you are looking for something to help organize your life, the Zire 31 is what you are looking for. Use your laptop for emails and surfing the web on the run. Use your mobile phone to call someone. Use a proper digital camera to take pictures. And get an iPod if you want to listen to music. You won't be carrying all of these devices around all the time, believe me. But you'll have quality devices that do what they should, and not much more. The Zire 31 is part of this strategy. Very good at what it does, and thankfully it doesn't do too much more.
You can't go wrong with this handheld, and don't believe anyone that says it isn't a serious business tool because it lacks wi-fi or the ability to take poor quality pictures or watch dvd's on a 2x2 inch screen.
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