Have any of you seen the new Palm IIIc? It boasts a new Active Matrix Color screen, 8 Mb of Memory, plus it's still only 6.8 ounces. Typical color PDA's with active-matrix screens will weigh 8-10 ounces, but Palm has retained the original weight of the Palm III, while adding the color screen.
I happen to think that there's only one way to emphasize the difference between the old monochrome LCD, and the new active-matrix color screen. Turn on your television, and find the color setting. Turn it all the way down, so almost everything is black, white and shades of gray. After about five minutes of looking at nothing other than your black & white television, turn it back to color. I hope you weren't watching an old re-run of "I Love Lucy," because you wouldn't have seen the difference. The point that I'm trying to convey is that the color makes a world of difference.
Another benefit of the Palm IIIc is that it's size. It weighs 6.8 ounces, which is less than a half of a pound, and is slightly bulkier than the standard palms. However, given the fact that it has color technology, it is one of the lightest and smallest in its class. Being a previous owner of a Palm III, I can say, although it feels slightly thicker, the .8 ounces weight difference is barely noticeable.
Another thing that I've noticed about the Palm IIIc is its battery life. Usually, to power a backlit, color active-matrix screen, it'll take a great deal of energy, depleting your battery life extremely quickly. Nintendo and Neo Geo have escaped this by using a passive-matrix screen that is not backlit, thus achieving long battery life in their Game Boy Color (Nintendo) and Neo Geo Pocket Color. The Palm IIIc is simply one of the most advanced Pocket PDA's in its class, and can have a fairly decent battery life, even with the backlit, color active-matrix screen.
While I'm on the subject of batteries, I'd like to point out the built-in rechargeable battery in the Palm. Do you remember running around the house, or searching savagely through your bag, looking for AAA batteries? You don't have to now, because all you have to do is dock it in the cradle, and it will start to charge. You can continue to use the Palm while it's charging.
Quite frankly, I can't stand all my fellow Epinions writers and friends who are complaining about how you can't see the screen in bright light. That's a given with ANY plasma/LCD screen.
I think that Palm has really taken the time to research the problems of the previous models. If you previously owned a Palm, you'd know of the UP/DOWN buttons, and how they were almost the level as the shell? I remember having to use my nail to shoot those aliens during Invaders. Now, Palm has actually made the Up/Down buttons, real buttons! No more nail-pushing to push those buttons.
Palm still hasn't fixed the problem for those of you who suffer from dizzyness or motion-sickness when used in extended periods of time. However, they suggest that you take a 5 to 10 minute break for every hour that you use the Palm, to prevent these side-effects.
Another problem is that all of the previous programs that you may have installed, (All of you Shareware Gamers too...) probably do not have color support. Therefore, almost all of the programs other than the standard applications (e.g. To-Do, Appointments, etc.) will not have color support. However, all of those games and applications will still work, because it too is backwards compatible.
I wouldn't recommend running out of your houses to buy this right now, because of its high price. It's MSRP is $449; more than triple the cost of a used Palm V. What I recommend for all of you die-hard Palm fans, is to wait the three to six months for the price to drop. I remember when the original Palm Pilot debuted; its MSRP was $449. One year later, I purchased one for a mere $229. I'm not saying that it's going to drop that dramatically, but do you think that six months of waiting is worth $100? If you're craving a new color PDA, I recommend going with the Windows CE-powered Casio Cassiopeia. It usually ranges around $450-$500; close to the price of this Palm IIIc.
8 MB RAM stores thousands of addresses, to-do items, memos, and more Beautiful high-contrast TFT color display Long-life rechargeable lithium-ion batt...More at Amazon Marketplace
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