Customer Reviews

Palm Z22 Handheld

5 star:		(315)
4 star:		(158)
3 star:		(45)
2 star:		(54)
1 star:		(104)

 

 

After 10 years Palm have finally returned to their roots and released
a PDA. Not a wannabe phone/walkman/portable dvd/game console/wireless
web browser/photo album/book. It's an actual, honest to God, Personal
Digital Assistant. Yes, it can do some of those other things too, but
I'm not having to pay for expensive features like bluetooth and hifi
quality audio.

The Z22 is being marketed as an entry level PDA. But that's wrong. I
am a long time PDA user who has owned, among other devices, a Palm
Pilot Professional, an m505, a Zire 71 and a Tungsten T3. But this is
my favourite device of all. For a start it's the best looking PDA ever
sold. Palm must have taken a leaf out of Apple's book. When I look at
my Z22 I think it could have dropped out of the clean futuristic sets
of movie like 2001. This is the future that Stanley Kubrick promised
us and never arrived. But at least my Palm looks like it's from that
future. It's also light due to not being weighed down by a metal case
and a ton of hardware I don't want.

It does all the usual PDA stuff well: Calendar, Memos, Contacts and so
on. 32MB is completely adequate for these tasks, even if you decide
to add photos to your contact list. For these tasks the hardware is
completely up to the task.

I also use my Z22 for reading eBooks. It's great for this. 160x160 is
enough for completely clear text. Unfortunately I do miss one feature
of my T3 - the SD card slot. Without this I can't use my unabridged
Webster's dictionary that weighs in at 37MB. But the 10MB Webster's is
good enough for most tasks.

One place where I feel Palm have cut corners is the display. There are
sometimes unsightly vertical streaks in it, I'm guessing due to using
a poor digital-to-analogue converter. For most tasks this isn't an
issue. Photos can look a little ugly however and you often see aliasing
artifacts. One place where the poor display quality is visible is when
you read books in autoscroll mode. The display really isn't fast enough to
keep up with scrolling text. But hey, this device costs $100 new!

The device has only 2 application buttons instead of the usual
4. Surprisingly I haven't noticed the loss at all.

There are a couple of other annoyances that are common to almost
all current PDAs so I'll just list them quickly: difficult to replace
battery, display not visible in sunlight (unlike my Palm Pilot), use of
Graffiti2/Jot making reliable text entry next to impossible (Palm won
the lawsuit, bring back Graffiti 1!).

Palm have dropped the universal connector in favour of a new small USB
port. That means I can't use my old peripherals. I do hope I can use my
wireless keyboard however, when Palm release Z22 drivers.

By paring down the PDA to its essentials Palm have made a winner. But
there's one feature I would have liked to have kept - the SD card
slot. Providing such a slot would at least have given a choice about
how much to spend on storage. But like I say, apart from the dictionary
I don't miss it that much. (Hmmm...I have to admit that I did enjoy
playing Infocom games on my T3 using Clifrotz too, but I'll survive...)

I've been using the z22 for a few days and have found it to be a great product for anyone not concerned with wireless, a large handheld display screen or extended memory. I've used palms for several years and keep a lot of technical notes in the Palm memo app for use when I'm in remote locations doing system adminstration work. My previous palm was a III xe - it was trailing edge technology but very durable and useful as long as I could find a synching machine that still had a serial connection.

The install for the z22 was easy and worked flawlessly. I tried the install via the usb port on Macintosh System X and Windows XP formats. The installation program pulled all my old palm info into the Z22; memos, contacts, calendar and task functions were all maintained in the upgrade. Some of the older applications were not compatible with the Palm 5 OS on the z22. Most of the problems apps were old games that I was not that concerned about.

For under $100 dollars, I'm very impressed with the following;

1) colors are bright and reading the screen is easy in light or dark settings.
2) I currently have 17.5 mbytes memory left on the z22 after the upgrade. In the PC world, this is very little memory, but for a Palm environment this is a lot of entries. If I was concerned about using mp3's, video, doc, or Excel files on a palm format, I would consider another device.
3) The battery lasts a long time. I once used a Palm M515 color palm and it needed recharged a lot more than the Z22 does. The advertised time of 8 hours between charges is probably accurate.
4) The size and weight of this device is very light - it is not much bigger than my pager and fits very comfortably in a pocket.

The only problem I've had with the Z22 is that when I use it with a Taurus wireless keyboard, the response is somewhat slow and delayed. Also, the 160X160 screen size might be of concern to some people, but I find it to be very readable with bi-focally challenged eyes.

Is there anything really innovative about this device? Not really. But I think Palm did a great job of combining the right features into an entry level color organizer for a double diget price.

I guess you can call me a gadget freak. I've got a drawer full of electronic gadgets and gone through numerous inventions of our modern world. I've owned and used three generations of iPods (mini, 4G, nano, and video iPod), countless cell phones (from TDMA times to GSM), notebooks and computers, and most importantly (and the reason we're here today), PDA's.

This isn't my first time with a personal digital assistant. My first foray with PDA's was a PalmOne Treo 600, then Motorola MPx200; after the Treo died and MPx200 bored, I went to a Palm TX, then SMT5600; after those I transitioned into a HP iPaq RX1955, and finally I just had to do it and get back to the Z22.

If you take the time to read reviews and consider your purchase choices before you click the checkout button, you have probably thought about getting a Windows Mobile device, and trust me, I've been down that route (as you can see from the boring list above).

If you did think about Windows Mobile, then maybe this is the device for you (yes, I'm serious).

You can never have too many electronics devices, however, you only have two hands, two ears, two eyes and a brain. Sure, you can have one device that does it all, or multiple devices that do things well. It's your choice, but now if you take a moment and look around you - your cell phone probably plays MP3's; your MP3 player probably has calendar functions on it; your laptop does everything you need including internet; oh wait your phone also does internet AND play mp3's AND videos; d'oh, your PSP plays better quality videos, etc...nowadays the rage is toward convergence devices, yet eventually you'll find yourself, out of all your gadgets and what-not, leaning toward just one thing...

Then why did you waste money on everything else? You buy a product because you have a need for its primary function, not the extra things you're using, right?

In the times of maddening convergence devices, I've returned to the Z22 for my day planner needs. Simplicity is the most elegant form of art.


Ok, enough on the bull. You want the dirt, and here it is:

The Z22 isn't outfitted with the prettiest screen (if you want a gorgeous screen try the Palm TX or Lifedrive - guaranteed to be amazing, especially when you play videos via TCPMP), the most powerful processor (in fact, Z22 has just the opposite of that), or the most memory (modern Windows Mobile devices has 128+ MB of memory, but more on that later), but it's outfitted with design and thoughfulness.

First of all, Palm makes the Z22. Palm also happens to be the company whose predecessors brought handheld organizers to the mass market. In its most recent form, Garnet (V5.4), has evolved into an operating system that promotes simplicity, function, and usefulness. Surely, WM5 (Windows Mobile 5.0) has better multimedia capabilities, Office-"compatible" suites, and supports more connectivity options right out of the box, but the OS isn't mature enough compared to PalmOS in terms of user-friendliness and design.

WM5 strives to be the OS that does everything and ends all competition, and while its feature set offers the promise, the execution is poor. WM5 brings the Windows interface to a handheld, and that translates mouse clicks to stylus taps, scrollbars to (well, scrollbars), and menus to cascaded menus. Everything in WM5 is organized as options in a menu. To get something done, you find yourself having to rely on your stylus to click, click and click. Some, like me, find this completely annoying. What's the need for a PDA for quick notes if I have to click through 5 or 6 menu options to get there? WM's model renders keystrokes and buttons completely useless, and this in terms complicates things. Try this out in person and compare to the same thing you're trying to accomplish in PalmOS, and you will see what I mean.

PalmOS, on the other end, has gotten more of the things worked out. You still need a stylus, but a lot of the operations and navigations between menus and programs can be done with the directional buttons and softkeys, quicker and better, than WM in a lot of cases. It's also a more organizer-oriented system where it puts users and their data first. Take HotSync (Palm) vs. ActiveSync (WM) and you'll see the difference. One of them carefully backs up your PDA and syncs your personal files, displaying progress along the way, and gives your a detail log, color-coded and with OK in front of each line item, if something goes wrong; the other rushes through synchorization quickly and loads your files in bundles - you'll never know what they're copying from/to your PDA - then if there's an error you get a generic "Unresolved Item" error, then it's off to manually guess which items are not copied correctly; installing programs on a Palm means to click on the Palm file, and HotSync'ing it the next time, whereas on WM you'll have to figure out which file to click (programs can come in three different flavors, .CAB, .EXE and even .ZIP files), then upon ActiveSync you'll need to worry about if an unsigned program will corrupt the system or not, etc. Furthermore, PalmOS offers you a choice of syncing between Outlook and PalmOS, while if you use a WM device off to Microsoft Outlook you go. Where's the flexibility and choice?

Now to the device itself. Z22 comes with an older-generation processor and 32MB of memory. 32MB may not seem too much but it's pretty standard affair on Palm devices, and with the way PalmOS works it's just about enough (WM on the other hand...a different ballpark). Z22 has plenty of speed for the applications you'll run on it, and since it comes with no audio/video capability, expansion, or wireless connectivity you'll end up using only PIM features, which are completely acceptable and well laid out on the Z22. The softkey and directional buttons have tactile response, and while the screen isn't too great it has enough room to display all the key and basic graphics you need. Despite its basic feature set, you can use it with Datavis Documents to Go and an infrared keyboard for quick keyboarding; graffiti also has a wide range of recognition.

Now if you see the Z22 not for its lack of features, but more for its intended purpose, then this is the perfect match for you - a digitalized (and smart) personal day planner.

When I had the Palm TX, Treo, and the various WM devices, there was always a major afterthought - that I wasn't putting everything to full use. When I could play music on the TX via Pocket Tunes, I no longer needed the iPods; when I wrote emails and surfed the web on my laptop, I wouldn't touch the PDA's for the same function...eventually this "forced" convergence diverged again, and it ended up that most of the time the PDA was sitting in my desk drawer collecting dust...and every time I opened the drawer to get a pen or white-out, I would see the PDA sitting there a paperweight, and I died a little inside. I just didn't have the time, energy, or mood to play with these devices all day...and what good is a PDA if it sits in a drawer doing anything BUT working for you?

The Z22, however, reversed all that. Because of its small size and weight, I actually manage to bring it everywhere besides the days or places that I didn't need to; its quick response to basic note-taking and looking up an event in the calendar made organization an ease. No longer had I worried about not using a device fully - the Z22 was working at its fullest potential being what it excels best: a personal organizer.

Then all other little things it offered were simply bonuses, like being able to run Documents to Go, tethering an IR keyboard, and running LyME (a basic computational package similar to MATLAB for Palm devices - I'm an engineering student and sometimes I need to do quick math that a calculator can't readily perform). When you think about an electronic device that way, then it has made all the difference for you.

I never thought that a device so simple and seemingly "ineffective" can turn around and become one of the greatest electronic gadget I've ever had. This isn't an exaggeration...I spent a better part of the afternoon writing this, and now if I wasn't serious about this wouldn't I have spent that time doing something else instead?

I bought this PDA for my wife as she wanted one instead of having to deal with a hefty paper calender. She wanted something that was basic without all the extras such as a camera, or internet access that add $'s and can become confusing. After a little research I found this was the best option for its price.

The Palm Z22 has a great color screen and is super easy to use. Even after playing with it myself for 5 minutes I was comfortable with the stylus tool and was able to write very easily. My wife stores everything she needs on it and is VERY happy with it. The device is very easy to set up and the software is easy to install on your PC. The sync-ing between the PDA and PC is fast and easy as its through a USB port. Entries can be input on either the PDA or by typing on your PC and then sync it with the PDA. I think one of the best features for such a basic model is that you can transfer photos and veiw them. The quality is fairly low but its nice to have them on hand. I downloaded various extra programs for the PDA from the internet and they installed quickly and easily.

The only complaint I have is the quality of the materials. The plastic casing feels a little cheap, but you are paying base price for a PDA with a color screen. Also the rubber case that comes in the box is annoying to get on and off. This didn't stop me from buying the PDA though as I had read planty of good reviews about the actual PDA itself. Unfortunately there is a very limited selection of cases that support this model. A friend gave my wife a nice leather PALM case to keep it protected but its too big for the Z22 so it falls out easily. The only option as of now is a clear hard case.

Overall my wife is very happy, which makes me happy. So I would recommend this to any beginner wanting a basic PDA to keep track of their calendar, contacts, photos etc. but not want anything more.

Please note that I have given the Z22 five stars taking into account the relative value of the price and features. Obviously this is a low-end device, so it is rated accordingly.

I bought one of these for my mother, who is still using a heavily erased and crossed-out address book and paper calendar. She has been reticent to move to electronic organizers, and I eventually decided to get this one for her partly because of the following features:
1) it has NVFS, which means that when my mother invariably forgets to charge it she will not lose all of her information.
2) it is small, light, easy to use and has a color screen.
3) it is a palm, which i've used for years and can easily show her some helpful usage tips.

One feature that I didn't know the Z22 had, and have found to be the real 'hook' as far as my mother is concerned is the ability to add images to contacts. Now my mother has pictures of each of her children and grandchildren, which are linked to their contact info. For her, that was the clincher. I think she will finally now give up her address book.

The Z22 has a great form factor, and it resembles the ipod in appearance and size - but the Palm is lighter. The screen isn't hi res, so don't expect hi definition with your photos - but it gets the job done. And the processor is certainly speedy enough.

One other nice touch is that a screen protector is included in the package - which I put on first thing. The software is pretty basic, and it includes a silly game called Crazy Daisy which will not likely get any usage.

There is one thing that I found frustrating, but it has to do with the packaging. They must be using a heavier gauge plastic for these packages, because it took me ten minutes to carefully cut through and open it without damaging the contents. Be sure you have a heavy duty exacto knife handy or a very large pair of shears.

The Z22 will not do the following: make phone calls, send email, do text messaging, play music or videos.

So if that's what you want - the Z22 is not for you.

If you want a reliable, low cost, digital organizer for contacts, a calendar, writing memos, making notes, storing photos (not high quality, but good enough if you are like me and never remember to carry pictures of your family), logging expenses, making lists, playing games (comes with a good chess game on the add on software), dividing the check and figuring the tip, this is for you.

Also - eliminates the need to carry a calculator or an alarm clock. Has a built in dictionary (again in the add on software)Is easy to back up on a PC (can't vouch for a Mac). And there's other software which comes with the basic device, that I never use, and plenty of memory if you want to purchase or get free additional programs.

I love it. It's better than the prior no frills palm pilot I had, and has done something I never thought was possible: I have virtually eliminated my pen and pencil daily organizer.

A bargain at about 90 bucks, as long as you don't want to use it to make phone calls.

This is my first PDA and now I wonder how I lived my life without one. I'm a stay at home mom with plenty of responsibilities to take care of. I never realized how helpful (and how enjoyable) this tiny device could be even for my home life.

I understand that this is a basic featured (but still fabulous) PDA without all the fancy bells and whistles - that is absolutely fine for me. All the bells and whistles just add up to distraction for me. This properly featured yet powerful Z22 helps keep me focused on the tasks on hand.

I love that it's attractive and diminuitive. It easily goes everywhere with me. I just wish I could attach a wrist strap. I do keep mine in a protective Flexicase, which has worked out great for my needs.

I LOVE that the Palm Z22 can be used as a e-book reader. The Palm Software CD comes with the E-reader software you can load onto your PDA if you want it. By far, it is my most favorite program on my PDA. Now wherever I go, whether I'm across the house or outside my home, I keep a library of books with for me to read.

I love how I can write down my thoughts at anytime. The Graffiti 2 handwriting recognition program is quite easy to learn and, when in a pinch, I can alway easily use the onscreen keyboard. Overall, very easy to use. The amazingly easy-to-use touchscreen technology makes these PDAs a gem.

The internal battery in the Z22 lasts a long time and quickly recharges either by using a wall plug or when synching with the PC. Palm includes a power-off feature which will shut off the Z22 automatically unless you purposely deactivate it when you turn it on. It also shuts off after so many minutes of inactivity. No worries about it accidently turning on or forgetting to shut it off draining precious battery power. So when I'm taken away from my task because of my toddler or other family necessity, I don't worry about the power draining.

The included Palm desktop program also makes it easy to keep my Z22 updated. No grievance there. The hotsync feature sometimes doesn't always connect the first time, but it's not a consistent problem. The desktop program also is programmable for different users of different palm products. So while I can use it for my Palm Z22, I can also use it to program my young son's M100 PDA without our files getting crossed. (I'm getting him started early - laf! Plus they're cheap and work great. I keep kid-friendly programs on his.)

The internal 32K (?) memory is sufficient for Z22. It's plenty enough to add several extra programs (my favorites: e-reader, handyshopper, listpro), keep lots of data, and store several e-books. I still have plenty of room left to work with.

The size of the screen is also not a problem for me. I'm not always crazy about the resolution, but again, I got my Z22 to be my PDA workhorse, not a movie theatre.

I have absolutely no regrets getting my Palm Z22. It frees me from being tied to my computer. It frees me from cluttered thinking. Not a day has gone by since I've gotten the Palm Z22 that I haven't used it. I've been very grateful to have it. Thank you, Palm, for making such a great device that is powerful yet affordable.

I love my Palm Z22! It's helping me change my life. :)

I got this PDA because I needed something to take the place of the 4 calendar's that I normally have around the office, along with the never ending list of phone numbers that I use on a constant basis. THIS DID/DOES THE JOB!
-It's not internet accessable, but that is the point! I don't need to check my email, txt someone nor make a call while on the train with this thing...THAT IS WHAT A CELL PHONE IS FOR!
-The alarm function is real good, and loud, as long as you are not outside or bury in a backpack or purse.
-The syncing function takes a few tries to get use to, but after you figure it out, it's golden. I have a mac and once you download the isync addition (2MB max), then you can sync your address book (THANK GOD!) and ical together, along with pictures onto your palm.

Cons:
-The on/off button is small not pushed up and all, so you need to press it a few times to turn it on..although, by pressing the calendar or contacts button, the palm turns on as well.
-The face protector sticker sucks! It is not easy to apply, but in the long run it probably wouldn't do much good, and would just cloud the screen
-The stylus is one of the old fashion full plastic one's. I know the treo's have a similar one, but the point is soft, thus protecting the screen.

Pros:
-Besides what I already said, the price is great, it looks good, the screen is color, fits perfectly into any pocket, no batteries and can be charged either through the USB plug or an outlet.
-I would recommend this to anyone who carrying around endless notepads, and who do not want to have a large PDA-cell phone-mini computer, ala Treo.
-This is a scheduler's dream device!
-Having something this simple really helps in our tech-inundated world

I bought his palm specifically for reading e-books. I'd never used an e-reader or a palm before, relying on good old fashioned paperbacks mostly, and was nervouse that the smallish screen and scrolling would be both confusing and unenjoyable. Not so!

The screen is more than decent for reading and if you still have trouble you can always enlarge the font, something you don't have the option with on printed texts. Also I never had to worry about keeping my place since the e-book program always opens up on the last spot you left off on. And instead of scrolling like you would on a regular computer program, the palm just has you toggle the center button to flip pages! No words running together as I constantly scroll and give myself a head ache!

The battery has a great life and in two weeks of rabid reading I've gone through 4 books and only had to charge up 3 times. Plus, having this has given me an extra bonus. Not only can I pull this little gem out of my purse and read on the go whenever I'm bored ( i.e. the line at the grocery store, waiting for my freinds to try on clothes at the mall, ect.)but, since I'm a nightowl, my husband doesn't have to deal with the night stand light being on while I read. The light that illuminates the screen internally is plenty bright to read by. He loves my palm so much that he' getting one of his own.

A handy little stilas is kept in a sneaky compartment of the palm and the games, calendar, notes, and lists have been great for helping me organize. This palm doesn't come with a case, but for less than $5 I was able to pick up a small samsonite digital camara case that fits it perfectly without hogging space in my purse. This has been a great purchase!

The Z22 has no way of disabling the automatic wakeup for calendar alarms. This may cause you to lose battery power much faster than you might expect. Especially if you do not constantly use the device for a few days and then expect to look up an address or phone number (think vacation).

If you have appointments, the Z22 will turn on automatically to give you an alarm, and then repeat the process a number of times for each appointment even if you have the alarm sound turned off. This will drain your battery quickly when you think you have not been using the PDA. You can lower the time period before the automatic shutdown and reduce the number of alarm repeats, but you cannot make the display stay off and preserve your battery.