PalmOne Zire 72

The palmOne Zire 72 is palmOne's latest model in the consumer Zire line with a heavy emphasis on multimedia. The handheld brings built in bluetooth wireless, new features, enhanced software and many other improvements over its predecessor the Zire 71.

Design
The Zire 72 looks much like a traditional handheld, with its square display and silkscreen input area. The Zire 72 does not share the sliding mechanism found on the 71. The camera is now always exposed on a slightly raised portion on the back of the device. It also has a new application button layout and a tungsten like 5-way navigator. The new Zire 72 and Zire 31 are also the first handhelds to be launched with the palmOne logo.

The casing is predominately made of plastic. The handheld has an attractive blue color, that is unofficially called "Zapphire." The blue sides of the handheld are a new rubbery like paint that has a very good, non slip gripping quality. The unique rubbery finish is a "next-generation" Velecron finish from PPG Industries, the Zire 72 is one of the first commercial products to use it.

On the top of the handheld from right to left is a clear green LED for alarms and indicates charging, that unfortunately does not turn off when fully charged. On the immediate top is the SD expansion slot with a built in dust cover, the IR window, power buttons and 3.5mm standard stereo headphone jack. The right hand side holds the exposed stylus silo, while the left is smooth with a small flush button which is set to activate and launch the voice recorder.

The back of the Zire 72 contains the Camera sensor, speaker and microphone all encased behind a aluminum metallic mesh plating. Below that is a sticker full of serial numbers and logos. The bottom of the unit has a small center protrusion that contains the mini-USB port and the separate power connection.

Its dimensions are 4.6 in. x 2.95 in. x 0.67 in. (116 x 75 x 17 mm). The 72 weighs a pocket friendly 4.8 ounces (136 g). The build quality is solid with no creaks or rattling loose parts.

The included stylus is a solid black and plastic. It is a decent thickness and weight, but is nothing fancy. The small reset button on the back is large enough to be conveniently activated with the stylus tip. palmOne does not include a cradle. Since this unit lacks the Universal Connector, separate mini-USB and charging cables are provided. A soft felt slip case is included in the box, while it may prevent exterior scratches it does not offer much protection.

Hardware
The Zire 72 runs Palm OS 5.2.8 and uses the new 312MHz Intel PXA270 processor. The processor automatically manages voltage and frequency changes for additional power savings. It includes 32MB of RAM (24MB user-available), double the amount of the Zire 71. The memory expansion slot accepts MMC, SD and SDIO cards.

The processor is pretty snappy and has good multimedia performance. In my standard torture test, I was able to surf the web over Bluetooth while listening to a mp3 in the background with no noticeable slowdown.

Screen
The display is a square 320x320 pixel transflective TFT color display that supports over 65,000 colors. The display is very bright and quite vivid, even at lower brightness levels. The display is the same type as the highly praised screens found on the Zire 71 and Tungsten C. The colors are accurate with excellent contrast and viewing angles and is consistently backlit without any shadows or bright spots. It has an on-screen slider to set the backlight brightness. The screen fades and slightly washes out in direct sunlight, but is still useable. The screen has a neat little fade out effect when it is turned off.

Camera
The Zire 72 has rear mounted built in 1.2 megapixel digital camera. The camera can capture images in up to 1280x920 resolution and has a 2x digital zoom. The camera can also capture videos at up to 320x240 resolution with audio. The camera can be launched from the dedicated application button. The camera app can be controlled one handed with the 5-way navigator, and photos are snapped by pressing in the center button.

The camera has automatic and customizable controls for white balance, low light, contrast, brightness, saturation and sharpness. There are also 3 photo effects, black & white, Sepia and Blue. Pictures can automatically be saved to photo albums to either the handheld memory or an SD card. Pictures taken at the maximum resolution are roughly around 450K file size per photo.

The quality of the photos is much better than its predecessor and many of the current VGA cameras built into handhelds and phones today, though it likely won't replace your dedicated camera. The new camera will take much larger and more detailed photos which is better for printing. The main problem with the new sensor is that colors seem dimmed and washed out and certain objects will tend to be fuzzy and out of focus. palmOne includes a neat new feature that lets you draw or write over a photo and then save it before syncing or emailing it. Below are a few full size, unedited photos taken with the Zire 72 in various conditions.

Bluetooth
The Zire 72 has built in bluetooth for wireless networking. The Bluetooth software has been updated to make setting up connections to a mobile phone, computer or access point much easier. With Bluetooth you can dial out contacts from your address book, send and receive files, sms and photos wirelessly, hotsync, and connect to the internet from a bluetooth mobile phone, computer or a bluetooth access point. The software was able to automatically configure itself to recognize my Sony Ericsson T610 and use it's GPRS connection without any complicated setup.

A new Bluetooth icon is available in the launcher, which acts as a shortcut to the Bluetooth preferences and connection controls. A small Bluetooth logo now appears beside the battery meter in the main launcher when Bluetooth is turned on. palmOne has also added a Bluetooth shortcut to the command bar, so you can jump to the Bluetooth prefs from any application.

Audio
The Zire 72 has a rear mounted speaker in the metal mesh below the camera lens. The speaker is quite loud and mp3's and voice memos sound very clear, though most will opt for using headphones (not included) for listening to music. For listening to music files, the Zire 72 ships with the RealOne player. The microphone is also hidden behind the rear grill, which is used for the voice and movie recorder.

Even with the updated audio and speaker capabilities, palmOne is still using the same DateBook alarm sounds that debuted on the original Pilot 1000. While there are many third party replacements, these are so very overdue for an update!

Battery Life
The 72 has a 950mAh rechargeable lithium ion battery. According to the palmOne specs, assuming normal usage (~30 minutes of use a day) the battery life will be about one week. For continuous MP3 playing, the battery life will be about five hours. I found I was able to get about 5 hours off of a full charge, with heavy camera and bluetooth use. More typical use may yield a longer battery life.

Software
Updated PIM apps
The Zire 72 inlcudes the new palmOne updated PIM suite that debuted on the Tungsten T3. The suite has a number of enhancements over the standard Palm OS PIM applications. First of all you may be confused at first because all of the names have changed. DateBook is now Calendar, Address is now Contacts, To Do List is Tasks, and Memo Pad is now Memos. The changes were made based on user feedback and research and also to more closely resemble Microsoft Outlook.

Calendar
Calendar sports a redesigned Agenda View that lists your most recent upcoming appointments, tasks due and email. New on the 72 is the ability to select a background image for the agenda view. It can use any of the photos taken with the camera or added to the handheld. You can now assign colors to different categories, appointment location details and a new year view. Palm also made it possible to have events spanning midnight, separate calendar support and the ability to beam multiple appointments and categories.

Contacts
Contacts has a number of visual and structural improvements. You can now have multiple contact addresses, such as work, home, other. The are new contact fields for more phone numbers, email addresses, website and instant messaging accounts. There are now nine custom fields and a new birthday field, that will keep track and remind you before an approaching birthday (Palm calls this the marriage saving feature). The Zire 72 also adds the ability to assign a picture to a contact taken with the camera.

Memos and Tasks
Many will rejoice that you can now have memos larger than 4k, the new app has a 32k maximum memo size. They have also added repeating tasks and new views for To Do items.

The main application launcher also shares the new ability to add a background image behind the program icons. You can select a camera image, or select any image file from the Media application. There is a build in control to fade an image for better blending visibility.

One the desktop side of things, palmOne includes their Quick Install program for Windows. Quick Install simplifies installing programs and converting documents and photos for handheld use. Users simply drag zip files, prc application files, photos, videos and even MS office files into the app and it will preform the necessary conversion and install the the files on the next hotsync. The software CD includes the Palm Desktop for windows and Mac as well as the palmOne Outlook Conduit.

Documents to Go
palmOne bundles the latest version of Documents to Go standard edition on the CD for Microsoft office compatibility. Docs to Go 6 supports native Microsoft Word and Excel files, no conversion is necessary. You can use files received from Email, Bluetooth or and SD card.

The Zire 72 includes Web Pro v3.5 for web browsing and VersaMail v2.7 for email. VersaMail is an excellent email application that supports both POP3 and IMAP mail servers. Web Pro is a proxy and proxyless web browser. It does a good job of rendering most websites and seems a bit faster than its earlier versions. palmOne also includes a single Media application that handles both photos and movies. Also on the CD are versions of palmOne Messages (sms/mms), Expense, Adobe Acrobat Reader, Solitaire, PalmReader, powerOne personal calculator, Audible player and a Java J2ME runtime.

Conclusion
The Zire 72 is a fun excellent multimedia machine and power organizer with a great screen. It improves upon and corrects a number of issues and shortcomings with the Zire 71. The new top of the line Zire has a lot to offer hardware wise with an excellent balance of quality software.

Palm Tungsten C

Business users will find everything they need in the Palm Tungsten C ($500 street), a powerful PDA with built-in Wi-Fi (802.11b) networking that provides wireless access to corporate applications, a desktop PIM, e-mail, and the Web. This latest addition to the Tungsten line incorporates a 400-MHz Intel XScale processor, the latest Palm OS (5.2.1), a backlit 320-by-320 screen, a 64K color display, an integrated QWERTY keyboard, 64MB of RAM (with 51MB available for user storage), a rechargeable battery, the Palm Universal Connector, and an SD I/O slot. The end product is a well-designed mobile productivity tool that stacks up against other PDAs in its class.

The Tungsten C runs in close competition with the Sony Clié PEG-TG50, which is Sony's best model for mobile professionals, and the Palm Tungsten T (both $400 street), the Tungsten C's predecessor. The Sony Clié PEG-TG50 offers the same screen technology and an integrated keyboard, runs Palm OS 5.0 on a 200-MHz processor, provides 16MB of RAM and a voice recorder, and wirelessly connects via a Bluetooth radio. The compact Palm Tungsten T, another Bluetooth device, shares the screen technology of the Tungsten C and the PEG-TG50, provides 16MB of RAM and a voice recorder, and runs Palm OS 5.0 on a Texas Instruments OMAP1510 chip, but lacks a keyboard. The Tungsten C, with its faster CPU and more than three times the user memory, is more powerful, and the integrated Wi-Fi is more useful than Bluetooth for connecting to the Internet and corporate LANs.

With its side-flip cover installed, the 6.8-ounce brushed silver Tungsten C is 4.8 by 3.1 by 0.8 inches (HWD), which fills a small hand. Lacking a jog dial on the side panel, the device isn't conducive to one-handed operation, but we like the keyboard's tactile feedback and the placement of the five-way navigation button with the four application-launch buttons below the keyboard. There is an integrated mono speaker for audio, but no microphone, requiring the use of the $15Palm Tungsten W and C Hands-free Headset (also mono) for making voice recordings.

In addition to the standard Palm PIM (VersaMail 2.5) and Web browser applications, the latest Palm OS offers useful improvements, such as color themes, the optional capability to use the full screen for handwritten input, and the PC Quick Install HotSync program that simplifies synchronization of multimedia and zipped files. The Tungsten C's impressive third-party productivity, communications, and entertainment software bundle includes Bachmann Software's PrintBoy for printing Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files from DataViz's Documents to Go 5.0 Professional Edition. You'll also find Solitaire, the Kinoma Player PDA video application with the companion Kinoma Producer for the desktop, and Colligo Meeting for WLAN, which maintains joint schedules between two WLAN-enabled Palm PDAs.

Palm's Wi-Fi Setup application requires only four screen taps to discover and connect to an existing public or unprotected private Wi-Fi network, such as a network with WEP turned on. We established a connection to our home office network in 9 seconds. Mergic VPN, a separate app that's also accessible from Wi-Fi Setup, lets you enter VPN information for a secure connection to a corporate network.

Built-in Wi-Fi connectivity versus the less practical—and less expensive—Bluetooth connectivity justifies the Palm Tungsten C's price tag for Palm devotees who want a versatile and powerful PDA to boost their productivity.

Palm Tungsten T3

The Tungsten T3 takes its place as the flagship among Palm's PDAs. With its 400-MHz Intel XScale CPU and 64MB of RAM (52MB available to users), the T3 is easily the most powerful Palm-branded PDA yet. It's a bit larger and heavier than the T2, measuring 4.3 by 2.9 by 0.6 inches (HWD) and weighing 5.4 ounces.

Most physical features carry over from the earlier models, although the application launch and five-way navigation buttons have changed. They are now bigger and hence easier to use. The T3 uses the same slider design as the earlier T models. But in this instance, instead of exposing a Graffiti area, the case opens up to show more screen (for a total of 2.1 by 2.9 inches).

That bright, transflective TFT display has 320- by 480-dpi resolution (half VGA). This increased screen resolution is stunning: The display seems to pop right out at you. And by tapping one button, you can switch from traditional portrait orientation to landscape.

The company positions the T3 for professional and enterprise users, in part because of its Bluetooth wireless capability and support for SD I/O. A new Socket SD Wi-Fi card will also be supported, but it was not ready for our testing. The lack of integrated Wi-Fi holds back the T3 somewhat, although the Tungsten C is available with Wi-Fi built in.

The closest Sony model that corresponds to the T3 is the Clié TG50 ($350 street), which lacks Bluetooth and has a smaller display with lower resolution. In the Windows Mobile world, the closest competing model would be the HP iPAQ h2215 ($400 street), which has a similarly rated CPU and RAM amount, integrated Bluetooth, and a CF II slot as well as an SD slot.

The h2215 is about the same weight and just a bit larger than the T3, but it has a lower-resolution display. Unlike any current Palm OS models, however, the h2215 can keep multiple applications running—still a Palm shortcoming. The T3 and the h2215 are equally impressive. Your choice should be dictated by your OS preference.

Product: Palm Tungsten T3

Street price: $400

Company Info: Palm Inc., 800-881-7256, www.palm.com

Sony Clié PEG-T615C

Enhancing its entertainment-centric PDA line, Sony's elegant Sony Clié PEG-T615C ($400 street) is a sleek device with a high-resolution, 16-bit color display, 16MB of memory, a Memory Stick expansion slot, a USB connection, and Palm OS 4.1. A quick comparison against Palm's flagship Palm m505 ($400 street), with its 8MB of memory and lower-resolution color screen, leaves little doubt that the PEG-T615C can take the lead in the Palm OS PDA competition. Unless you need wireless e-mail and Web functions (delivered by the Palm i705, reviewed on page 56), this Sony model is the PDA of choice.

Available in either shiny silver or royal blue, the PEG-T615C weighs 6 ounces (including its black leather flip cover) and measures 4.8 by 2.8 by 0.6 inches (HWD).

The PEG-T615C shares most features with the monochrome PEG-T415 ($250, reviewed in First Looks in our issue of January 15, 2002), including a jog dial for easy navigation, a universal remote-control functions for running some home entertainment devices, a generous software bundle, and a lithium ion polymer battery (rated at 12 days per charge).

The best part of the PEG-T615C is its gorgeous color display. The 320-by-320–resolution backlit TFT display is great indoors and fantastic outdoors, even in direct sunlight. Coupling the high-resolution display with 16-bit color, applications such as the included PictureGear Pocket image viewer from Sony become a lot more impressive to use. In fact, all of the included applications are easier and more enjoyable to use with the color display.

We wish the PEG-T615C came with a standard travel charger instead of requiring you to use the docking cradle to recharge the unit's battery. And if you often play MP3 files, the Sony Clié PEG-N760C ($450) is probably a better choice. With the PEG-T615C, you'll need to add the Sony PEGA-SA10 Audio Adapter ($130 street). Still, in the Palm OS PDA world, the PEG-T615C is unsurpassed.

Product: Sony Clié PEG-T615C

Street Price: $400

Requires: 233-MHz Pentium CPU or better; 64MB RAM; 128MB hard disk space; Microsoft Windows 98, 98 SE, 2000 Professional, Me, or XP

Company Info: Sony Electronics Inc., 888-315-7669, www.sony.com/clie

Garmin iQue 3600

Add-on GPS units were among the earliest and sexiest accessories for PDAs. A GPS could help you find out where you were and track your progress on trips, using the PDA's display and software downloaded from a host PC. But adding GPS capability typically requires a bulky add-on or a CompactFlash card.

Now Garmin, one of the most respected names in the GPS industry, has entered the PDA market with an intriguing convergent device, the Garmin iQue 3600 ($590 street). While the Palm OS 5.0–based iQue 3600 isn't inexpensive compared with many conventional PDAs, it's cheaper than buying a PDA and a GPS add-on.

The iQue 3600 has 32MB of RAM for map data and other Palm applications. Conveniently, an SD card slot lets you save map files (which can be large) separately. The 6.6-ounce device has a 2.2- by 3.2-inch 320-by-480 backlit 16-bit color display.

The GPS unit itself is a WAAS-enabled, 12-parallel-channel receiver with rated GPS positional accuracy within 15 meters and rated WAAS accuracy within 3 meters. The GPS antenna fits into and folds out from the top of the back of the case. Close it and it turns off, conserving battery power. If you're going to use the iQue in your car for long trips, it's probably a good idea to buy the optional 12-volt car power adapter ($30 direct).

The iQue includes a vibrating alarm and an MP3 player function, but its primary function is as a location and navigation device. Bundled software includes Garmin's GPS clock, address lookup, mapping, tracking, trip computer, router generator, and turn-by-turn voice guidance programs. On our tests in the Hartford and New Haven, Connecticut, areas, the iQue 3600 performed as well as any add-on GPS unit we've tested.

During installation a base map of major cities, roads, and state and county boundaries is loaded on the PDA. A license is included to use detailed map and POI data from a two-disc MapSource City Select.

The iQue's applications use moving maps; just move the cursor to any edge and the map moves to the next area. You can also easily zoom in or out for more or less detail. We tested routing to locations in the Hartford area, and the software quickly showed us the best way to get to our favorite pizza places.

Integration with the Palm address book is helpful: Tapping the "Route to" button automatically generates a route to any address on your contact list. And the mapping feature quickly shows you how to get to the next appointment on your calendar.

If you often travel in new areas, Garmin's iQue 3600 is a handy single-device combination. Use it as a regular PDA when you're not out and about, but when you need directional help, flip up the back panel with confidence.

Sony Clié PEG-NX80V

If you've been wanting a general-purpose digital camera but what you really need is a PDA, Sony seems to have the answer—the Sony Clié PEG-NX80V ($600 street). The NX80V is the most highly evolved of the Clié NX series, with a large 320-by-480 display, a usable (but not lovable) QWERTY keyboard, a Sony Wireless LAN CF slot, an MP3 player, a voice recorder, AV remote control, and saving the best for last, a truly usable 1.3-megapixel camera.

The Palm OS 5.0–powered NX80V uses Sony's Launcher application instead of the traditional Palm home screen—a more graphical interface that is better looking and easier to use. The image-friendly Clié has a 200-MHz DragonBall CPU and 32MB of ROM and RAM. The 8 ounce, 0.8- by 2.8- by 5.25-inch (HWD) NX80V uses the now-famous swivel screen, so you can use the PDA in clamshell format, exposing the tiny—albeit functional—round-keyed keyboard, or you can spin the display 180 degrees and fold it flat so the whole unit resembles a conventional PDA.

In addition to the Memory Stick slot, the NX80V has the same proprietary CF slot found on several other Cliés (such as the NX70V and NZ90, for example). The CF slot is primarily for the $150 Sony Wireless LAN card. Other Wi-Fi cards, which are usually a bit cheaper, will not work. Some other CF memory cards will work, but not all. We had success using a Lexar Media card but could not one from Viking Components. And despite the CF capability, you can play MP3s stored on Memory Stick or MagicGate Memory Stick media only.

We had the most fun using the NX80V's integrated camera. Located in the hinge, the camera swivels to protect the lens and lets you capture images in front of or behind the PDA. A software button turns on the capture light, located just to the left of the lens. The light, which stays on until you turn it off, isn't powerful enough to take pictures in a darkened room, but it can brighten the scene in a normally dim room from up to 12 feet away. Another software button controls the 3X digital. An integrated filter will cut the light in overly bright scenes such as those with full sunlight.

We found the camera easy and pleasant to use. Images take about 1 second to record. The video recording mode has a low resolution of 160-by-112, with playback of up to 320-by-240. The best feature of the camera is its 1.3-megapixel resolution. Once you've captured your images, you can display them on the PDA, edit them with Sony's useful but minimal Photo Editor software, or transfer them to a conventional PC for further editing and for printing.

For those who don't need to print pictures but like the other NX80V features, the similar Sony Clié PEG-NX70 ($500) has a more common 640-by-480 camera with no light. The NZ90 has a 2-megapixel camera with a more conventional integrated flash, but the 10.4-ounce PDA is heavy, and at $800, costly. $600 for the Sony Clié PEG-NX80V isn't a giveaway, but considering that you get a truly usable digital camera in addition to a great PDA and an MP3 player, this new model should find plenty of acceptance.

Palm Tungsten W

Mobile professionals who need both a PDA and a cell phone in a single device should consider the Palm Tungsten W ($549 list), a tri-band GSM/GPRS world phone that is relatively rugged, has an integrated keyboard, and offers an SD expansion slot. It has outstanding battery life (10 hours talk time, 240 hours standby time), six-party conference calling capability, and an impressive bundle of portable-office, communications, and e-mail software. It doesn't have a voice recorder or speakerphone, however, and you have to use an external earphone for voice calls.

The Tungsten W is a bit of a handful because of its 3.1-inch width, but its keyboard works well for two-thumb typing. And the excellent Jot software can capture handwriting anywhere on the screen. The integration of the address book with the built-in telephone streamlines phone calling.

The 320-by-320, 16-bit color display is a real standout—a significant step ahead of Palm's earlier wireless-enabled PDAs, and the best among the PDA/phones we looked at. The Tungsten W uses Palm OS 4.1 and a 33-MHz Motorola DragonBall VZ CPU, which is fine for everyday PIM functions but not for multimedia.