PDA Reviews

I bought the Franklin Covey Palm V Black Leather Zip Case from a Franklin Covey store about three months ago. Here is what I have found to be the stregnths and weaknesses of the case: Shrengths: The case fully zips and offers great protection from weather and dirt. The case has a great deal of padding, which protect in the event of drops. In my opinion, I believe this case would protect against drops better than hard cases, as long as it is closed. The shape and anchor of the case fit very well. The leather has a nice feel. The case is well crafted so the buttons do not easily get accidentally pressed when the unit is closed. Weaknesses: The leather and padding add signifigantly to the size of the unit. It is no longer easy to slip in my pocket. I also worry about the screen protection (for packing or sitting on the unit). The case is stiff, but flexable. One final weakness is that the inside of the front cover has a pocket that begins about an inch from the top of the cover. The edge of this double layer of leather rubs my screen. Because I use a screen protector, it just rubs out the texture of the screen protector forming a smooth line. Not a big deal, but I thought I would mention it. The case looks nice and is a good case in terms of drop and general protection, but it adds bulk. The case and Palm end up being about 5.125" x 3.75" x .85"

I was excited to go from the Leather Zipper Case to the Sport Binder where I would have more room (see my review of the Leather Zipper Case). But I soon found that the binder was just a larger version with the same problems. The slim binder doesn't allow you to put hardly anything within the rings and the palm is turned on as you try to zip the binder. I did like the mounting for the palm and stylus loop for easier access. But, I'm still looking for the perfect Palm case.

I purchased this unit as a cost effective universial remote. Well if your using a Axim (version 5 or 3) you will find it not to your liking. Range is extremely limited, less than 10 feet. The concept gets 5 stars but for Dell it gets only 1.

A little bit to tight of a fit for me and my prism.Have to really shove it in.not very stylish Preety plain.But,It works for the price.

When the original stylus that came with my Palm m515 started to slip out of its storage slot, I decided I needed a replacement. I ordered several different brands to find the stylus that suited me best. The picture provided for this stylus is a bit misleading. It looks as if it has a metal shaft, much like the original stylus, but this stylus is 100% plastic. It does fit nicely into the storage slot, unlike the Belkin stylus, but you may not feel comfortable with the lightweight plastic design if you are used to the original stylus.

I am a little disappointed with the cable. Though the split USB and serial port functionality is a nice feature, there are plenty of nits that make me less than excited that I chose this cable. First, the connector does not fit tightly into my T2, such that if I move it at all while connected, there is a good chance it will disconnect. Next, the thing is slower than an aged snail. With arthritis. And a bad hip. I think, though, that this is a function of using the serial port and the Windows NT on my work PC than the cable itself. I much prefer to hotsync at home with Windows 2000 and the USB cradle. WARNING: the charging feature of this cable only works if the USB is connected, and only then if your USB is a "powered port".

The cable does what it's supposed to do, but I spent about an hr and a lot of mental energy trying to figure out how to initiate a hotsync. I've never had a portable hotsync cable, so I've always had a cradle which has a Hotsync button. There were no instructions, and the manufacturer, iconcepts, doesn't seem to have a website. So, I tried Handpring's website, and found in the FAQ section that all I needed to do was to start the Hotsync app on the Handspring, and tap the Hotsync symbol. I could have saved a lot of time if this was explained somewhere on the packaging.

This is the PalmPix digital camera adapter from Kodak. Basically, it let you use the PalmPix camera which is Palm III based. However, adding PalmPix *AND* this Dock V will enlarge the size of our Palm a lot. If you rate portability more than features, it is not a good pick. Just in case that you dunno: PalmPix is CMOS based JPEG/BMP camera taking up to 640x480 images.

As a long time Lonely Planet fan, I've often cited and sworn by their guidance. The CitySync USA Springboard Module falls just a bit short of what I would have expected from them.

The module is small and fits inline nicely with a Visor and I wasn't able to tell much loss in battery life. Content is easily and quickly accessed and found. More importantly most all the lonely planet book(s) content is duplicated in the card. So the four cities are pleasantly at hand. A 5th city is yours to download when you register, though it resides in your handheld and not the card.

Though, I'm not sure if I can find a review of a map location. Say if one were to click on a point of interest on a map, you can't readily pull up its review. Which brings my second point, the interface is quite unattractive and cluttered.

But if you are a lonley planet addict as I am, its definatly worth having...though you'll still need Vindigo installed for street navigation.

(Part III)

After a brief analisys what you get is the following:
- an IPAQ sleeve form factor expansion. (This feature is a pro and a limitation at the same time because while combining perfectly with iPAQ devices, will not be compatible with other PocketPCs.
- an 800 by 600 CMOS sensor embedded in the plastic case
- a single unpowered Compact Flash expansion slot
- the PocketPC software driver to make the camera work with your device

The Flash
An additional unfortunate feature is the lack of flash. The camera is virtually useless at night or in dark environments. The actual compact design could have included a built in flash like the those on the single use 35mm film cameras or, even better, a small detachable flash module powered by AA or AAA batteries, attach to the unit when needed.

The Zoom
The fact that such feature is present should make the camera more enjoyable. Unfortunatly Nexian made another bad choice: The lack of optical zoom. I am not talking about a Carl Zeiss, a Nikkor or an high quality grade lens, but just by providing the camera with a decent lens having a short range zooming capablity would have been probably a much better choice than the digital zoom, which actually reduces the quality of the images captured making them grainy, jagged and/or blurry beyond acceptable levels. A simple, manually adjustable mini zoom lens would allow the nexicam to produce higher quality close-up shots. The current low quality of the images created by the digital zoom will make it a feature you will try to avoid as much as possible.

The Auto Focus
In a device like this make to get picture on the move this feature is a must, the nexicam auto focus feature unfortunately is slow and often will require you to stay still for a few seconds while the device is adjusting exposure and focus, you will be able to see the image appear on the viewfinder while the device performs such adjustment process. This will happen especially when passing from highly illuminated areas to dark ones.