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http://www.insanely-great.com/news.php?id=1068
Palm introduces new light-weight $99 Zire PDA
By Michael Flaminio, Insanely Great Mac
October 7th 2002
New handheld from Palm attempts to attract new PDA users with low price point
Palm's latest offer offers the small profile of its higher-end devices, while
delivering an attractive price. The new Zire handheld is scaled down in features, but
boasts a few points shared with its popular high-end cousins, the m5xx series devices.
Like all Palm devices, the Zire offers a Date Book, Address Book, To Do List, Memo Pad
and Alarm clock. The PDA connects IR beaming and built-in USB for synchronization.
Separating itself from the lower end m105 and m125 products, the Zire includes a
rechargeable internal battery. The Zire is close in size and weight to the m500, being
.2 ounces lighter, and slightly smaller.
"The Palm Zire handheld symbolizes the beginning of a new generation of useful tools
to simplify our lives," said Todd Bradley, president and chief executive officer of
Palm Solutions. "Zire handhelds can replace or augment paper-based organization
systems and deliver substantial savings in time and cost."
Looking at the specs sheet, the Zire's lower price point can easily be seen. The PDA
has significantly smaller built-in memory, which only includes 2 MB, where the rest of
the Palm line includes at least 8 MB. Also lacking is the ability to upgrade via SD
and other expansion, and also lacks an upgradable flash ROM for future updates. The
Zire also lacks any Internet support. One other major shortcoming is the display,
which is monochrome versus gray scale and is not backlit.
Analysis:
Most active PDA users will discount the Zire as inadequate, however, new users will
surely be attracted to the price and functionality. Personally, I don't like
handhelds. They're expensive and just something else to carry around/keep track of. I
am, however, kind of attracted to the Zire because it fits my needs. I just pretty
much need a portable address book and calendar and this seems like a pretty cheap and
easy solution. I suspect the Zire will register well with people similar to me
(there's got to be millions and millions, right? =) and first time PDA users who have
sat out the PDA revolution because of high prices.
I'm making the assumption that the Zire will sync easily with iSync, which is a bonus
for those using iSync already with multiple computers or a cell phone.
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