This week I learned a valuable lesson, donÂ’t trust technology blindly. I had been doing exactly that with my oleÂ’ trust Sony T615. I trusted it with all my PIN codes, passwords, checking account data and bills. Then it let me downÂ…Â…three hard resets (these cause total loss of data) in one day. It also seemed the battery wouldnÂ’t keep a charge. Gasp, this device is only 3 years oldÂ….OK, maybe its time I face facts and start shopping for a new PDA. In all actuality it was mandatory, here I set with a backup (I do these religiously) of my PDA on a memory stick (gotta love Sony) and nothing to stick it in (that would be useful anyway ). I simply had to buy a PDA, restore my data and see how much more money my wife had left to spend this monthÂ…Â…hell I didnÂ’t even know which bills to pay without it.

When I first delved into the world of PDAs I bought the fastest I could afford – the Sony Clie was a marvel. They were the first to do high resolution among other things such as built-in mp3 players. Through the years the device had transitioned from a flashy play toy to a must have device, I stopped playing with it and started *using* it. When I went on my new search I skipped looking for all the fancy gadgetry and just looked for a good usable device. Another problem was cost…..I didn’t even know how much money I could spend on the device (see first paragraph). I set out looking at low end Palm devices with color screens……I ended up with the Palm Zire 31.


My first impression was a good one. Very light device with good build quality. The face of the device is blue, the back of the device is white. Its made of plastic (my Clie was metal). Aesthetically I found the device pleasing, I will let the pictures speak for themselves.

The specs:

200 MHz Intel XScale processor
16 MB memory
160x160 color screen
Palm OS 5.2.8
infrared capabilities
headphone jack
SD expansion card slot


All the above specs really didnÂ’t matter much to me, what mattered was I could hotsync my data to the device and get back to my business with ease. After a few days with the device I can offer my opinion on the Zire 31.

ItÂ’s a fabulous organizer; itÂ’s not a multimedia device. If thatÂ’s what youÂ’re looking for then look for a Windows mobile device. The screen is far too small and its low resolution. Even my Clie was 320x320 (high res) but alas I paid almost $400 for that device new compared to the $105 that this device costs. Clearly the two machines are not in the same class.

It was simple to operate and I really like the new “today” style page for the calendar. This allows you to see all your task and appointments for the day on one screen. There are a few more enhancements I noticed with Palm OS 5. You now can add a background image (similar to wallpaper) to the application launcher. There is also a photo application, a void that you previously had to fill via one of the many aftermarket programs available. The app is fairly basic but it works well.

Although this isn’t a flashy media machine you still are afforded the basic mp3 player. RealOne made available a version of RealOne Player for Palm OS. You can sync your music to the device via RealOne Player from your desktop or simply copy the mp3s to the expansion card. The player works well and allows background play – that means you can start the music, exit the application and continue using your organizer while the music plays. The Zire 31 has an internal speaker but it’s far too inadequate to listen to music on – it’s makes tiny sounding laptop speakers seem like megaphones. Adding some cheap KOSS ear buds allowed me a very nice listening experience. Volume was great as was clarity and definition. The device far exceeded my expectations in this area.

The major letdown for the Zire 31 has to be the screen. 160x160 is painful and PalmOne advertises the device has capable of displaying thousands of colors. In reality it looks like a 12-bit 4,096 color display. While this may be a problem for most users you must remember we are talking about a device costing a little over $100 – this is not a power user PDA. The screen is also somewhat hard to read in bright lighting.

The only other gripe I like to call attention to is the buttons. I am familiar with a 4 button layout – the Zire 31 has 2 buttons with a 5 way directional pad in the center. I would gladly trade the D pad for my other two buttons. The pad would be great for gaming but that would be a joke on a machine with such a limited display – the screen dithering that takes place in everyday use pounds that truth home.

Bottom line here is this; spending a mere $100 plus dollars get you more than you paid for. You get a great organizer capable of running any of the vastly available Palm OS programs and a more than adequate mp3 player. You donÂ’t get a Gameboy, a portable DVD player or laptopÂ…..


Touchdown
Price
Color screen on such a cheaply priced device
Mp3 capability


Letdown
Quality of the color screen
Button configuration

Attached Thumbnails

     

Good review, AK. I, too, lived in that disillusioned world that Sony makes the best product (at one time, they really did). I spent a good $240.00 (used) on my Sony PEG-NX70V and I hardly use the thing anymore because it's inconvenient as hell.

Perhaps I should have had you do my homework for me....great review, dude.

Rob

Quote: Originally Posted by SpikeShot Nice job AK. I would bling you but I gave out to much the other night...your just gona have to wait!

Don't worry, I hit him with bling for ya.
Nice review Aaron, got me intrigued now.

Quote: Originally Posted by Rob Good review, AK. I, too, lived in that disillusioned world that Sony makes the best product (at one time, they really did). I spent a good $240.00 (used) on my Sony PEG-NX70V and I hardly use the thing anymore because it's inconvenient as hell. Perhaps I should have had you do my homework for me....great review, dude. Rob

The NX70V is a good unit - kinda large and the clamshell may not be for everyone but I do like the idea of the built-in camera. I use to be a rabid user of a forum called ClieSource - then I lost interested......Im not even real sure the forum exists anymore.

Good review there! I have been sing a Zire31 for about 5 months. Besides the fact that it crashes at least once a month it works fine.

I had a Palm once. I kept it my back pocket, sat on it and cracked the screen.

Great review AK! That was very informative! I am going to pass this on to a friend of mine that was looking at these just over the weekend!