Night Reading Quality of M515 etc

[mariog98]

Can I get some comments on the night reading quality of the latest handhelds?

I own a Palm Vx and of course it is terrible in any environment to read when it is dark.

I noticed in the sotre the M515 was bright and clear. Also the Tungsten Handheld as well.

Do you all agree? Latest are easy to view and read at night compared to Palm VX, M100 etc.?

I am trying to decide which unit to recommend to my son?

Choices possible:

M515

Tungsten

Treo 90

Iunderstand the Treo 90 is being phased out by Handspring as they are emphasizing the Communicator models.

Question Can I do wireless lan with the M515? Or is that possible with the Tungsten only?


...Mario G.

[merlin]

Having used a PalmV for a long time, I know what you mean about nighttime visibility. The 515 is great for nighttime and offers two levels of background brightness. Both are quite usable at night outdoors (I have some star charts on my 515 and I use it while out in the boonies with a telescope someimtes -- it replaced my former 505 and does a much better job brightness-wise).

I wonder why you haven't listed the Sony T665 in this grouping -- faster than the 515 but still runs PalmOS 4.1 so there would be fewer "new-os" problems, not to mention acceration hacks, etc. Just a thouht -- about the same price as the 515 but faster with more features and better screen resolution. (If I hadn't had so many Palm 505/515/etc. specific gadgets I probably would have gotten the T665).

Hope this helps

[mariog98]

Merlin:

Thanks for your comments on the lighting.

I just wrote a long reply and then it was lost when I posted it...since my log out timer ran out...what a waste.

I said I found a good reveiw of T665C over T615C at

http://www.epinions.com/content_70013783684.

T665C is 399, T615C is 299.

I saw the T665C at Circuit City 2 days ago and like it but the review was not that good.

WIll also read reviews of the M515 by same author later.

FYI.

I am using Iambic Agendus and I found it great. Ver 6 is out ..some people complaining about it but I find it fine for now...still on trial offer. I like the ToDos with Alarms..every useful...and you can snooze for up to 24 hours.

*****************

The other quesion I have is what can you do with the Expansion unit on a M515...search researching this....and costs for more memory etc.

...Mariog98

[palm boy]

If you want o go less expensive look at the m130.

[little-man]

I think that the sj30 is great. It has a bright, visible screen that is double the resolution of the entire m series, and it has twice as much memory as all of the m series, for the same price, or less.

[DrMud]

My vote goes to the 515. The screen on my 515 is brighter than the new Tungsten when it is set on its highest setting. I was given a Sony 665c to review and comment on and I bought the 515 shortly after returning the SONY.
Doc

[hairball]

My wife does a Palm Reader thing on the VC Andrews books she's addicted to, it's the hightech version of reading under the covers with a flashlight. She uses a 505 and has no complaint whatever about brightness under those circumstances. The tapping doesn't even keep me awake;).
hairball

[mariog98]

To all:

Thanks for your comments.

I visited Best Buy, Office Max, office Depot and check out the various handhelds, extended contract.

Office Depot has the M515 on special till 2/3/03 for $15 addiontla off. $349 - $15 - $50 rebate = $285.00.

I liked the comment about the M130 - it is color also, and is 8MB vs 16mb on the M515.

I have a Palm VX and it has 8MB and I believe the 8mb is ok my son's needs. I mainly want to load Iambic Agendus as a contact manager (I am using on a trial offer now for 1 week and found that Ver6.0 is ok despite a few repored bugs (not bothing me) that needs improvements - just released).

I read an opinion on the M130 at:

http://www.epinions.com/content_60134887044

and it mentions the brightness is fine for the unit as wwell. I will verify this at the store. For $199 or less maybe the unit my son needs for his detailing job to keep track of customes. My son liked the m100 (2MB) he used for 1 month until he found out it does not hold the battery charge (<5 seocnds) and lost all his data (He has no computer - so needs to visit me to hot sync).

So now to go to the stores again and look at the M130...then make a decision M130 or M515?

Regards,

Mario G.

[merlin]

Little-man wrote:
---
"I think that the sj30 is great. It has a bright, visible screen that is double the resolution of the entire m series, and it has twice as much memory as all of the m series, for the same price, or less."
--

Are you sure it's resolution is 320x320? ("double the resolution" = 2 x the 160x160.)

I looked at it in the store, side-by-side with both the Tungsten and the m515. It appears to be 160x160 like the m515.

Also, the Palm web page only describes it as "color" and does not mention its resolution. Logically if it were 320x320 as you imply, that would be a _very_ big advertising point and they would most likely mention that on the page giving its resoultion specification ... or in the comparison sheets where Palm put the specs for all of the current products.

Just curious...

[DrMud]

"The PEG-SJ30 features high resolution on its 320 x 320 pixel backlit color display, which can display over 65,000 colors."

That is a quote from the AMAZON web site.

16 meg of memory.
Doc

[little-man]

merlin - are you thinking of the Palm m130? The sj30 is made by sony, and the hi-res screen IS a big advertising point (as it should be). Also, 8mb can fill up faster than you think, especially when you are loading ebooks, dictionarys, and other apps, so having 16 mb is definately helpful.

[Nils214]

I just got the SJ30, screen res is unbelievable, almost like real life, and can fit more text per page due to clarity. With some app's the text is shown at a font size of approx. 4-5, and is perfectly legible. Definately worth the little extra, plus runs OS so no prob's with compatibility.