PDA Reviews

I decided to purchase a Body Glove case for my Palm, because it seems to me good enough to protect the PDA. However, it fall from my hand to the floor by accident, with the PDA inside; it hits the ground by the side, and broken a teeth of the zipper. Now it's hard to close or to open the case. I think that the use of a plastic toooth zipper is a bad disign because those broken easily. Now, after one week of enjoy the protection" I have a hard time open and closing the case. I do not recommend this product, or maybe you will need to get a zipper protector letter. I strongly recomend to Body Glove designer to change the zipper for a metallic tooth zipper.

The Body Glove case is the best I have seen. It's VERY water resistant, shock absorbing, useful and it replaces your wallet or at least it did mine. It has compartments for your ID, Cards, and a pocket for money and change. I love this case and was the second case I bough other then the PALM V hard case which I use on occasion because it's thinner and shiny :) I recommend due to function, performance and water resistant and a nice accessory for a scuba diver or surfer that uses body glove like I do. The only thing is that once in a while sence it is a "soft" case it can turn on periodicaly in your pocket if pressure is applied. Thanks for reading this. Mahalo

Top quaility product. Highly recommend for any PDA.

I decided to purchase a Body Glove case for my Palm, because it seems to me good enough to protect the PDA. However, it fall from my hand to the floor by accident, with the PDA inside; it hits the ground by the side, and broken a teeth of the zipper. Now it's hard to close or to open the case. I think that the use of a plastic toooth zipper is a bad disign because those broken easily. Now, after one week of enjoy the protection" I have a hard time open and closing the case. I do not recommend this product, or maybe you will need to get a zipper protector letter. I strongly recomend to Body Glove designer to change the zipper for a metallic tooth zipper.

The Body Glove case is the best I have seen. It's VERY water resistant, shock absorbing, useful and it replaces your wallet or at least it did mine. It has compartments for your ID, Cards, and a pocket for money and change. I love this case and was the second case I bough other then the PALM V hard case which I use on occasion because it's thinner and shiny :) I recommend due to function, performance and water resistant and a nice accessory for a scuba diver or surfer that uses body glove like I do. The only thing is that once in a while sence it is a "soft" case it can turn on periodicaly in your pocket if pressure is applied. Thanks for reading this. Mahalo

Top quaility product. Highly recommend for any PDA.

I returned this unit because of an inaccurate trip odometer and will probably replace it with the Garmin GPSMap. The accuracy of the odometer on my Sportrak was off by about 20% at walking speeds. Try the following test: drive a one mile course away from and back to your home with the unit on the car dashboard. You will find quite close agreement (within a couple of percent) of the odometer reading on your car and the Sportrak. Now walk the same course holding the unit in your hand. My unit would record approximately 0.8 miles on the odometer on the same 1 mile course. I have conducted this experiment with a Garmin unit (the Foretrex 201) and found this unit to have the same accuracy at walking speeds as at highway speeds. Since I wish to use the system for mostly walking speed trips the Sportrak was unacceptable to me.

I just received my Magellan SporTrak Pro GPS unit, and after about three hours of non-stop twiddling with it, I can safely say "WOW!" I powered up the unit for the first time INSIDE my house, and it started acquiring satellites. Pretty amazing.

Highlights:

- Easy to use
- Dead accurate
- Surprisingly detailed base map
- Well worth the money

The only Down Sides I've noted are:

- PC cable securing screw has a small, floppy D-ring-type handle on it, which makes securing the PC cable to the GPS somewhat finicky. The same type D-ring is used for the lanyard loop/battery compartment screw. It's OK, but nothing I'd design.

- Magellan doesn't make a carrying case for it, but a slightly modified Nokia 5160 leather case works very well!

- The backlight makes an annoying hum. It is barely noticeable at the Low setting, but on High, it sounds like a mosquito. Good thing I detest backlights to begin with.

If you want a GPS, go buy this unit. Don't mess with the "toy" GPS systems that only use "patch" antennas. The quad helix on the Magellan systems is FAR superior.

After lots of research, I finally decided to purchase this Magellan over the Garmin Legend. The decision was based mostly on other websites and reviews questioning the sensitivity of the Garmin. I can't say anything about that, but I know I can usually get enough signal on the 1st floor of my 2 floor house (and I'm away from any windows). In the open, I can usually get 100% signal from 6 satellites and a little from a 7th (it only needs sufficient signal from 3). It's a little bigger than the Garmin, but being an RF engineer, I know that generally, the larger the better the antenna performance. I can't wait to take mine on a hike. FYI The unit comes programmed with fairly detailed maps of the US and very general maps of the rest of the world. If you want more, I guess you have to buy the CD.

Update: I compared my unit to my friend's Garmin Legend and from the window at work, the Magellan did seem to perform better.
I managed to lock on to 3 satellites, while the Garmin only two.

i got the case last week and it's nicer than I expected, it seems to hold VERY securely, it slides out easily enough,and the the neoprene is very cushy and thick, as it's two layers. The Inside is nice and brushed soft, and the front is very smooth, not at all like a mousepad top.

Inside is some large serged covered seams , seat the visor betwene them to give extra protection to the edges, but it will add a bit of bulk to the profile. If you dont the seam could rub the on button. but if you do, and it's easy to do, it ads a nice bit of airspace for bounce protection. I haven't dropped it yet, so I can't tell you if it's really safe or not, but it feels it.

It has a nice D-ring at the top for neck/shoulder strap or a key hook, and adjustable pinch button slider strap with a sewn strap end so it WILL not come loose. It adjusts enough so you could wear it around your lower arm or wrist as well as over a belt or through a belt loop or strap of a bag.

I only wish there was a zipper pocket on one side to insert a few cards or cash in between the layers to serve double duty.

The only compliant I have is the color. First, It's safety yellow. I like yellow, but they type of covering soils easy. It picks up any hand dirt, I think it got dirty inside the new ditty bag I bought to keep it and my wallet and cell phone in, and I can definatly see a darknening around the flap from my limited use.

I'd get a darker colori if had to choose again. I just knew I'd want more than one case, one for toss in and go and one more more wearble uses. And until I researched the case I wanted for everyday use, and got used to using it I wanted one I could FIND when I miss place it. (I'm kinda forgetful, thus the need for this thing). I'll use this for times I go traveling and want to toss it in my bag and go. when it'll be bumping other items.

I recommend getting it for a first case till you figure out how you want to carry your Visor. It's a good price and the quality is fine.

I am impressed with the promptness on my order. I ordered it on a weekend and it was shipped to me with in 3 business days. It was awesome! The product was used but in great condition and shipping was great. Thanks a lot.

Ok... here's the deal on this case. I've tried all of the other leather cases and found that the clips just don't hold up. They loosen, break and arent worth anything (especially if u lose your precious VISOR - yikes!). SO, I bought this case and found it to be FANTASTIC. Here's why (1) The material is light and durable (2) The velcro closure is strong and good quality (3) The belt clip is firm, strongand reliable. (4) Sleek and form fitting. No extra pockets etc to make it bulky. I carry a wallet for that stuff. If you want more detailed information on this case, check out ... They actually make this case for Handspring. Overall, the belt clip is strong, the design is attractive, the size is perfect, and the protection is good. BUY IT. YOU WON'T BE DISAPPOINTED. Cheers!

i got the case last week and it's nicer than I expected, it seems to hold VERY securely, it slides out easily enough,and the the neoprene is very cushy and thick, as it's two layers. The Inside is nice and brushed soft, and the front is very smooth, not at all like a mousepad top.

Inside is some large serged covered seams , seat the visor betwene them to give extra protection to the edges, but it will add a bit of bulk to the profile. If you dont the seam could rub the on button. but if you do, and it's easy to do, it ads a nice bit of airspace for bounce protection. I haven't dropped it yet, so I can't tell you if it's really safe or not, but it feels it.

It has a nice D-ring at the top for neck/shoulder strap or a key hook, and adjustable pinch button slider strap with a sewn strap end so it WILL not come loose. It adjusts enough so you could wear it around your lower arm or wrist as well as over a belt or through a belt loop or strap of a bag.

I only wish there was a zipper pocket on one side to insert a few cards or cash in between the layers to serve double duty.

The only compliant I have is the color. First, It's safety yellow. I like yellow, but they type of covering soils easy. It picks up any hand dirt, I think it got dirty inside the new ditty bag I bought to keep it and my wallet and cell phone in, and I can definatly see a darknening around the flap from my limited use.

I'd get a darker colori if had to choose again. I just knew I'd want more than one case, one for toss in and go and one more more wearble uses. And until I researched the case I wanted for everyday use, and got used to using it I wanted one I could FIND when I miss place it. (I'm kinda forgetful, thus the need for this thing). I'll use this for times I go traveling and want to toss it in my bag and go. when it'll be bumping other items.

I recommend getting it for a first case till you figure out how you want to carry your Visor. It's a good price and the quality is fine.

I am impressed with the promptness on my order. I ordered it on a weekend and it was shipped to me with in 3 business days. It was awesome! The product was used but in great condition and shipping was great. Thanks a lot.

Ok... here's the deal on this case. I've tried all of the other leather cases and found that the clips just don't hold up. They loosen, break and arent worth anything (especially if u lose your precious VISOR - yikes!). SO, I bought this case and found it to be FANTASTIC. Here's why (1) The material is light and durable (2) The velcro closure is strong and good quality (3) The belt clip is firm, strongand reliable. (4) Sleek and form fitting. No extra pockets etc to make it bulky. I carry a wallet for that stuff. If you want more detailed information on this case, check out ... They actually make this case for Handspring. Overall, the belt clip is strong, the design is attractive, the size is perfect, and the protection is good. BUY IT. YOU WON'T BE DISAPPOINTED. Cheers!

This was a wonderful purchase. I considered many different ones, but this was what looked the nicest and had exactly what I needed-a pen and stylus that feels like a pen (because it is one!). It also has a very nice feel on the touch screen, a much more substantial tap than a flimsy plastic stylus. If you use a stylus for any length of time, you will really appreciate the comfort of the full-sized pen. True, it does not fit in the stylus slot (I keep the original stylus in place in case I'm ever without my pen), but I knew that when I bought it and it was what I wanted. It fits well in my zipper case, easily accessed. It also has a pocket clip. I am very, very happy with it--even better, it's a great price!

This is what a stylus should be. After all, one of the key features of a PDA is the graffiti function which is difficult to master with the original stylus. It was not until I was able to get the feel of a regular sized pen (which is what the Platinum Pen Dual Action PDA Stylus is) that I was able to not only master the letters and numbers on the graffiti tablet, but also the punctuations. If you use a pocket sized case for your PDA, you probably will not be able to fit this stylus into the stylus holder, however larger cases usually come with pen holder slots (it will fit there just fine). If you are accustomed to putting your pen in your shirt pocket and want the feel of a regular pen then this product is for you. If you are looking for something to keep with your PDA (case) and then slip into your back trouser pocket then this may not be what you are looking for.

1). Beautifully designed;
2). very convenient for use.
3). small enough to put into pocket while big enough to grab conveniently.

I have at least 4 stylus pens. This one is my favorite.

I'll be the party pooper here and say that I am a little disappointed with the m100 Palmglove. On the plus side it looks great, feels great and will protect your beloved Palm from practically anything short of a direct nuclear strike. Unfortunately I do find that it adds a considerable bulk to the m100. Without the glove the m100 slips nicely into my breast pocket or trousers pocket, but when it is gloved it becomes very cumbersome and awkward whichever pocket I put it in.

Regarding the flip cover & the glove relationship I find that the glove somehow causes the flip cover to detach from the Palm all by itself numerous times a day, this became intolerable after a while. So, whenever I use the glove I would take the flip cover off. Nowadays I only use the glove when I carry the Palm in my briefcase. If I venture outdoors without any hand baggage I tend to just take the Palm and leave the glove at home.

Since I had a gift certificate for Amazon.com, I decided on a whim to buy this case for my Palm m100. I was under the impression that it would be rugged and durable, yet slim and sleek. When I received the package and I saw it for the first time, my first thought was "Wow, this is bulky!" While not much was added to the width of the Palm, its thickness practically doubled. It seems to hold up well; I've dropped it with the Glove on and it works.

PROS:
- durable
- waterproof
- holds the Palm in place well
- cover stays shut by being snapped in place
- this snap helps protect the gaping hole for the HotSync cable
- four buttons don't press while in your pocket as easily
- good replacement for the flimsy m100 cover

CONS:
- bulky
- adds weight
- difficult to get stylus out
- difficult to get the time by pressing the button
- harder to get in and out of pocket

Overall Impression: If you want durability, buy this, but if you don't need it, look elsewhere.

After owning the m100 for almost a week, and even futzing around with some IIIs, I find that a case is pretty much a necessity. That plastic banging against a desk just worries me for some reason =)

Anyways, the case is *very* protective, and looks cool to boot. If I *had* to complain about it, the pen is more difficult to reach, but that's really Palm's fault for putting it on the back of the unit instead of the side or something. Any case will give you that problem.

I like how it buttons shut in the back as well. It does add bulk to the unit, but that's the price you pay for better protection. It still fits in my pocket, but then again, I wear slightly baggy jeans most of the time ;)

The only clearly bad thing is that there is no available belt-strap. For some, it won't fit in the pocket after the case, so it would be nice if there was a belt clip for it. Since the case looks so cool, I wouldn't mind carrying it there ;)

Enjoy!

I was thinking about switching to the Targus until I read all your reviews. I have the Franklin Covey e-Pocket Leather belt clip case and after 2 years of hard use, the spring is not very tight and I was looking for a replacement. From the reviews, my belt clip seems to hold up better than the Targus, so I'll get another Franklin Covey. Also, it comes in black and has an additional belt loop behind the metal clip for those who want it.

I have owned this case for 12 days and the belt clip broke off too. I reached to pull it off my belt and the belt clip broke off. I had to call targus and get a replacement case. It is a very nice looking case and it also fits my Palm IIIc very good. This case shouldn't have broken off this early and I think there must be a problem with these cases if two people had their belt clips break off in less than a month. My recommendation is "buyer beware", it is a very nice case but if you buy this product be careful with the belt clip, I hope your case doesn't break like mine and the other reviewers.

Well I shipped the broken case back to Targus and was sent a brand new one. This one has lasted me almost a year.I think the problem with them is that the belt clip is so tight that if it is stretched excessively for a thick belt, it loosens the clip causing it to break. I switched to a slightly thinner belt and have enjoyed it eversince.

I have been a Visor user for over 2 years now. I started with a Visor Deluxe, but now use a Visor Prism.

I bought my Visor Prism over 9 months ago and got a Targus Leather Case to carry it in. The Targus Leather Case is made with good quality material, and is very well crafted. The stitching is first rate.

I carry the case with me daily, and clip and unclip it from my belt an average of 8-10 times a day. Exercising standard care in clipping and removing the case, I have had no problem with the clip.

I normally unclip the case from my belt during long drives. But during short drives, I do not unclip the case from my belt. The case has a swivel type clip which allows me to swivel the case away from the seat belt during short drives.

Being made from leather, the case invariably gets scratched and pinched during regular use. But its wearing out very nicely, and with due care, I am sure that this case will last me for quite some time. I intend to keep it for as long as I can.

The case provides very good protection, specially at its corners. I credit the case of saving my Visor Prism from severe damage on at least 2 occasions when I dropped my Visor Prism to concrete. On both occasions, I had a barcode laser scanner module on my Prism - and this too survived with nary a scratch.

I bought the case from Amazon and am delighted that it is now available at a considerably reduced price. For this reason, I have bought 2 more of this case. I will be giving one of these to my wife, and will be giving the other to my brother.

I bought my EM-500 last fall and have had to send it back twice now for repairs. For some reason, out of the blue, it just refuses to either turn on, or remain on after a few minutes. There is a power update that I installed when I first got it but it doesn't seem to fix the problem at hand. If you're looking for dependency and reliablity, I defiantly wouldn't recommend the EM-500. I've lost all my data twice now (partly my fault because I didn't do a backup).

I love PDA's (and computers in general, for that matter) and this is an excellent device. There was a time when I swore by Palm's pda's, but while Windows CE (now known as Pocket PC) has evolved to near-desktop power, the Palm has remained virtually unchanged. Of the Pocket PC's available, this unit is the best compromise of size and power. It packs a 150mhz cpu (more powerful than the HP Jornada, less than the Ipaq), 16mb of ram, and an amazing screen capable of displaying 16bit color. The Ipaq and HP Jornada can both only do 12-bit color at best. All of that is packed in a comfortable, small device that feels extremely solid in the hand.

While I do believe the EM-500 is probably the best unit available, it does have a few draw-backs. The miserly 16mb of ram is hardly enough... if you buy this make sure to get a 32mb or 64mb memory card to go with it. My other complaints are minimal: lack of hardware volume control, location of IRDA port... but none of these minor issues really impact the usefulness of the unit.

Definitely a great PDA, and well worth the money

I've been planning for a couple of month to get a Palm, probably a Vx, since a lot of friends had it, I knew it, and seemed great. Just when I was about to buy it, I found out there are better alternatives to Palms, and that is PocketPCs, which are not much more expensive. After a quick research, I decided to buy the Cassiopeia EM-500, and from the moment I received it I was amazed!

Although it's a bit bigger and heavier than a palm, you can forgive this the moment you turn it on and se the marvellous full-color display. I think it's the best display you can find on a PocketPC, comparing it with the Jornada and iPaq.

The organizer features (contacts, tasks, calendar) are like all otehr organizers, but the vivid colors make them look better.. so I find them easier to use than those from a Palm. The touch-screen reacts very well. Personally I prefer the keyboard input to writing the characters. I downloaded the free Microsoft Transcriber which improves a lot the character recognition, but I still stick to the keyboard.

The value of EM-500 comes with the software. Being powered by Windows, it has a large spectrum of applications, like Word, Excel, Money, PocketStreets... And you can download even more utilities, applications and games (even Doom and Quake). eM-500 puts the M in MultiMedia, since it has full multimedia capabilities. This PDA works as a MP3 player, or image viewer, or even MPG player. Also, as a Voice Recorder. The sound quality is OK, and the image quality is amazing for such a device.

The initial memory is quite limited (16Mb) if you plan on loading it with software, music and images, but I bought a 64Mb card, so at 80Mb I guess it's enough... At this moment, Cassiopeia comes with a $100 rebate (which makes it cheaper than the Palms), and with this money you can buy the 64Mb card.

Some flaws in the external design. The USB port cover is completely removable (not attached, like the cover for cards, for example.. so it's easy to forget to put it back, or worse, to lose it. The power button isn't very ergonomic, but I got used to power it on using the action buttons on the front. The IR port is also not very well placed... would have been better to put it at the top, make easier to exchange information with someone else.

So, I'll end with a "Wall-Street" recommandation: STRONG BUY!

I have a similar unit and for the most part it works OK. However, HP decided to use only a SD expansion slot. Very few accessories go into this slot. Most accessories require a larger CF slot which some of the competition offer on their units. For HP you must by a CF slot accessory + the GPS unit or camera, etc.

I've had the Palm III, Palm V, Palm VII, and a BlackBerry so I consider myself a long-time PDA user. I've had the 3975 for about 2 months; here are my observations.
- Screen is the best I've seen, in all types of lighting.
- Battery life is good, but you can not swap out the battery, it is rechargable.
- The ac adapter used for charging comes with a small "adapter" that is needed to charge the device when the cradle is not used, e.g. when traveling. On a recent trip, I brought the charger then realized I did not bring the "adapter". I had to go to an electronics store to buy one...at least it was cheap.
- It is heavier and bulkier than Palm's, not something you can carry in your shirt pocket.
- Includes Bluetooth funcitonality. I was able to download my entire phone list database to my cell phone (also Bluetooth enabled) in about 2 minutes (200-ish numbers). I've also used it with my PC after I got a Bluetooth USB AdapterPairing the iPaq with other devices is a bit klugey but once you've figured it out, it's good.
- Comes with infrared also. It DOES NOT work with a PALM (atleast I have not gotten it to). I have used it with my PC however.
- It interfaces smoothly with MS Outlook (synched via USB port). I use it to download emails and read/respond in meetings or on planes etc. The emails are dumped back into Outlook and sent off at next "autosynch" when attached to PC.
- If it had BlackBerry "always on" capability, it would be much more useful with email.
- It uses MS Pocket PC 2002 OS. I have not had any issues with it, one soft re-boot when internet explorer locked up (iPaq still worked fine, but could not launch explorer).
- HOWEVER, do not expect this OS to function like PC-based Windows. It does have similar look, but does function differently. You have to get used to cycling through windows that are open to get at what you want...not bad, but not like PC-based windows...I still like it better than PALM OS.
- There are several different methods for inputting info; Palm-like character recognition, handwriting recognizer that recognizes long-hand, and a small keyboard-like pad.
- Software is decent and a lot is available in places like Avant-go, apps that are usually free for trial, then [a small fee].
- MS Word is good, Excel is difficult to use unless you want to see a handful of cells at a time; I downloaded a program from Avant-go for viewing ppt slided, great unless there's a lot of text, almost impossible to read. MS Outlook is great, email, calendar come across perfectly. MS Reader is good, screen has enough resolution to make reading easy on the eyes.
- It comes with SD card for adding memory, programs, etc. An expansion kit for Compact Flash is available, should have been included on a device at this price range.
- There are expansion packs that slide on to the device for adding GPS, modem and ethernet hook-up etc. I have not tried them.
- Comes with several other features, voice recognizer (you can include audio in notes, docs..), and other things; see the descriptions on sites like Amazon.com, thier all fine and not worth going into.

Overall, it's my favorite PDA to date. If it had "always-on" email capability, it would get 5 stars from me.

I purchased this product as an upgrade to the iPAQ 3630. When I purchased the first one, I did my research. It came down between the iPAQ & Jornada products (both of these blew away the Palm stuff). I then did my research again when I decieded to upgrade. And this time, it was between the new iPAQs and the Toshiba line. I decided to go with the iPAQ again, because of unmatched usability. Both are Pocket PC based, but the iPAQ has so much more! Number one, they were the first to sell with the 400 MHz XScale processor. Secondly, the most RAM & ROM available. Next there is the built-in Bluetooth, which allows for wireless connectivity. With a Bluetooth-equipped cell phone, you can sign onto the "Wireless Web", & veiw webpages on your iPAQ! Lastly, are the expansion packs. I love the SD Card slot, but what if I want to use a Compact Flash or PC Card? You can get an expansion pack for it! Not to mention GPS, Cellular, and even ECG/EKG packs(yes, the medical device). Despite the somewhat staggering price tag, this Pocket PC device IS WELL WORTH every cent!