I received my palm as a present at the beginning of this year. As I'm a techie, I immediately rushed to the internet to find as many programs for it as possible, and I'm still spending countless hours surfing.

I don't use almost any of the programs that came with it, except Palm Reader, the Date Book, and the Phone Book. I have downloaded probably about 20 books (if you search long enough, you can find all the classics for free). I recommend getting a checkbook program, as my finances are now a lot better kept up with.

I have approximately 15 little games on my palm and I don't have a problem with lines or long trips anymore. Unfortunately, this palm comes with only a measly 8mb memory. I filled that up quickly. Luckily, the expansion slot allowed me to expand its memory by quite a bit. However, the palm doesn't consider an expansion card as part of the normal memory, which can result in some programs not running if you leave them on the card.

I've had no real problems with the Graffiti hand-recognition system (unless I'm writing at a horrible angle), and overall I just love the setup of the Palm Operating System. The flip screen is a nice touch that protects the palm from any scratches while I'm carrying it in my pocket.

The vivid color screen makes owning a palm a much more pleasant experience. A close friend of mine has owned a palm III for a couple of years now, and that greyscale screen never looked appealing. Palm originally claimed that the m130 could display 64,000 colors, instead they can only display 59,000 (not that I could ever notice the difference). I received the options of either returning my palm for a refund (which I love my palm too much to do), or a free $30 game. Palm apparently takes care of its customers. The only problem with the screen is that it can be almost impossible to see the display if you're standing in sunlight.

The rechargeable battery is also an important feature. I doubt that I would like to continually pay for batteries. That friend with the Palm III has to constantly carry extra batteries and has probably used $100s worth of AA. Of course, to recharge the palm, it has to be placed in the hot sync cradle. This is my main complaint with the palm m130. The pda never really feels as if it is on the cradle, and if it isn't on there perfectly, it will not charge. This has given me some problems. At the same time, I have found that my palm can randomly turned on and used up all the power. This has only happened rarely.

Anyone who has ever used a sticky note, lost a number, stood in line, or missed a meeting will love this (nearly) perfect inexpensive PDA.


Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): Gift