Smaller, Cheaper, Better? (Palm M100)

Member Name: PWilliams

Product:	Palm M100
Date:	18/11/00 (438 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Price, size, screen, features

Disadvantages: Only 2MB memory

Palm has now released the first in its new wave of handhelds. In a unique package with an RRP of £129 (though I paid £78 for mine)it combines a number of features that were not standard equipment on their other models. Palm has done so in a smaller and more customisable package.

The m100 weighs in at under 100g and is about 11.5cm by around 7.5cm. Trace those approximate dimensions out on a piece of paper and you?ll see how much smaller Palm has made this. I found this much more compatable with my shirt pocket than any of my other old palmtops.

Similar to the interchangeable faceplates on my Nokia phone you can purchase one of 5 colour faceplates to replace the standard issue black. The available colors are silver, red, green and two shades of blue. They will set you back around £15 each. Personally, I think it looks best in it's native black, but you're free to choose.

Unlike the similarly priced Palm IIIe, the m100 includes the Chapura PocketMirror software which links to MS Outlook. This is a relatively expensive software add-on for the Palm IIIe. Also included is the AvantGo software allowing you to take advantage of hundreds of news and entertainment channels every time you synch with the included Hot Synch cable. The cable is new for Palm, they previously issued a Hot Synch cradle, which is now an optional extra for around £30. Personally I find the cable handier for the sake of portability.

Palm is also supporting the m100 with a full line of accessories. This is no second class Palm despite the low price. Available now or shortly will be a digital camera, an MP3 player, Palm Folding Keyboard, memory upgrades, backup modules, modems, etc.

Also newly included is a NotePad application allowing you to write and store notes in your own handwriting. You can even set alarms to your notes. I added this separately to my Palm III and find it to be very handy. I?m glad Palm has made it standard on the m100.

>The unit is also significantly smaller than the Palm III but Palm 'cheated' a bit by reducing the size of the screen quite a bit. The good news is that they kept the same resolution, and because of this the screen is sharper and thus easier to read than any other Palm.

Standard Palm equipment also includes the Address Book, Date Book, To Do List and YES ? even the IR beaming function. This allows you to beam your selected data to anyone with a similar device. A nice (and usually expensive) feature to be included on what amounts to Palm?s entry level model.

The one drawback to the m100 is that Palm gave it only 2MB of memory. This is more than plenty though for almost anyone?s needs unless you plan to make heavy use of the AvantGo software. If that?s the case you could consider upgrading to 8MB with one of the third-parties offering this service.

All in all this is a tremendous deal for the money and if this is your first handheld or you are upgrading from the Palm Pilot or Palm Professional, you won?t be disappointed. Just make sure you are comfortable with the screen size as compared with other models and you can?t go wrong.

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