Palm m130: The masses will applaud Palm's efforts for affordable color
Written: Mar 31 '02 (Updated Mar 31 '02)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Sporty design, affordable color PDA, memory expansion card, 33MHz processor
Cons: no Flash ROM, small screen
The Bottom Line: Affordable color with a nice screen and decent form factor. I think the Palm m130 will be a hit with public... lucky for Palm.
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| yusakugo's Full Review: Palm m130 Personal Organizer |
Overview
Although the Palm m130 didn't quite fit my needs, I think this is an exception handheld. The m130 still fits in the shirt pocket, provides all the functions of an everyday organizer, gives you access to the majority of Palm OS software out there, and provides premium features at a cutthroat price. At $280 retail, the m130 provides many features including a good color screen and memory expansion cards. As you can see from the price I paid, you can get the m130 for much lower. I think this is one of the few models from Palm that actually has a leg up on the competition.
Pros:
1) Bright Color Screen
2) Price
3) SD/MMC Memory Expansion Slot
4) Universal Connector
5) Lithium Ion Battery
6) Changable faceplates
7) 8MB of RAM
8) Decent form factor
Cons:
1) Some may consider screen small
2) Some may be upset that screen is only 160x160 resolution
3) No longer accepts batteries
4) Minor point: Not as thin as other Palm handhelds
5) Some may be upset that it has no Flash ROM... so no upgrading the Palm OS and other things
How did I get this if I have so many other Palms?
Honestly, I personally own a Handspring Visor, Visor Deluxe (brother is using it now), Palm IIIx, Palm Vx, Palm m505, and a Sony CLIE-T615. I currently use the m505 and T615 most of the time now. My girlfriend has the Sony CLIE-N610. Most of my friends own Sony CLIE models (N710, N760, S300, S320, S360). Some friends and I bought the m130 for a close friend as a present, and I'm usually the first one to get called on with Palm problems so I got to play with it alot.
As for the $235 price, This particular deal was done when Dell offered 10% off handhelds, free shipping on orders over $99, and a $25 off $250 coupon from the accessories store. With ebates.com, I saved a few bucks more.
This review will get rather detailed after this point and may be technical at portions
Some Details
The m130 isn't much different in overall looks an appearance from the other m1xx series organizers. It still looks like a horseshoe... just like the other m1xx organizers. the m130 sports a two-toned faceplate with royal blue and silver tones... not as attractive to me as the m125 faceplate but that's a personal feeling. The unit is the same size as the m125 at 4.8 x 3.1 x 0.9 inches but weighs slightly more... oh just 0.1 oz more at 5.4 oz. The same rubberized feel to the m130 as the m125 makes it feel more substantial in your hand. I quite liked the overall feel of the unit. You still have the flip cover for the m130 with a little window to show the clock when displayed and a cutout to reach the up scroll arrow to activate the clock. The m1xx series organizers have always had that sporty look... a casual look to it.
One of the things Palm has always done well on their organizers is the size of the 4 application and scroll buttons. They are easy to manipulate and press... you aren't fumbling around like on the Sony N and T series handhelds. The buttons have a solid feel and good feedback on pressing. Although Palm may want to think about jog dials like those used in Sony and HandEra models.
The m130 uses the Motorola DragonBall VZ 33MHz processor like most high end Palms (except the upcoming very expensive Sony CLIE NR-70 model which uses a 66MHz processor). Palm OS 4.1 is installed into the m130 as well. Also, you now use a built-in Lithium Ion battery for power... mostly because of the power requirements for the color screen. The m130 still has only 8MB of RAM.
The infrared port is still in the small old top left hand corner. It's not enhanced like the Sony T-series but it does the job. It will beam to other Palms.
Palm OS allow input through the Graffiti system (you can call it similar to handwriting recognition but you "write" characters on the Graffiti area and they are interpreted as letters, numbers, and symbols displayed on the screen) or through a virtual keyboard on screen. You can attach other accessories to input data as well.
The built-in palm programs include a date-appointment book, phone book, note pad, and to do list. There is a standard calculator on built-in as well.
Screens
One of the major updates to the m130 over the m125 is the inclusion of a backlit color screen. The screen dimensions have not changed however... and it can be considered small by some people. However, the screen output is clear and the colors were vivid... I felt the colors were more accurate on the m130 than on the Palm m505 and Sony CLIE N610, N710, N760, and T615 (the Sony models have this annoying faded red problem). It is capable of 16-bit color (65,000 colors). The screen was easily viewable in most decent lighting conditions without the backlight. The backlit was quite bright and I have no personal complaints about it especially when viewing the screen straight on. I've seen arguments that the screen is hard to see when viewings it at odd angles... but this is a PDA, the only reasons it would be seen at odd angles would be when showing pictures and other stuff to your friends and using a accessory like a keyboard or such. I was very satisfied by the screen.
Yes, the screen as compared to other organizers is smaller but it compliments the low resolution screen (160x160). The same number of pixels into a smaller area resulted is clearer looking pictures versus a larger low resolution screen. If this sounds confusing then think about it this way, the smaller screen makes it harder to notice blockiness in pictures and text. This is not to say that the m130 screen is superior to a high-resolution screen... only that the m130 screen seems appropriate for the m130.
Actually, I just realized I never checked the model if it had a brightness adjustment... I add that when I have to fix my friend's next question with her new m130. DOH!
Flashing
The lack of flash memory will likely detract some points from some users but I don't find it a major fault of the m130. It means that you can't upgrade the OS to feature 4.x versions... since Palm OS 5 will not be able to run on any current Palm because of lack of processing power. You also cannot store information on the Flash ROM like on the V series or m5xx series handhelds since you have none. This allowed you to store what you considered important and even crucial data in memory that wouldn't be erased by a lack of battery power. Again, accessing Flash ROM for use requires seperate Palm programs from third party developers. I have not played around with Flash ROM use so I can only give vague answers in this department.
SD/MMC memory expansion slot
The slot is mounted on the left side of the unit near the top. Insert a card and push in until it clicks. Press the card in to eject. Simple after you make sure the card is in the right orientation.
This small memory format hasn't made many waves since being introduced to the market... but here it is. The same slot used in the Palm m125, m500, m505, m515, and m705 PDAs as well as the HandEra 330, Toshiba e570 Pocket PC, AudioVox Maestro, Compaq iPAQ 38xx series and several more PDAs. The current maximum size of the card are up to 128MB (running an average of $85 on the web) for SD cards with rumors of 256MB and 512MB cards (rumors that started last year). Other than memory expansion, Palm itself has done very little with the SD/MMC slot. It has produce program cards and eBook cards for insertion but little in the way of accessories. A Bluetooth SD card was recently released but is fairly expensive to buy unless you needed it ($120+). Rumors of an SD camera are also running around (www.palminfocenter.com has info on this).
Note that expanding a Palm's memory via SD/MMC card is not the same as having more RAM. Accessing programs through the SD/MMC card is very slow compared to programs on the main RAM. On top of that, many database intensive programs do not support the memory expansion cards like Vindigo, AvantGo (not directly), ePocrates, Johns Hopkins Antibiotic Guide, etc. Secondly, when running a program from the memory card, you must have at least the same amount of main RAM free as the size of the program because the OS will copy the program to main memory to run and delete the file from main RAM when you stop using the program. Usually, you need more than that. While the ability to store programs and files on the memory expansion card is nice, it does not replace main RAM!
Palm uses the Virtual File System (VFS) included in Palm OS 4.x. The is the organization of files on the SD/MMC/MemStick (TRGPro and HandEra does not use the VFS system... since I don't have much experience with these two models, I am not sure how the CompactFlash and SD/MMC cards are organized). Some programs allow you to use the memory expansion to store files and databases... but as I said, some major Palm programs do not! This includes NotePad and MemoPad! If a program allows you to store files on expansion cards, you must still have the main RAM free for the OS to copy the file to the main RAM for use.
Universal Connectors
At least Palm is sticking with the same connector on all of its current handhelds. That same universal connector. At least you have accessories for this part of the Palm. Many m125, m500, m505, m515, m705 accessories through the universal connector are compatible with the m130. All m125 accessories are compatible with the m130. You can even use the m125 cradle to HotSync but not charge the m130. Some modems for the m500/m505/m515 Palms don't fit on the m130 because of the different overall shape of the m130 versus the m5xx series. At least your m1xx cases and stylus can still be used!
Batteries?
Now you don't need batteries anymore... you've got Lithium Ion! By Palm's estimates, the battery should last a good 6-7 hours of continuous use with the backlight. It's not that good but reasonable to a degree. Think about 4 1/2 to 5 continuous hours of uptime with the backlight on. Not shabby compared to other color Palms.
However, I do miss having batteries to place in the unit. A concept that HandEra introduced was the battery compartment with a Lithium Ion battery accessory that you could use instead of alkaline batteries. At least if you weren't near an outlet or other appropriate power source, you could put in ye olde AA batteries. Another cool concept was the external battery adapter on the Sony CLIE T and NR series PDAs.
Software
The m130 comes with some excellent software.
DataViz Documents to Go Standard Edition 4.0: a program that allows you to edit and create MS Word and Excel files with limited formating functions. You can also view MS Powerpoint files with basic formatting. Compatible with SD/MMC card.
AvantGo: currently free software that download specially made internet pages onto your Palm for viewing. Not directly compatible with SD/MMC card. Memory hog as well if you subscribe to many channels.
MGI PhotoSuite: graphics program that allows you to transfer pictures to your palm in small file sizes. Compatible with SD/MMC card.
powerONE calculator: Slight more advanced calculator than what is offered on the Palm OS already.
Palm Reader: mostly for eBooks
Vindigo 1.0: An excellent program designed as guides to entertainment and dining for certain cities in its database. Was a free service until April 1, 2002. Now requires a $24.95 yearly subscription fee and installation of version 2.0 software (will automatically update on HotSync and active internet connection). Note that this program is a memory hog and does NOT support SD/MMC cards at all! Each city installed will take up from 800 kB to 1.2 MB of main RAM... I installed NYC (Manhatten) and Brooklyn and used up over 2 MBs on my T615!
Departing Words
Regardless of what I say for the m130... there are a few important factors to note when buying a handheld. You should go to a store like Staples, Best Buy, Circuit City, Electronic Fry's, etc... to pick up the unit and see how it feels in your hand. If you don't like how it feels in your hand, you'll never want to use the unit. There are more than enough models out there that you can find the model that feels nice in your hand and offers the features and screen readability you desire. If you just go by any review and base your decision on just features, you may end up buying a unit that isn't comfortable for you. Go and play with the units at your local store... you may even find that a PDA wasn't for you.
I also have posted numerous other review on PDAs over my time at epinions. I have a review on the Sony CLIE T615 and CLIE S360. I am currently playing with a friend's Palm m515 and will have a review later in the week and a friend just got a Sony CLIE NR-70 imported from Hong Kong... but it is in Japanese and I'm rusty in that language.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 235
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Epinions.com ID:
yusakugo
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Member: Rich Go
Location: Somewhere in the NorthEast
Reviews written: 399
Trusted by: 497 members
About Me:
Losing Sleep and Lacking Time... sigh...
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