Palm Zire™ 71 Handheld

Pros: Brilliant display, built-in camera, same great OS, good feel in one's hand.
Cons: Cradle is flimsy. No indicator light to let you know the unit is charging.

For as long as I remember, Palm has always had a problem with displays. Yes, they have a nice OS, but, if you can't read your display, the use of the OS is diminished.

The cradle is flimsy; however, if you are upgrading, you may be able to use the cradle from your last Palm. I am using one from my M500.

Things have really changed! This Palm is a sleek-feeling, nice looking unit with the added benefit of a camera. Although it is a camera without a zoom, it may come in handy.

There is no back light to turn off to conserve the battery; however, you can turn down the brightness by simply holding down the power button until the brightness scale appears.

For the price, this is a solid investment. Would I recommend it to my friends? -- absolutely!

Pros: The Zire71 display is simply a marvel, bright and clear, the joystick gives good control,fast
Cons: Poor picture quality from camera, very annoying.

Wonderful device this Zire71 but the camera could be much better, it gives smeared results and one of the reasons for this, as it turns out, is that the plastic covering the lens is of non optical quality! So if you have the guts it pays off to remove the lens cover, it will still be protected when the camera is not in use.

Pros: Screen quality, camera
Cons: slippery, really slippery, like teflon. Power button is easily bumped.

I've had it one day and I love it. Screen is beautiful. Everything about it is wonderful, except ...

I'm upgrading from a m105. The m105 and all the others in the family have a flip lid that protects the screen. Lid up, use it, lid down, and you are done. My daughter's Clie is the same. I would have thought they figured it out by now. The Zire71 has no such lid. I hope I can get one. I comes with a sleave case. What the heck are you supposed to do with the case when you are using it? Last time I checked humans didn't have 3 hands.

But what worst about it is the polished aluminum shell. It may as well be teflon coated it is so slippery. I just spent $250 on this thing and it popped out of my hand in the first hour of use. Luckily I caught it in midair.

If I put grip tape on it then it won't slide into is case. Maybe I need to scuff it, but fundamentally the shape of the body doesn't lend itself to being held as securely as the m1xx family.

Pros: Great display, memory card slot, lots of software available
Cons: That cursed sliding mechanism!

I received my Palm Zire 71 for Christmas 2003, and I love it! When my beloved PDA wears out someday, I will gladly buy another Palm product.

My only problem with this model is a design flaw: the sliding mechanism. Like many other users, I have experienced the failure of the internal cable (and I don't think I overused the camera). To use the built-in camera, one must slide the unit to expose the lens. Sliding is also necessary to perform a soft reset. Because the internal cable is shot, I can no longer use the camera and
I am also unable to HotSync with the cradle (I can still HotSync using a cheap infrared port I bought for my PC, but it is very slow.)

It is no coincidence that Palm has not released another PDA with a sliding arrangement like the Zire 71. If you're looking for a mid-range Palm, I'd check out the Zire 72, Tungsten E, or Tungsten E2.

Pros: Camera / Audio and Video / Processor / Size / Expandability / Compatibility
Cons: Built-in memory / Included software / Small quirks

I have been in the market for a PDA for about two years now, but have avoided making any purchases because I knew the perfect solution I was looking for would come along soon enough.

The Zire 71 is that perfect solution. With a colour screen, built-in digital camera, audio and video capabilities, expandability, and compatibility with so much software and hardware, this was a no-brainer.

I got a great deal on it by buying an "open box" model. It had been opened to show a costumer how to use the camera because the floor model was broken. It was put back in the box and I snatched it up for about $70CDN less than the original price, and $50CDN below the current sale price.

This Palm does everything I could want in a PDA right now, and it has the ability to do even more when I have the resources and means to get a Wi-Fi adapter and a keyboard, etc.

Pros: Color Screen, Camera
Cons: Mostly plastic, bulky

I bought the Zire 71 a few years back. It has a great color screen, the camera is bad quality, but it's still a camera. I bought it to replace my older Palm, and M505. The one problem with this PDA is the plastic exterior. Why can't it be metal like the others?

My screen eventually broke because it was squished in a backpack, and I have no idea how it turned out that way.

Overall, a very nice PDA.

Pros: good memory, nice graphics
Cons: crap build, falling apart in less than 1 year

It was a good choice, mid priced, good memory, nice features
Then it started freaking out, locking up, freezing the screen. Oh it never does it when we take it back for service, but it has become a real pain in the butt.
How many pad and pens could we have bought for $200?

Pros: Camera,mp3 player,clear screen, fast
Cons: Volume for playing MP3s isn't very loud

This is my first PDA and I am lovin' it! Much better than a paper organizer with a bunch of sloppy writing in it. This PDA keeps me organized and also lets me have fun by listening to MP3, snapping photos of friends, etc. I am also a college student and with the purchase of a wireless modem it is perfect to keep in touch with professors on the road with versaMail. The screen is beautiful and I like how there are color theme options so I can change the screen to funky colors! I would recommend this to anyone who has a busy life or is a student.

Pros: Pictures look good, MP3 is OK and color screen looks terrific. Good price point.
Cons: Uncertain reliability. Unit froze after HotSync on 1st day and needed reset.

Within first week, the Zire 71 locked up during a HotSync and I had to do a reset. And the clock mysteriously crashed. When I informed Palm Tech Support that the battery indicator showed 3/4 full, they responded that was low enough to interfere with ROM controlling the time! Great features at a reasonable price but don't like keeping my fingers crossed about long-term reliability.

Pros: Size and ease of use
Cons: Not enough memory

I recently purchased the Zire 71 and have found a number of great uses. The photos come out clear, and the MP3 player sound real nice. Have recommended this to others.

Pros: Features, nice screen, expandable, camera.
Cons: CUSTOMER SERVICE!!

Bought the Zire71 from Upgrade Source, they were fine. Enjoyed using it for about a day, until the POWER BUTTON STOPPED WORKING!!! This is after I sent back a Tungsten E for a buzzy screen and a hard to press task button.

So, after getting routed through India and the Phillippines to get customer service, I was given the information to send it back. PALM REQUIRES THE CUSTOMER TO PAY THE RETURN SHIPPING, WITH NO PROMISE OF REFUNDING THE COST. This is absolutely unacceptable!! No supervisor was available to talk with, period. So, now I have the prospect of paying to return it, and the possibility of getting a factory refurb unit in return.

PALM- GET A CLUE! You will not garner return customers this way!! I will not recommend this product solely on the basis of poor customer support.

Pros: Very Unique.
Cons: Not enough pixels.

This item is an average Palm OS With a Built-in Camera. If you buy this item, you will be glad that you bought this item instead of buying a $150 Palm OS and then buying a $200 Digital camera.

Pros: takes pix
Cons: doesn't work!

SUCKS! Both my sister and I bought one at seperate times at seperate stores and both of them literally just didn't turn on one day after only owning it for about 7 months!!
If you don't have your receipt there's no way to send back to the manufacturer to have them fix it!!!

HP is much better, no problems whatsoever!