Customer Reviews

TAPWAVE Tapwave Zodiac 1

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As a long time PDA user (Palm OS and Pocket PCs) I was always looking for the latest, greatest new piece of tech. The Zodiac's specs and price impressed me so much that I started my own news and community site for it.

I bought the Zodiac 1 back when they first came out (end of November, 2003). It's compatible with most any Palm OS application and there's tons of freeware and inexpensive shareware apps to be found. While Tapwave is hyping this as a gaming console, it's really a do-everything device. Pair it with a Bluetooth cell phone and you can surf the internet or check your email. Pair it with a Bluetooth GPS and you can use it to navigate you around town or across the country. It has a Yamaha sound chip which gives you MP3 playback superior to an iPod and you can even play music in the background while you play games or do other things.

The library of cutting edge games is a little small right now, but it's growing. And, like I said, there's TONS more that you can do with this thing besides just gaming. But if you do want it for gaming, consider this...it's got a 3.8" diagonal 480x320 pixel screen, an analog controller, several action and shoulder buttons, and support for multiplayer gaming over Bluetooth. And Tapwave isn't being greedy with some proprietary nonsense either. You can use regular old SD memory cards to expand your storage space for MP3s, videos, applications, and games. Yes, you can download games over the internet and store tons of them on one single SD memory card rather than carry around dozens of cartridges.

If you want to take advantage of some of the advanced features, sites like Tapland will help you along. Plus, there's lots of useful game, productivity app, and accessory reviews there.

If you want more built-in storage, you can pay an extra $100 for the Zodiac 2, but my personal recommendation is to get a Zodiac 1 and use the extra money to buy a really huge SD memory card.

I won't mention the specs or functions as there are other reviews that have done that. I will tell that you can do all the stuff they mention in the official review right out of the box! Because tapwave bundles a lot of cool stuff on the zodiac CD.

As a game machine, it's the most PC like portable out there. You'll be able to overclock the unit, play RTS games, classic american-style RPGs, and even port your old DOOM games to it for free. It's pretty amazing to watch hexen on the zodiac screen running smoothly. You'll also be thankful that if you want to you can carry all your games on the SD card and not have to take space away from the 32MB memory or carry game carts. Also, because it runs on palm, you'll be able to do some really cool stuff that no other game machines do. Like using the touch screen as a PC mouse pad, waking up to any song you want, and typing documents on the road.

As a PDA, it's great, your able to browse the web comfortably thanks to the screen, and you can attach a keyboard and wifi card. The 2 SD slots are a plus. It charges in 2 hours. Not only that, but the slim design and smooth metal finish really impress people on the street. The controls also make games more fun than on other PDAs.


As a multimedia machine, it is good. And if you overclock a bit you can even use the PSPs MP4 format at a decent 15fps. The movies you make will look like mini DVDs and they only take about 400MB each. I have a 512MB card and can store a full movie, some MP3s, some photos, some game Roms and my programs too.

You can also get some cool accesories like the included headphones, a cool metal case to protect the zodiac and store cards, a screen protector, and even a grip to make the device feel like a playstation controller.

I love my zodiac, and with a healthy group of programmers developing free software for it, I see it as having good long-term value.

This device is excellent. If you go to cnet.com you can read a full professional review of this product, they gave it an 8.0 which is great.
The Zodiac was an early xmas gift from my wife. The graphics are incredible and it does exactly what I need to do. It has a calendar, address book, to-do list and all the basic "palm" software. The gaming is awesome, I'm very impressed with the definition of the screen and the game selection is pretty good.
My wife was also in the market for a handheld device this holiday season. Now that I've had mine for a while, guess which device she wants?! Yup, we just had to buy a second one for her, she loves mine. She loves that is has an MP3 player and stereo speakers, which sound pretty darn good BTW. It also has photo software so she can display and keep her pics of the kids. I think the photos look much better on the zodiac screen vs. other handhelds.
For the price, I can't imagine doing much better than the Zodiac1.

games? i dunno, i'm not really a hardcore gamer.

based on screen size, resolution and speed this is basically a non proprietary psp. only it hit the market 2 years earlier.

as a scatterbrained artist this is the best machine ever, because along with a game played here and there, there's an entire world of palm apps for this thing for free or minimal. think fotoshop clone on the go for 15 bucks. no joke. mobisystems paint. and a thousand more.

plus, i've noticed i don't get frustrated at the hardware or grocery store anymore due to lack of list or trying to guage where my bank statement is floating.

and nowadays palm OS rocks. palm machines, uh... i feel sorry for the

The Tapwave Zodiac is one of the most versatile handhelds that runs the Palm OS. It features a large, easy-to-see screen, two SD slots and has significant onboard RAM (depending on which model you purchase). The system makes a good gaming platform and a great organizer.

The big problem, though, is that as of July 25th, Tapwave has announced that they will no longer be selling or supporting the Zodiac (check out their website for details). As of July 28th, it said that they will not be supporting them (but does offer links to some online user forums, etc.); the message seems to suggest that Tapwave may be continuing other lines, but not the Zodiac (currently the do not have any other publicly announced lines), so they may later relent on their support stance.

Ive had the system for severel weeks and nothing wrong has happend every things works well and tapwave has great customer suport I would recomend buying this system and buying a 512 MB sd for it.

This is awsome it does every thing and more. i sugest that you also get an expansion card i got a one gigibite card and it holds alot more than what you would think i would also get pocket tunes it plays wma and mp3

I'm going to start by saying that if you're reading this and even considering buying a PSP over this, you are extremely foolish. The Zodiac can beat the PSP in any way you name. But first, the basics.

Opening the box of the Zodiac, I see all the needed accesories: a charger, sync cable, earphones, Zodiac, and installation CD. And a quick start manual, etc. The CD comes with all you need, like Palm Desktop program, and many extras. Setup is a breeze.

The Zodiac itself is a piece of genius. All the controls are ergonomically placed, and the screen is beautiful. The speakers work fine, even though the drain the batteries quite a bit. With a joystick, four action buttons, and two trigger buttons, the Zodiac is an excelent gaming machine.

Another plus for the Zodiac is the Palm OS 5.2. This allows the Zodiac to be compatible with virtually all the palm software available on the Internet, for free. Also, you can find many free games/demos for the Zodiac on the Internet. I so far have not spent a single penny, and am happy with the game selection on my Zodiac. And if I wanted to buy some games, they would be even better. Can your precious PSP do that?

Overall, the Zodiac was probably one of the best buys I have ever made. Buy it!

i am greatly considering buying this product (asked for it for the holidays) i read somewhere that it could play videos can i download movies with a big expansion card onto it please reply i would reccomend this to anyone you can recieve internet on it 3 different ways and theres all sorts of great features including im to talk to your buddies. there arent alot of games available but more are coming out including madden 2005 (sports game) there is a bunch of cool games like golf and shooters (doom2,duke nukem...etc) you can also download photos on to it and music what makes this better than the game boy ds or the psp(portable ps2 gadget) are all the features like a joystick, wireless gaming, internet! after this ill probaly never get a portable gamer again unless tapwave (makers of zodiac) come out with something better!

Amazing, amazing... AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!, And, yes the 100 explination marks are worth it because Tapwave have brought us into the new gaming world, a PDA, Movie and music player, somone pinch me! WATCH OUT SONY AND NINTENDO THERE IS A NEW KID ON THE BLOCK!