m515 a good buy?

[Stardust]

I may have to go for m515 given the price of the Tungsten. Will I be doing the wise thing? I am particularly concerned about:

1. Color display and resolution (screen mustn't be "pixelated" like the Prism and must have good color fidelity)

2. Audible alarm

3. 16MB capacity

4. Decent battery life before re-charge

What are the biggest put-offs with the m515? Any advice from present or ex-m515 owners will be greatly appreciated.

[action49]

I love my m515 but for me the biggest disappointment has been the degradation of the graffitti area. I dont know if it has been because I have been a heavy user or have used it with a heavy hand but I have been annoyed by its recent descent into gibberish! Otherwise it has been great, accommodated all the things I want to do with it and never missed a beat (until I tried to fix the graffitti!)

Angela

[Farqui]

The m515 has been my first pda before which i used a pals III. I love the colour of the 515 in comparison to the b&w models, much easier on the eyes, although the resolution isn't as hot as Sony units.

Never had any problem with the alarm volume, it does what it's supposed to.

I've just about max'd out on the available 16Mb internal capacity but I've numerous databases, spell checkers, pictures, doc's. Perhaps Santa will help me out here?

Battery life seems ok to me but I don't have much to compare it to. I charge at work and over the weekends with 3-4 hours use without charge, the battery still has 60% juice left. Where typical usage would be mostly games, the odd book, Contact look ups, Memo's.

Happy hunting...

[Farqui]

PS: I noticed that Palm have an xmas offer and are selling the m515 with Iambic's Agendus and a Games card for a reasonable price...

[blogger]

I LURV the 515.
All the issues have solvers......
True the battery life can be a little short but just get chargers.
I havent had any problerms with the graf area- but get a screen protector. If 16mb is not enough get an expansion card.
I weighed up the pros and cons - and it depends what you are going to use it for - if you need the extra functionality of a Tugsten then wait and save your money if not I dont think you will be disapointed with the 515

[Stardust]

Thanks for all your comments and suggestions. I got to test an m515 in a computer shop recently. My impressions:

1) The screen doesn't feel as "durable" as the Prism's.

2) Brightness control is limited to off-low-high, which I think could be a problem under certain lighting conditions

3) Color resolution is passable, certainly not as striking as the Prism's

4) The screen doesn't seem to have the same degree of pixelation as the Prism, so reading e-books on an m515 would probably be easier on the eyes

[gdalgard]

Originally posted by Stardust
I may have to go for m515 given the price of the Tungsten. Will I be doing the wise thing? I am particularly concerned about:

1. Color display and resolution (screen mustn't be "pixelated" like the Prism and must have good color fidelity)

2. Audible alarm

3. 16MB capacity

4. Decent battery life before re-charge

What are the biggest put-offs with the m515? Any advice from present or ex-m515 owners will be greatly appreciated. :) I have had my 515 for approximately 2 months now and although I am a new user to PDA's I can only say that I am delighted with my Palm 515. As part of my purchase, I also received a 32 mg card which was bonus!

I have a few people in my office who have also purchased Palms and I have heard nothing but raves.

Good luck and enjoy!

[peteclark]

Although I have no experience outside of earlier Palm machines I think the 515 is excellent. I noticed no problems with the graffiti ara but I do try and enter as much data as possible using the desk top software in order to preserve it. I've nearly filled the memory but expansion cards are an easy solution there and they are available now with a vast capacity. Battery life is my only real compliant about the device. I have a cradle at home and at work but I soon run it down if out on the road. Soon of the figures I see quoted on this site make me think I've got a defective machine.

That said I'll probably upgrade to a Tunsten. Boys and toys you know....

[Larken]

I loved my Palm m515. In a way, I regret getting rid of it to upgrade. It feels very nice in your hand. I used it a lot of ebooks. The thing I really liked about it was the bright screen. I work in an office building, and I could use it all day with the backlight turned off because of the normal brightness of the screen. When I had the backlight on, I just used to low setting. Before I owned the m515, I had a Clie T615C, and a Toshiba e310 PocketPC. Battery life was much better on the m515 than either other unit. The Clie has a nicer screen, but I was willing to sacrifice the high res screen for longer battery life and more accessories that you get from a Palm.

[JohnKes]

Stardust,
Don't know about you. I was planning on using my Prism until it crapped out. By then the TungstenT would be more reasonably priced. I'm trying to keep my cost per year as low as possible. The next step for me would be high res screen and Bluetooth.

The m515 is awefully nice. Very small, yet similar battery life as a Prism. The 16MB would be great. And plenty of accessories.

JK

[Stardust]

John,

I plan to replace my Prism before it turns 1 1/2 years old in June 2003. As you have pointed out, the Tungsten should be cheaper by that time. Or perhaps Sony will come out with a new version of the SJ30 with a cradle and decent speaker. No point getting the T665C as the battery would be close to its expiry.