PalmOne Zire Handheld

by Palm

Product Details

Product Manual [2.68mb PDF]

• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B00006JKXN
• Item model number: P80707US
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (155 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #47,898 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes
• Date first available at Amazon.com: October 7, 2002

Product Description

Amazon.com Review

Small, light, and compact, the Palm Zire handheld is a great PDA for anyone looking for a basic electronic personal information manager to help organize their tasks, meetings, and contacts. Getting started with the Zire is simple, making it ideal for people who are new to the world of handheld devices.

Organization in your Palm

We were up and running within 20 minutes of opening the package. As part of our setup, we synced the Zire with Microsoft Outlook. Initially, we had to try twice before we could successfully sync our data, but have been able to sync data flawlessly ever since. All of our contacts and scheduled meetings transferred effortlessly, and we quickly came to depend on the Zire to tell us where and when we had to be at a given time. However, with only a 2 MB storage capability, this handheld won't hold a huge about of data.

The Zire is attractively colored with a white front and a silvery gray back, but Palm really cut corners with the screen cover. The cover is made of a flexible plastic that flaps around when it is supposed to be centered on the screen, and is awkward to keep out of the way when you want to access the screen. It's so annoying we recommend not using it at all. Fortunately, the screen cover comes separate from the Zire itself so this is easy to do.

While not a powerful handheld, the Zire is worth considering if you're looking for a way to keep your tasks, contacts, and meetings organized. It performs those tasks wonderfully, and is priced affordably. --Patricia Atherly

Pros:

• Mac and PC compatible
• Inexpensive and attractive
• Easy to set up and use
• Comes with a rechargeable battery

Cons:

• Only a 2 MB memory
• No expansion slots
• Palm OS 4.1 instead of the new Palm OS 5
• No backlight
• Flimsy screen cover

Product Description

The Palm Zire handheld is designed from the ground up for everyday personal use. On the move, at school or at work, it makes the dream of paperless life a reality. Feel like you don't have enough time to catch up with everything? The chances are you're not in control of your schedule. Unlike a paper organizer, the Zire handheld gives you the whole picture: appointments and people, tasks and notes, and ties them all together.Nothing could be more natural than entering information into the Zire handheld. Unlike a PC, which forces you to use a keyboard, or a mobile phone, which demands dexterous thumbs, the Zire handheld is much more civilized. If you know how to write in capital letters, you know how to use the Zire handheld. In just a few minutes, you will have mastered Graffiti, Palm's unique - and very intuitive - handwriting language. How easy is it? Well, like A-B-C. What's more, what would happen if you lost your paper agenda? With a Zire handheld, you can keep a copy of all your information on your PC. What's in the box: Zire Handheld w/ Rechargeable Battery, Charging Cable, USB HotSync Cable, Getting Started Manual, CD-ROM with Palm Desktop Software, Stylus, Protective Flip Cover

See all Product Description

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

215 of 224 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best entry level handheld available., October 17, 2002

By 

Bill (PR USA) - See all my reviews

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

If you need a handheld for basic PIM tasks such as phone numbers adresses and e-mail this is the one for you, read on. If on the other hand you need a powerful handheld computer able to do multimedia I recommend you look at the Sony Clie line of Palm OS handhelds.

The Zire provides all you need to substitute your paper based agenda out of the box.

About the OS:

Palm OS is actually the standard OS on handhelds (most like Windows on the desktop). This handheld includes a desktop PIM(personal information managers) as well as software to sync with Microsoft Outlook.

There are thousand of programs available for the palm OS add such as enhanced PIM , Personal finance program to syncronize with MS Money and Quicken as well as office suites and games.

Hardware:

Zire has a very stilish design it is almost as small as a Palm M515 or clie T 665. Also this handheld as all Palm branded handhelds is build to last with a tought elegant casing.

It is compatible with Windows and Machintos desktops. The only limitations I find in this computer are that it only has 2 MB of memory (but I am a power user), for most peple 2 MB is plenty to store thousand of addresses as well as and office suite and other programs. Another minor limitation for gammers it that there are only four buttons.

Sumarry:

The zire is arguably the best possible solution for someone just entering the world of handhelds. This is the best entry level handheld computer for the money

106 of 108 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars THIS IS A PRODUCT FOR FIRST-TIME USERS !!!, December 20, 2002

By A Customer

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

I have just finished reading all 37 reviews of this product (at least, as of this date ;-)

I feel that about half of those reviews are relatively worthless and are debating points that are significantly NOT REVELANT to the target market for this product. Personally, I am not a member of the target market ... as I purchased the original PalmPilot (for $400 and containing 512Kb of RAM) and later "upgraded" it to 1Mb RAM.

I presently own and use a Palm IIIe and a Palm IIIxe. If I decided to "upgrade" my Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) it is certain that I will NOT purchase a Zire. The reason why: the Zire has been specifically designed for the first-time "novice" user.

At a Retail Price of $99 one would NOT expect all (or any) of the bells-and-whistles associated with the higher-end models. The first-time adult Palm PDA user does NOT initially need to have the memory capacity to support tons of games, or expansion slots (with the additional expense of the things that plug into those slots), etc.

Think of the Palm Zire as your first bicycle with training wheels included. You don't buy a moped or a motorcycle (more expensive PDA's) until AFTER you have learned the basics. A "soccer mom" or your grandmother doesn't need all of that high-tech confusion.

If you keep it simple, it is more likely to be used. If you keep it small in size, it is more likely to be carried around. There is ALWAYS a trade-off between power and features ... and the battery life required to support them. The Palm Zire attempts to strike a balance with respect to the needs of the Novice first-time user.

The Zire is a unit designed for the novice ADULT (it is NOT designed to be a game machine for kids). It is the modern version of that original PalmPilot, with four times the memory and half the weight and a much better screen. Here is a comment from one of these 37 reviews that completely hits the target at the bull's-eye with respect to the Zire:

"Currently I have 645 entries in the Address Book, 1050 entries in my Date Book, 400 records in my Memo Pad, as well as 2 blackjack games, a poker game, and a chess game. With all of this loaded in the Zire, I still have 1.3 megs of memory available. Really a great little box."

I hardly EVER use the backlight in my Palm III units. The target market for the Zire is the people who will mostly be using the included applications (Address Book, Date Book, Memo Pad, Note Pad, etc.) -- as the use of these applications by the first-time novice user will be a BIG STEP forward for them. When they get to the point where they can ride the bicycle easily without the training wheels, THEN they can make the decision to spend the additional money to buy a higher-end model.

For most folks in this target market, THIS may be all the functionality they ever need. I have been using my Palm IIIxe for many years now ... and would only consider upgrading to a cell phone/PDA combo unit. I do not have (or feel the overwhelming need for) the expansion slots, color screen, or the many extra bells-and-whistles touted by other reviewers appearing here. If THAT is your focus, then you should choose another product. The Palm Zire performs the basics and does it at the lowest price on the market.

Note that this is a "new" product (October) and the supply & demand curves have not yet balanced out. The full Zire retail price of $99 will (after Xmas) come down to a "street price" of around eighty-something dollars. Yes, you can spend more money to buy a higher-end product, but THAT is the fact of life for every product on the market.

Beware of the nerd reviewers (like me) who have already owned previous PDA models, and are trying to compare bicycles to mopeds to motorcycles ... as they are not comparing apples to apples, and these products have significantly different target markets. The Palm Zire is designed for the first-time user, and the reviews that I have read here from those first-time users have been favorable.

I hope this provides a useful frame of reference with respect to your purchasing decisions.

68 of 69 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very Satisfied, October 23, 2002

By 

Elaine Markley "Writer and Reader extraordinaire" (New Mexico, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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

Although I rush to buy new tech stuff and have a lot of it, I hadn't really wanted to pay the going rate for a PDA...especially since I'm retired and don't need anything to keep me organized. But when Palm intro'd the Palm Zire for [$], I couldn't resist. The main reason I bought it, besides the price, is that I wanted to be able to carry my address book with me. This works great for that, and it was very easy to transfer my main Windows address book to the Palm. It's also very easy to use. I can stick it in my pocket for notetaking, etc. Consequently, I find I'm using it more and more for errands, memos and 'to do' lists.

The only drawback is that the screen is not backlit, and while the contrast is adjustable and the screen easily visible in bright light, it's hard to see under regular lamplight. As I become more dependent on this, I can see I will probably want to upgrade...exactly the marketing strategy Palm had in mind.

Oh, and don't waste your money on Palm's PDA carrying case. It's made of a heavy, soft, kind of smelly plastic that takes away all the lightweight advantages of the small Palm Zire. You can find much nicer ones for much less online at places like eBags.com.