Zire
by Volker Weber
"Sony, HP and Handspring had better take note - Palm has just re-written the PDA rules. " I think The Register is right. While many people blast the Zire for being too little, too late, I think they hit the spot. Just over 100 gramms, under 100 Euro (@Vobis), beautiful design, just the right features.
Nope, this is not a multi-megahertz, multi-megabyte, all-singing, all-dancing multimedia machine. It does only a few things. The things you really need every day. And it does them right. KISS - keep it simple, stupid. Like the original US Robotics Pilot which defined the category. Welcome back.
Comments
Cheap is not equal to value. For me, PDA without wireless access to email, calender and some important data is paper weight.
We have two Palms buried somewhere is some drawer. Maybe, I should off-load them on eBay:-)
I still own some Palms but the only one I really use is my trusted m100. Featuring specifications very much comparable to the Zire it does everything I need and does it well. Given the inherent insecurity of wireless transmissions I even prefer good old cable connections to transmit my personal data. So in case my m100 dies some day or other, I guess I'll give the Zire a try.
Jack, I think you are both right and wrong.
A wireless, well connected PDA would be a blessing to me as well. But that is a completely different category.
In my view the Zire has everything an offline PDA needs.
Unfortunately, only available in German:
http://www.netzeitung.de/servlets/page?section=926&item=210136
Wie gut, dass es das nur in deutsch gibt. Der Schreiberling blamiert sich nämlich ordentlich. "Wieder mal eine neue Schnittstelle" ist ein normaler Mini-USB, an den jedes Kabel passt, nicht nur die teueren von Palm.
Und der 105 mag zwar mehr Memory haben, dafür aber eine ganz simple proprietäre Schnittstelle, die mit nichts anderem von Palm vergleichbar ist. Akku ist ebenfalls nicht drin. Und über das Design mag ich nicht streiten.
