PalmOne m125 Handheld

by Palm

Product Details

Product Manual [2.65mb PDF]

• Product Dimensions: 4.8 x 3.1 x 0.9 inches ; 5.3 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00005O70S
• Item model number: 3C80703U
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (90 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #29,552 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)
  • #62 in Electronics > Computers & Add-Ons > PDAs, Handhelds & Accessories > PDAs & Handhelds
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes
• Date first available at Amazon.com: November 17, 2005

Product Description

Amazon.com Review

The Palm m125 is similar to the Palm m100 and m105 in its shape and classic, powerful Palm organizer functions. But it also offers several features that elevate it above the other two models--a memory card expansion slot, bonus software, and compatibility with peripherals for i705 and m500 series models.

The curved base of the Palm m125 fits snugly and comfortably in the palm of your hand. It features a protective cover that flips up and is flexible at the end--a nice touch to prevent damage if you scrape it against anything while opening. It also has a window on the cover that lets you check the time by pressing the button that pokes through.

Like other Palm handhelds the Palm m125 doesn't have a keyboard. Instead, you write shorthand-like strokes on the special writing area at the bottom of the backlit grayscale screen, which the m125 recognizes as letters. You can also tap with the stylus to type letters using an onscreen keyboard, as well as open menus and select icons. (For more keying power, you might consider the optional Palm portable keyboard.)

The Palm operating system (OS) is very efficient, so the 8 MB memory is enough to store a lot of data and quite a few applications, too. If you want to add more applications or content, you have two choices. First, you can find applications and e-books on the Web, download them to your desktop or laptop hard drive, and synchronize the data using the USB HotSync cradle, which attaches to the Palm universal connector at the base of the handheld. It's the same connector as on the m500 and m505 and Palm has promised to support it for three years, so there should be plenty of peripherals available.

Your other option is to use the expansion slot on the side of the handheld, which accepts Secure Digital (SD) and MultiMediaCard (MMC) memory cards. Palm offers a number of expansion cards with content (such as e-books and Lonely Planet travel guides), applications (the PalmPak language translator, for example), and games. You can also store applications and content on memory cards (such as those from Viking or SanDisk) without sacrificing any of the Palm m125's 8 MB memory.

The Palm m125 comes with Palm OS 4.0, which has new e-mail and Web browsing software, and enables you to send SMS (Short Message Service). You can use infrared to connect to your cell phone for a wireless connection, or add an optional modem to connect to a standard phone line.

In addition to the standard built-in utilities and the Palm Desktop application (for both Windows and Mac), you get extra software including an e-book reader, Documents To Go (for viewing and editing Word and Excel documents), and AvantGo (which downloads Web content, such as news from BBC or the latest soccer scores).

For a budget PDA, the small, light Palm m125 has some nice design touches, is loaded with software extras, and can be customized with thousands of available Palm OS applications. It may not be the most powerful PDA on the market, but its expansion capabilities certainly kick it up a notch. --Mary Branscombe and Agen G.N. Schmitz

Pros:

• Expansion card slot for SD and MMC memory cards
• Lots of bonus software, including Documents To Go and Mobile Internet Kit software
• USB universal connector ready for lots of peripherals

Cons:

• Not as thin as the Palm m500 series

Amazon.com Product Description

Expand your horizons and organize your busy schedule with the Palm m125 handheld. With 8 MB of memory, a USB HotSync cradle, and a new expansion card slot, the curvy, sleek Palm m125 offers lots of computing power and versatility. You'll be able to add more powerful applications and store thousands of memos, appointments, addresses, and to-do items.

The Palm m125 handheld comes with Palm's classic information management applications, including Date Book, Address Book, To-Do List, and Memo Pad. You can also jot down notes quickly using the Notepad feature, which works like an electronic sticky note.

Additionally, the Palm m125 comes with a CD-ROM packed with bonus productivity, communication, and entertainment software--including AOL for Palm, MultiMail SE (for e-mail), DataViz Documents to Go (for viewing Word and Excel documents), Palm Reader (for e-books), AvantGo (for Web content after synchronization or with Internet connection), and Vindigo (for finding places to eat and shop).

You can back up data with your PC or Macintosh in seconds with the included USB HotSync cradle. And it works with all the same accessories as the Palm m100 handheld--including keyboard, digital camera, and an array of color faceplates.

A rubberized flip cover protects your handheld screen when it's not in use. It features a window so you can quickly view the time and alarm reminder messages when your handheld cover is closed. And, as with other Palm handhelds, you can use the infrared port to instantly exchange and store information--such as business card data--at the touch of a button.

With the expansion card slot, you can back up your data without synchronizing with your PC, expand the memory capacity to hold e-books and other applications, and add modules such as a dictionary-thesaurus and Lonely Planet CitySync guides. It is compatible with both MultiMediaCards (MMCs) and Secure Digital (SD) cards.

The Palm m125 handheld ships with desktop and HotSync software for both PC and Macintosh systems. The HotSync cradle connects to your computer's USB port. To connect to a PC or Mac serial port, you will need to order the optional serial cradle.

The m125 comes with a USB HotSync cradle, a stylus, a protective flip-cover, and two AAA alkaline batteries. It is backed by a one-year warranty.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

265 of 266 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars D Martin, December 3, 2001

By 

D. S. Martin "dsm100" (Claremore, OK United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: PalmOne m125 Handheld (Office Product)

Ok...I spent entirely too much time determining which Palm was right for me. I ended up purchasing the M125 (from Amazon) and don't regret the purchase. It's great carrying the Palm vs. my old Franklin Planner (a.k.a "male purse" ... as described by my wife).

For those of you on the fence trying to determine whether you should by the M100, M125 or the higher end M500/505's here's what I considered...

If you ABSOLUTELY only need the Palm for light use and don't care about additional memory or have an affinity for games, add-on's, etc...then purchase the M100/105. If that isn't the case, you'll pitch it or have given it away...because you will have run out of memory by the end of the year (and it isn't upgradeable).

The M125 is great buy because you get much of the M500/505 functionality at a lesser price, plus you have the ability for the expansion card -- for more memory, games, etc. The only thing I'm not crazy about is that the meeting reminder "dings" pretty loud. So if you're in a meeting it can become annoying listening to the reminder (along with the cell phone, pagers, etc). I believe the 500/505 has a vibrating option. Also, the 500/505 have rechargeable batteries, so you don't have to keep replacing batteries -- there's pro's and con's on both, I suppose it depends whether you travel a lot.

So, other than the "cooler" look, battery functionality and vibrating option that comes with the 500/505, for me...the M125 was a great a buy.

Regarding the cradle...if you're on NT at work, get ready to purchase the serial cradle, since the USB won't work. On the upside, I use the USB cradle at home.

Before you make a decision, be sure to check out Amazon's comparison table -- which enables you to line up each product that you're considering...it's extremely helpful.

One note -- if you believe that you'll buy a lot of the Palm accessories, I would do it with your initial order. You'll save shipping $$, probably get a pretty competitive price and not have to pay sales tax (and no, I don't work for Amazon).

Good luck!

191 of 198 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Expandable, faster, more expensive version of m105, September 23, 2001

By 

Steven Dennis (Reston, VA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: PalmOne m125 Handheld (Office Product)

Another disappointing effort from Palm.
They took the m100, which is plagued mainly by its SMALL SCREEN, and decided that what people really wanted was expandability. So they ramp up the price, add a couple of expansion slots, throw in a faster processor, a USB cradle and a couple of software extras, and Voila! the m125.
If you want the cheapest PALM-branded model with expansion capabilities, then the m125 is it.
But what PALM should have done IMHO is lowered the price of the m105, and given the masses what they they were demanding with the m125 -- a LARGER SCREEN. I can't emphasize that enough. With a monochrome screen to begin with, and the built-in difficulty of pointing and clicking on a Palm device, size matters. I'd recommend buying a Visor Deluxe or the new Neo in this price range. Not only are they a good bit cheaper, they have a larger screen, as well as expandability. If you want to stay with Palm, consider the Palm V. Although lacking in expansion slots, it comes in a super-slim package with a rechargeable lithium battery and a full-size screen.
I also have a friend who is very happy with his snazzy, expandable new m505, but in that price range I think a PocketPC might make more sense. Here's a basic product guide:
Palm m100/Handspring Visor -- Bargain basement models with 2 MB of Ram. Good starter models for the price. Distinguishing characteristics: Visor has significantly larger screen/expansion slot and fast USB cradle. Palm has slower serial.
Palm m105/Visor Deluxe -- Workhorse models with 8 MB of Ram (plenty for monochrome models). Visor has bigger screen/USB/expansion slot.
Palm m125/Visor Platinum -- Upper middle class models. Visor Platinum has larger screen. Both have USB/expansion slot.
Palm V -- Classic, not significantly expandable. Smallest full-function PDA with lithium rechargeable battery.
Visor Edge/Palm 500/505/Visor Pro -- All way too much for a Palm. Consider Compaq iPaq instead (which, although bulky, has a wonderfully brilliant screen and can double as a digital audio machine).

61 of 63 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent product, July 10, 2002

By 

Chris (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: PalmOne m125 Handheld (Office Product)

I'm thinking that the only people who post on this section of amazon.com are the unlucky ones. You know, the ones who buy a car, then after driving it off the lot have an accident? Yeah, that's the case. I've had my Palm M125 for about 4 months now, and have had NO with it. Now, you may think that this is an isolated incident, but several people I know have Palm M-series PDAs, and they are the same way (No problems).

But I'm not here to yap about how wrong the previous reviewers are. So I'll hop on my soap box and start reviewing.

From the very instant you turn on the Palm M125, its smooth sailing. Palm OS 4.0.1 is easy to use, yet has the complexity that techno-geeks like me crave. Think of it as a safe haven from "Windows" OS. The applications are stored under various files, and they are all easy to exit (there isn't an alert window that says "Are you sure?"). But it's really the little things that set the Palm apart from Pocket PC or the Apple Newton (although the Newton isn't a bad choice either ^_^). Palm OS is very much unlike Pocket PC for the following reasons:

1.) The people who wrote the OS obviously know that the Palm computing platform can't be a full portable office. They Accept that. Instead of trying to create this universal bridge between the PC and the PDA (as Pocket PC horribly tries to do), it tries to ASSIST you. Keeping track of names, phone numbers, addresses, web clippings, word and excel documents, and task lists. However, even though it's not a full portable office, the Palm OS lets you take the bare minimum that you need. You can send you Excel and Word documents to you PDA via "Documents ToGo" (which came with my Palm), and you can edit them as well. You can synchronize your e-mail, and respond (when you HotSync, the respond e-mail will be placed on the "Response" queue of the e-mail client.) That to me is enough to buy it (and the Franklin Covey suite is a nice addition as well). But you`re probably saying "But Pocket PC can do all those things too" or "I'm going to buy a Palm, I just don't know which one. I'm already convinced." I will address each one individually.

2.) The Pocket PC is a lot like its Windows counterpart. It has to be the center of attention. Just go to a place where you can demo a pocket pc. You'll find it more stress than anything else. But I notice this: The people who complain about errors in the Palm OS don't complain about the errors in Pocket PC. You know why? Because they've come to expect errors from Microsoft products. I'm not trying to sound like a renegade, but think about it. When was the last time you batted an eye when you're Windows XP machine said "Fatal Error line 33334.222x 32" and then froze? You didn't because we have low standards for Microsoft products. Palm is the other way around. I've had about 4 errors on Palm, none of which were fatal (mainly just me taking up to much memory). But I almost freaked out, because it was so out of character for my PDA to do that. Besides, Pocket PC is expensive compared to the Palm Pilot.

3.) Which one are you going to get? I would recommend this one. The M100 doesn't have an I/R port and doesn't have an expansion slot. M105 has an I/R port but no expansion. Jump up to the M125 you get both plus 8 Megs of memory. You might want to bump up to the M130, which is the same except the screen is color. The M505 and M515 are big steps up. A few hundred dollars, so I would only advise those for the serious Palm fans.

But why shouldn't you go to the Palm VII or Palm IIIc? Simple: Compatibility. Most of those PDAs are running Palm OS 3.0 or lower. That's fine if you never want to add software or anything like that. Most (95%) Palm software requires Palm OS 3.5 and up. M125 comes with Palm OS 4.0.1.

4.) Regarding the "sharp edges" and "hard to read screen". Again, I think we have an isolated incident. This sharp edges thing cracks me up. I wonder if when he reviews a book he says "It was a fine book, but the edges on the hard back almost hurt me." Give me a break. The screen is small, but it's easy to read if you have eye balls.