This thing rules!

[acid]

Well, I just sold my dell axim for 2 main reasons:
1)better software support for the palms(I'm in medical school)
2)oh the screen...these new palm screens just look sooo much better than the ppc screens. PPc screens were good when they were first released, but these new palm hi-res screens make reading a pleasure!
3)it seems as fast (my wife claims faster) than my dell axim 400mhz...

[ebisix]

I got to check out the new Zire 71 at Best Buy on Saturday. This device is by far the best handheld I've seen from Palm.

First of all, the Zire 71 is blazing fast compared to my m125. I didn't think programs could open any faster. I was wrong.

The screen is also great as you've said. Everything is crisp and easy to read.

Palm OS 5 is very nice as well. I tried out Graffiti 2 briefly. It looks pretty easy to learn if you already know the original Graffiti.

The 5-way navigator is also a nice feature. It makes using the Zire 71 with one hand very easy for most tasks.

Unfortunately, I did not get to use the integrated camera. Best Buy chains the PDAs down in such a way that there is no room to open the device to reveal the camera.

[acid]

lol yeah best buy makes me feal like a criminal whenever I walk in. If you have a circuit city buy from them. I always do now. They have a 115% (or110%) 30 day low price guarantee and no stupid restocking fee like best buy does. You can return most anything no questions asked (except software maybe I think). Anyway, the camera is cool and fun and all.

The screen is definitely incredible! And we are obviously in agreement on the speed...it 'snaps' programs open (even largish 5-10mb medical references)...seems faster than my dell axim...go for it

[acid]

oh and the grafitti...I've used graffit for 2 days now and I'm probably at 95%...and that's with only looking at the graffit letters once...easy!

[ebisix]

It almost feels like the application is already open and I am just bringing it to view. Imagine if a normal computer could start programs that fast.

I tried to write something in the original Graffiti just to see what would happen. Most of what I wrote worked fine with Graffiti 2. I immediately noticed that the letter "i" was different. I tried to dot the letter and it worked perfectly. I also realized that the letter "t" was different. I guessed how to write this letter and it worked also. The last thing I noticed was how to write a capital letter. This new feature is good because it eliminates strokes that you will need to make.

It is pretty annoying how Best Buy locks down the PDAs. I wish they'd let you actually hold the device. You can hold the cell phones because they have a string thing as the security device. It would be much better if this was done with the PDAs as well.

By the way, what do you think of the camera? I've heard complaints that it takes a while to actually take the picture once you've hit the button for it. Have you had this problem? And what is the size of an average picture on the highest resolution?

The screen on this device really is excellent. Everything looks perfect with the color themes you can use with Palm OS 5.

I also like the size of the unit. It looks like a perfect fit for your hand and your pocket. I would've tried to put it in my pocket but Best Buy would have had security guards all over me.

[acid]

lol yeah tell the best buy guys you want to see how it fits in your pocket...
The camera is cool but it is definitely not the reason I bought it. I'm of the crowd who thinks that it would be better to have a slightly smaller/lighter device and no camera but it really doesn't add too much to the size or the weight.

Here is what I've noticed with the camera. There does appear to be a delay from when you click the picture button to when it is taken. I'm guessing maybe .5 second delay? Not much but you just have to remember to give yourself a delay before you wiggle your hand again. Also, you have to hold your hand relatively still, or else things get a little blurry. Here are some pictures I took to illustrate things. http://mediaservice.photoisland.com/auction/Apr/20034286746813719141097.jpg
The first is the cool case. I purposely held my hand still and you can see the photos It comes with a very very slick cary case. I could't imagine the need to buy an aftermarket case. The palm slides snuggly into the case and it closes with a little velcro strap and slips easily into my pocket. Notice the blurry cord...this is what happens if things move too much.

Here are just some other pictures:
My path lab:
http://mediaservice.photoisland.com/auction/Apr/20034288789051104950392.jpg

This is what happens if you hand wiggles some (this was my 2nd photo to take so I started to move my hand before the camera had finished taking the picture):
http://mediaservice.photoisland.com/auction/Apr/20034282401313951658839.jpg



Random train shot:
http://mediaservice.photoisland.com/auction/Apr/20034286395647879817845.jpg

[acid]

oh sorry it does 640*480 in photos. Like someone else said at some forum, this camera isn't going to replace a nice high quality digital camera but it works great as a carry anywhere camera for fun photos.

[ebisix]

The camera wouldn't be my main reason for buying this device either if I did. It is a cool feature to have though if you want to takea quick picture of something. I understand that this would not replace a normal digital camera. I would probably look at the PEG-NZ90 for that.

A .5 second delay isn't that bad at all. I'd heard that it was more than a full second. Thanks for clearing this up.

That case does look pretty slick. I like the fact that it comes with the Zire 71.

I see what happens when you wiggle your hand before the picture has been taken completely. Thanks for posting the links to these.

Also, have you tried using any of the applications on the bonus CD such as RealOne Mobile Player or Kinoma Player? How is the sound quality? I think it would be pretty cool to load something like a movie trailer on the Zire 71. Does the handheld come with Kinoma Producer or only Kinoma Player?

[acid]

The cd cover says "kinoma video player and producer" but I haven't installed it yet so I can't guarantee functionality of both for free but it looks like it...



well, the .5 second thing was just a rough estimate. I don't think anyone knows exactly how long the delay is...but 1 second sounds to be on the long side...whatever the delay is it is very doable...I installed the realplayer and the one thing you have to do is watch out b/c realplayer comes with some "spyware" that on my computer was really hogging the resources...so I had to go and remove some of the real audio files, I used this info to do it

"RealAudio

RealAudio aggressively tries to install running processes on the machine. It is one of the worst. The most recent version is very deceptive. Unfortunately it is needed because many media files only play with it, and they are common. The RealAudio player is OK, but other stuff which gets loaded is spyware. After installing RealAudio be sure and go through configuration screens and uncheck any automatic updates or automatic transfers. They hide some at the bottom of scrolling windows so look at everything. When finished, make a "save" folder off \Program Files\Common Files\Real\Update_OB and move realsched.exe, realevent.exe, and rnathchk.exe to that folder. Be sure they do not exist in their original folder. Even though everything is unchecked these processes still load. Get a good process viewer. They are free. Learn how to use it and become familiar with all running processes. Research anything you don't know what it is. Go to Google.com and just type in the file name of the running process surrounded by quotes. Usually you can find out everything you need to know that way."

I haven't installed the movie viewer but once I "fixed" real audio it worked great.

[ebisix]

I was looking around Palm's site and found the answer. The Zire 71 comes with a special version of Kinoma Producer that has no time limit.

That's too bad that the RealOne Player has spyware. I'll keep that in mind if I ever install it. I am using Ad-aware to prevent spyware right currently.

Also, I found a good video about some of the multimedia features on the Zire 71. A link to it is located at this page.

http://www.palm.com/support/zire71/

Beware if you are not using a broadband connection. This video is over 40 megabytes in size.

[acid]

ebisix...I found some other links about realplayer...and some people are saying that you can just quit the install early on b/c it installs the palm software 1st and the computers 2nd...this will avoid the spyware all together. But I just deleted those 3 files, unchecked all the options, and ran adaware and I'm all clean (I ctrl-alt-del often to check and make sure I know everything that is running...I'm paranoid)

[ebisix]

I'll keep this in mind as well. I have always tried to keep spyware off my computer.

It looks like Fresh Gear is going to talk about the Zire 71 tonight. I'll have to check that out.

[rrfranczak3]

GOD Bless all of you who have bought 1, I perosanelly I'm not convinvced...I am not saying which is better but my m515, (smaller,Thinner,Better Response) I hope You Luck but it may not be all its cracked up to be

[ebisix]

You don't have to be convinced. No one is making you upgrade to the Zire 71. If you like your m515, keep using it.

What did you mean when you said "Better Response" in your post? Are you trying to say that the m515 is faster or something else?

"it may not be all its cracked up to be"

Could you explain what you mean? This claim doesn't have much significance if you don't support it.

Palm has a comparison chart on its site that shows the main differences.

1) The Zire 71 has a high-resolution screen. The m515 does not.
2) The Zire 71 uses Palm OS 5.2.1. The m515 uses Palm OS 4.1.
3) The Zire 71 does not come with the email and web browsing software. The m515 does.
4) The Zire 71 uses Graffiti 2. The m515 uses the original Graffiti.
5) The Zire 71 does not have flash ROM. The m515 does.
6) The Zire 71 has a transflective color screen. The m515 does not.
7) The Zire 71 has a 5-way navigator. The m515 does not.
8) The Zire 71 has a headphone jack. The m515 does not.
9) The Zire 71 has an ARM-based processor. The m515 does not.
10) The Zire 71 has an integrated digital camera. The m515 does not.
11) The Zire 71 comes with MP3 playback software, video playback software and Palm Photos. The m515 does not.
12) The Zire 71 does not come with AvantGo. The m515 does. This does not matter too much as AvantGo is a free download.
13) The Zire 71 does not come with Documents to Go. The m515 does.
14) The Zire 71 does not come with MGI PhotoSuite Mobile Edition. The m515 does. This does not matter to much as the Zire 71 comes with Palm Photos.
15) The Zire 71 comes with VersaMail. The m515 does not.
16) The Zire 71 comes with Adobe Acrobat Reader. The m515 does not.
17) The Zire 71 comes with Handmark Solitaire, Audible Player and RealOne Arcade. The m515 does not.