thinking of getting a M500...

[michelehulea]

I recieved my first palm last year for christmas (M100) and I love it. I am thinking of upgrading to a M500 because of the email and more memory. Anything I should know before I make my purchase? Anything would help. I use my 100 for everything from work (advertising sales) to my grocery list! The one thing that I really need is to beable to revise and send excel and word documents. I also travel quite a bit and need to be able to access my email, I called Palm and they informed me that I would need to by the Modem Kit, and that I could use my current AOL account. Any problems with this? I just don't want to spend the money and then figure out that it can't do what I need.

Thanks for your help!:)

[jrchrist]

Did you look into the palm i705.

[michelehulea]

I just went on the Palm website and saw the i705- it is nice and the wireless email is great but I don't see that big of a difference otherwise. I really wanted to keep it under $250 or so and with the M500 at $149 and the modem kit at $99. The i705 has wireless and it is a base cost of $199 but once I subscribe to the service then it will cost me more in the long run. Anyway done with that rant. I am just trying to talk myself into getting it all ready. I just wanted to see what you'all thought about yours? Any problems or such?

[palm boy]

Did you look at the m130? it is under $200 when on sale. The color screen makes a big diference. It also has 8mb, sd slot and universial conector.

[cliemea]

dont get an m500, get a clie instead

[Palm Cow]

Right now there's a sale at Radio Shack for the Sony CLIE' SJ20 (16MB memory, 320*320 pixels, meory stick...better that m500) for $149. You can get a cheap Memory Stick accessory for it.

[cliemea]

an sj20 wouldnt be a bad choice- or you could evan go for a color palm

[papazote]

why not.... say... just get a tungsten? (Never mind the expense, money is relative)

[Wizard of wires]

I run a 96 room motel and use mine for doing just about everything I would use my laptop for. Sure it's not colour but when you're crunching data who needs colour? It has a big following so support is not a problem and the price is right. I got mine from Office Depot for $149.00. Along with a very nice leather case it was still under $200.00. Then I got a 64meg sd card for $34.00 from Microcenter. Buying one of these things is like buying a security system, how far you want to go depends on how much you want to spend.
Oh btw Office Depot has a $30.00 rebate after the $149.00 and Microcenter has a $10.00 rebate on the sd card. But who wants to wait 10 weeks to get coupons and junk mailed to death ? ha ha

[n_sram2k]

I am using the M 500 and I find it really good.
It also have the memory for you to store some softwares.
I suggest that you go for it.
*********

[little-man]

You may be doing a lot with your m500, but you could do more for the same price or less with the Sony sj20. It has twice as much memory, twice the screen resolution, and is a bit faster. Even better, take a look at the sj30. It is about the same as the sj20, but with a color screen. Personally, after going from a Visor Deluxe to a Palm IIIc, I would never go back to black and white. The increased visibility and functionality make it worth the extra money.

[tuffguy]

Hey little-man, do you own stock in Sony? Seems as though you are a definite advocate for them.

[little-man]

I dunno, I might have stock in them. All I have now is a small share of an S&P 500 index fund, which, for all I know, may include sony ;) . It probably includes Palm too. Sorry if I come off as such a sonyphile, but if you look at the stats, the sj20 is better than the m500. Most Sony models are better than their Palm counterparts. That's why I like them.

[palm boy]

Lay off the sonys!! Their customer sevice stinks

[reaganlion]

I've had my m500 for about a month now and let me tell you it's a VAST improvement over my old Visor Neo. I love the SIZE!!! Truly a pocket-sized pda. The internal vibe-alert, included Docs2go, email, games, and expansion slot added up to the perfect package for what I require. I got mine for a steal too, Office Depot had 'em for 150, less $15 on Thanksgiving weekend, less a $30 MIR, and a 16MB expansion card...call me cheap, I don't care. I really like this PDA, and would recommend it to anyone.

[reaganlion]

or woman's question, I mean...my bad!

[little-man]

Sorry to break it to you palm boy, but PDAs shouldn't be judged just by their customer service. Is it just me, or are people on PDAStreet getting a little paranoid about advertising? It seems that every thread I've seen in the last week has someone accusing someone else of advertising. I don't like advertisers either, but I would rather let people advertise a little than have people calling the cops every time someone shows a steady preference. I like Clies. If anyone has a problem with that, tell a moderator, but don't make 5 posts about it. Heck, not only do I not work for sony, I don't even have a job. I'm just 15 years old. Gimme a break.

[pda_ngle]

Palm's rool , SONY droolz

sonys are cheaper because they are lamer , with a worse warranty and bad cus.sup

Sony loses all round
the palm has more peripherals and is mor ecompatable across market peripherals.
PURCHASE A PALM thats my advice

[little-man]

pda_ngl -
Could you back up what you just said? Look at the stats, and you will see that for the same price sonys give you much more. For example, for the price of an m505, the sj30 gives you a high-resolution brighter screen, twice as much memory, a jog dial, a faster processor, and still plenty of accesories to go around. I'd take that over customer service any day. As for software compatibility, they both run the same OS, so they can run the same programs just as well. In fact, the Sony runs them better because of the faster processor and hi-res screen. So far I have not yet seen a well-supported argument for palm being better than sony.

[pda_ngle]

I can back all of it up , not only do you not know but, You just dont know .

sonys are lame , a poor excuse for a PDA, hi-res screen means quicker battery usage , most PDA user's are after "on-time" , if you wanted to view movies and any other hi-res graphics you should purchase a laptop, your just sour because your mum bought you the wrong PDA, dont be angry at the world -

[little-man]

I agree that the sony's battery life is not quite as good as palm's, but it just seems like palm makes you pay extra for the brand name. The hi-res screen is not just for movies, but it lets you see four times as much text on the screen, and it is still readable. I'm willing to sacrifice a little battery life for that. It doesn't matter much to most people because it's still fine if you just drop it in the cradle every other night. Sonys also give you faster processors, more memory, and a jog dial. All of that is definitely worth a little battery life. And my "mum" didn't buy me my PDA. Heck, it took a couple months to get her to figure out what a PDA is. I bought my PDA myself, and worked hard for it too.

[pda_ngle]

Lol , what delivering papers?
sony PDA's are for children , Palm PDA's are for business men, they can't always rest their pda's in a cradle whilst on trips ,therefor they need longer life , PDA's are task specific - the palm's are easier to develop for , they look better - have better warranty and a better feel - their stronger - and aimed at a higher market class -
its like buying an amd or an Intel processor - what do you think>>?


Just submit to the Grandure of Palm PDA's!

-Good Luck

[palm boy]

Pda_ngle, you need to cool off. I agree that Sony has lousy custumer support, but palm does to. It is true you can't beat palms accesories lanudry list, but sony does make PDAs with better fetures. And no one is forceing anybody to buy anything.

[pda_ngle]

well then , that put me in my place

Thankx


: ) lol

PALM ROCKS
our cus support is second to none

[aingusaekdb]

I have a 500 and love it...although after seeing the color models I wish I had the color. On the 500 the screen size is great and as long as you get the contrast to your liking the b&w screen is not bad at all. It comes with great apps as well. If you go with anything download and pay for Launcher X...it is AMAZING!
My father in law has the Sony Clie and it is amazing visually but I found that the screen was not big enough. It does have more memory but the 500 allows for expansion cards. My vote is for the 500 or a 515 (color model).
Either way...let us know what you went with.

[little-man]

actually, the Sony Clie does allow for expansion cards.

[palm boy]

Yes the Clie does have a expansion slot, but it is not as popular (in my opion) as SD or MMC. it is also larger.

[little-man]

I agree that memory stick is not quite as good as SD, because SD is faster and comes in larger sizes, but MMD is not as good as memory stick. Memory stick is actually not as big as you may think. At that size, I wouldn't want it much smaller, or else it would be easier to lose it with little or no added benefit.

[JohnKes]

Sony's have 90 day warranty, while Palm's have 12 month warranty.

Customer support becomes essential when your PDA stops working (for whatever reason). What are you supposed to do if you get no answer thru e-mail cust supp - stay on hold for half an hour for telephone support?

If you are going to get a Sony, spring for the extended warranty (Best Buy, etc.). Then you can just go to the store and exchange for another unit.

Plus there are no repair parts available for Sony's. If anything craps out, you will be glad to have an extended warranty. You can get replacement parts for Palm's at ********HighTech.com

[palm boy]

I agree with JohnKes about the warrenty. I have compared the SD card to a friend's MS. I agree that the MS is better than the MMC. Thats why palm made it dual compatable.