A few have complained that the color on this model Palm is dim. I can tell you that mine is not dim at all. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised at how bright it is both with the backlight off and with it on! Mine was made in the USA, and I understand that some may be made in another country. Perhaps the ones not made in the USA are dimmer? Or perhaps only the first run older ones had that problem and it has since been fixed. These are just guesses since mine is absolutely not dim at all.
I have owned several Palms previously; III, IIIx, IIIxe, and V. The m505 is by far my favorite Palm so far!
The color screen is wonderful. It makes the unit much more user friendly and easier to read overall. It's quite easy to read with the backlight off under normal lighting conditions such as under a desk lamp or in a meeting room, etc. When the need arises, you can turn on the backlight (such as in a very dark room like in bed at night or when you just want the screen to look really bright). Under both circumstances, the screen looks wonderful and is quite readable. Palm has released a free patch that leaves the backlight on by default when you power up the unit (you can still turn it off using the button). I am now using this all the time and recommend it. The battery still lasts a surprisingly long time too. The color makes it more fun to use and I've downloaded some shareware games to play for the true arcade experience, in a palm size.
The m505 is blazing fast! It's noticeably faster than any of my previous Palms! It also comes with the latest Palm OS 4.0 verison. It's also very quiet. I was expecting the color screen to buzz but I can not anything at all with the backlight on and off. It's totally silent.
I would recommend this model because it's one of the smallest Palms available (which means you will conveniently carry it with you everywhere) and it's got color, which is a great asset since most software applications nowadays are optimized for color. I do not miss my greyscale non color Palms at all!
If you are concerned that the screen might be a bit dim like other reviewers have reported, I suggest either buying locally so you can see the actual unit you are getting, or purchasing from a vendor that will let you return it.
All I need now is a wireless modem setup and I'll be doing full color web-browsing and emailing from my Palm! The future is here, you gotta love it.
Built-in 8 MB memory stores thousands of contacts, appointments, to-do items, and notes Displays over 65,000 colors--view photos, video clips, and mor...More at Amazon Marketplace
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.