Handheld Reviews

This is the only digital watch I like - it's also the first one I've ever used. The display is readable and practical. The compass is excellent and a very useful addition to the watch (saves packing a compass for camping trips too).

This soft, touchable leather case will accept the 500/505. The Palm V rail won't work, but add a patch of velcro to the right hand side and you'll have a tailored case for your new Palm. Not perfect, but close until the "real" 500/505 cases debut. The added matching business card case is just pure gravy! You can leave it tucked in place or carry seperately. This case is put together well, the contrasting stitching adds interest and at this price it's a true bargain.

I like this case very much. It provided everything I was looking for with an added bonus of having a removeable business card holder. My only gripe is that the color is misleading. I was expecting a dark burgundy/wine. The color is more of a reddish brown.

This is a very nice investment for the Palm. I recently bought it at Amazon and I really don't think I can find a shield like this that can beat the price. It's quite hard to stick on the Palm, but after that, you'll never be scared of scratches on your screen. Just think, buy a shield now and don't wait for your Palm to need a replacement screen that will cost hundreds. This is definitely a must-buy.

I teach Middle school Ind Tech and purchased 17 of these calculators for different areas in the classroom. They work great. I have six classes of 30 or more students. Each student must use a calculators daily. I consider this a great little calculator for the cost.

The Uniden 250D does a fine job of receiving the digital transmissions of my local police department (CT State PD). You should be aware that as this device ships it is unable to decode the digital signal. You must purchase an add-in board that is essentially the digital decoder. This approximately doubles the cost of the Uniden Scanner.

Perhaps the biggest issue I have with this device is battery life. If I get 4 hours that's a lot. This is fine when you are home bound and near the charger - however when you go on the road it is a pain as the device tends to eat the batteries rather quickly. And since Uniden uses a proprietary battery pack - your power choices are somewhat limited (meaning you can't just pop in AA cells like you can with the Radio Shack devices).

If you can get by the problem with the power, the only other issue I've had is the audio quality. Depending on your location and signal strength the audio on digital signals varies tremendously. It can waiver between a cartoonish pitch and near normal tone. This audio quality can be adjusted to some extent though a competing model from Radio Shack exhibits a much stronger audio quality that does not ever appear to require adjustment.

On the plus side, the 250D will decode I-Call (sort of a private side to the trunked frequencies that many agencies use without realizing how easily receivable they are). Competing similar radios from RadioShack do not offer the I-Call on their digital models (yet).

I would definitely re-purchase the 250D again -- and would be wildly enthusiastic about it if Uniden would chuck that awful proprietary battery pack and just go with rechargeable AA batteries.

A great scanner if you want to monitor digital signals and you have the budget. Read the technical details on this model to make sure it will receive the signals near your house. If you are going to monitor digital - remember you need a special board at an additional (significant) cost. Also the 250D won't monitor certain flavors of digital signals -- if you browse the net you can find plenty of sites with much more detailed techical reviews.

I like this new trend of collapsing stylus - takes a few seconds to get used to, but pulling them out of the device or the portfolio elastic naturally extracts and "locks" them for use, and saves space otherwise. A bit pricey, but good quality - more likely to lose than break.

Check out more info on Viewsonic PDA products at the Yahoo group:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ViewSonic/

This cradle seems quite nice. However I had to return it when it arrived because it doesn't include a power adapter. So I thought I'd add a note here just to let others know.

This GPS, for the price, is a very good deal. However, it lacks all of the bells and whistles of the more expensive models. The GPS takes a few minutes to acquire satellites and has a lot of difficulty acquiring them indoors. In the car it accurately reports roads (if downloaded from the mapping software), however sometimes it lags behind or freezes up for a few minutes. The software is not very user friendly, it takes a little work to understand the sequence in which to download the maps that you desire. However, once downloaded the roads are very accurate. This is not a top of the line GPS, however, for around 200-240 dollars you do get a lot for the price. It is hard to find a decent GPS in this price range that comes with the software necessary to use it for detailed navigation of streets and landmarks. I recommend it for the price, it will do what it is promised to do, it will just take some work at the computer to figure it out as the manual is not very well written or in depth.

I've been waiting for the new Palm m505 for the longest time. Imagine, a color Palm the size of the Palm V? It's what every Palm V owner dreamed of. Well, that dream became a reality, but in the process, some issues ultimately downgrade my rating to 4 stars.

First, the good: the shape of the unit is nice. You have the slightly altered shape of the Palm V (it's shorter in height, but a tad deeper, most likely to accomodate for the color screen) that just looks so cool... It's a little heavier than the old Palm V, but that's expected. It fits very well in your hand.

The new Secure Digital (SD) and MulitMedia Card (MMC) expansion is welcome. Granted, there are only a few cards out there, but at least Palm finally noticed that this kind of expansion was necessary.

I like the fact that Palm added a vibrating alarm to the unit. Granted, it's not earth shaking, but it's a great alternative to an incessant beep.

Speedwise, the Palm is fast with the new 33 MHz processor. It's a tad faster than the Palm V.

Now onto the bad: Well, it's not exactly bad, but these are issues that will be a problem to some people, and it's only fair that I bring them up so you can make a smart purchasing decision.

The screen: The screen is a TFT reflective screen. This means that with direct sunlight, the screen gets brighter. So if you're in a dark room, you'll need the sidelight (yep, sidelight, not a backlight). Without the sidelight in a dimly lit room, you couldn't tell if this unit was color or not.

I have no problem with using the sidelight, and with the sidelight on it gives, to me, a clear view of the screen. Yep, it does drain battery life, but without the sidelight on, the Palm has an impressive battery life, so I take it as a good trade-off. The problem I have with the whole screen issue is that there's no way for me to adjust the brightness of it. Some people like bright screens, but if the sidelight isn't bright for you, you're not going to like this unit. I hope Palm makes a software update so that users can adjust the brightness of the sidelight to accomodate people who like bright and vivid colors. It just makes sense to me.

The "universal connector": You'll understand why I put that phrase in quotes in a bit. Palm had to redesign their connector to accomodate true USB support, so they make a new "universal connector." Bad news is none of your old Palm peripherals will work with this thing. You see the irony right now?

The stylus holder: If you're left handed, you might want to turn away right now. Palm had to make the Stylus Holder on the left side slimmer (to accomodate the new hardware), so you can't put the stylus on the left hand side. You can put the flip cover on, but not the stylus. As of this review, Palm hasn't made plans for creating a left handed stylus.

That's about it. It's a good unit, don't get me wrong, but there are just a couple of issues there that doesn't warrant a perfect review. My suggestion: If you've always wanted a color PDA with an expansion slot, and have not been introduced to a Handspring Prism or Palm IIIc, get this unit. Hey, you others might like it, but don't say I didn't warn you...

Yes people, its true about the screen. Ive been loyal to Palm since the first PDA they introduced when it was 3Com, have owned 4 Palms, .... and was very excited to hear about the color m505. I bought it sight unseen over the net, and received it a couple of days ago. But I will NOT return it for many reasons...even though the display is ridiculously dim looking in mixed office lighting (flourescent lighting with sunlight through the windows ) and the color is sometimes there, and sometimes not...( depending on the ambient lighting )

The first thing you must know is the Palm m505 publicity photo is pure propaganda, the screen in no way resembles it. The screen is not able to produce a white background even while backlit under ideal circumstances. You will be using the backlit feature alot of the time while indoors, but read on to the pros of this unit.

Why am I rating the m505 with 4 stars then?

The most obvious aspect to this Palm is durablity in the field, and battery life. The screen problems everyone touts as the main reason to NOT buy is actually one of the reasons Im keeping it. After all, what good is a PDA if theres no electricity to power it? Palm knows this and gave us a color screen that can last up to two weeks of use before recharge. The battery life to me is more important than an insanely beautiful screen at this point of time with the technology available to Palm. AND, they have given us a REFLECTIVE screen, it actually is in full color and VERY bright in the sunlight or outdoors.

With the Palm 4.0 OS, everything syncs perfect and FAST via the native USB cable, although not much new stuff in the OS. The software included is very valuable... deduct that off the sales price The palm cradle feels solid (although it has a plastic case).

The m505 is a solid unit, buttons and case are incredible, feel good and the unit is FAST, moving through the interface is FAST.

The bottom line here is that the color of this unit is a frill, not a great feature for anyone who is really interested in a super display. I personally dont have any problems reading the display... yes it appears washed out, but still its more fun to look at than a monochrome display... the unit functions perfectly, has a vibrator alarm, as well as better and louder sounds....the unit is trick but the display is not perfect. Just remember when deciding about buying it whether battery life is important, and that the reflective display is a different type of technology that views indoors differently.

The Palm M505 is a neat little PDA. It's features are perfect for students to business people. There are many positive elements to this little Palm.

The Palm M505 is the perfect companion for a student. It's small size and low price makes it perfect for somebody on the run and someone in need of a durable, compact Palm Pilot. In it's life, my Palm has been dropped numerous times, gotten soaked in water, and gotten thrown into the bottom of a backpack countless times. Again, it is perfect for anyone in need of durable database.