Palm Zire 31 > Reviews (4)

This PDA I found to be good in many ways, but also to have some disadvantages.

Advantages:

Good Price - This PDA retails for around the £120 mark and it can even be purchased for cheaper with some retailers - £120 for a PDA is great value, considering that most of them retail for above £200.

Ease of Use - I found this model to be easy to use - a good menu that is accessable easily - plus icons on the home screen. The buttons are also easy to understand and are labeled very well.

Good Features - For the price this PDA has some really handy features including:

Contacts, Calendar, World Clock, Memos, Tasks, Calculator, Expense1, Prefs, Note Pad. Additional software included: RealOne Mobile Player, palmOne Photos, Audible, Handmark Splash Money® and Mobile DB, powerOne Calculator, Palm Reader, AddIt, Solitaire.

Portable (Lightweight) - This item is great for carriage, its small and can fit into the palm of your hand (as the name suggests) - it will easily fit into your pocket and comes complete with a cover to protect it. It only weighs 4.1 oz. / 116.23 Grams.

Good Battery Life - This PDA comes complete with a rechargeable battery that can be charged on mains. It's a 'Lithium Ion Polymer 900mAh battery' and therefore, fully charged, will last for up to a week depending on the applications that you use. For example listening to music will use more battery life rather than using the calculator!!

Disadvantages:

Poor Durability - I personally found this product to not be great for durability - however this does not mean that you will get your product and it won't last for 5 years! My PDA only lasted for about 6 months before the screen gathered a 'crack' and therefore a large 'orange blob' formed on the screen and basically the screen needed replacing - I don't know if the damage was self-inflicted, however I did not drop the PDA and was always careful with it - so it was a mystery!

Low Memory Capacity - The memory that comes with the PDA is 16MB - which is not a lot if you wish to play songs etc. However the plus side to this is that you can purchase memory cards and use them to increase your memory, these usually vary in price depending on the size and the retailer (from £10 upwards).

Manual Needs Improvement - I did not find the manual to be great - there wasn't a great deal of information in it. However 'Palmones' website has some further information on the product and they also provide customer support via telephone and email.

You can purchase accessories for the product including expansion cards (memory) and stereo headphones to listen to music with. You can also purchase applications and games to use with the product - some of which are really good fun!

Specifications:

Dimensions: 4.4 inches by 2.9 inches by 0.6 inches
Weight: 4.1 ounces
Memory: 16MB (14MB actual storage capacity)
Operating System: Palm OS v5.2.8
Processor: 200Mhz Intel ARM-based processor
Screen: 160x160 color STN display with contrast and brightness controls. Supports thousands of colors
Battery: Rechargeable Lithium Polymer 900mAh battery
Expansion Slot: Supports MultiMediaCard, SD and SDIO expansion cards, sold separately
HotSync Cable: Standard Mini-USB connector
5-way Navigator Button: Access information with just one hand
Stereo Headphone Jack: Accepts standard 3.

5mm stereo headphone plug. Headphones not included.

In The Box:

Zire™ 31 Handheld w/ Rechargeable Battery

Stylus

Protective Flip Lid

Mini-USB HotSync® Cable

Power Supply Cable

Desktop Software CD-ROM with Palm™ Desktop 4.1 PIM software, bonus Software Essentials software, and interactive tutorial

Easy, 3-step setup instructions and electronic Getting Started Guide

Overall Summary:

I think this is a great product for the first time buyer - I would recommend it and it is bundles of fun!!

Best Wishes,
Robert.