My first introduction to PDAs started with the Palm m100. My friend got it back when I was in school and everyone was drooling all over it – it was such a novelty. I set my sights on getting one as soon as I could. By the time I could afford one the best one to get in that price range was the Palm m130. Looking back on it now it was pretty bad, however for the time it was brilliant – partly due to the fact that it was one of the few models with a color screen. These days most PDAs are superior to this model, however you can pick up a real bargain on eBay (around 40 pounds) and this little device does most things nice enough for you to still consider it.

The design is a bit chunky, but also quite funky. I think Palm was trying to position this as a teenager’s device since it has sleek curves and rubberised edges. The screen is quite small – about 2 inches across, and is only 160x160 pixels, however its enough space to use most programs comfortably and the colours are done quite nicely. The top side of the device houses an expansion slot and you won’t find the AAA battery slot on this unit, because unlike the earlier m100 models it has a rechargeable battery. At the bottom of the device is the Palm Universal connector that is compatible with a lot of Palm gadgets and add-ons. On the front of the device is the power button, located at the top, and the usual Contacts, To Do, Calendar and Notepad buttons, as well as the up and down keys, which is unusual these days as most devices come with a four way directional pad.

The processor is quite slow at 33MHz DragonBall V, however you don’t really need much more to run Palm OS 4.1, and 8MB of RAM is sufficient enough for your data, however for pictures and eBooks you can use the MMC and SD cards through the expansion slot. Since this device is not really made for multimedia as such its power is enough to comfortable use it. A nice little feature, included in most m100 models is displaying the clock thru the little windows when the device is off, thanks to the hard cover that is equipped with a handy window.
On the software side, apart from the usual Palm applications you get Documents on the Go 4.0 which lets you view and edit Microsoft Office documents (such as Word and Excel) as well as MGI PhotoShuite Mobile Edition, which lets you view JPEGs.

The performance of this unit was quite good, with most games playing quite well, and no considerable slowing down in any program I ran on it. Video playback is out of question however, even with third party software its way too slow and blurry to be enjoyable. The screen is quite bright and easy to read which makes working with this device a pleasure. The battery life was excellent, and I had it running all day for about 12 hours before it died. If you are buying second-hand on eBay though, be aware that battery life will be less, between 8 and 10 hours. The package includes the drivers, hotsync cradle and the AC and USB cables. Overall it’s no competition to the new PDAs now available, but if you looking for a bargain device to keep your contacts and appointments on the go, this may be the right device for you.