PalmOne IIIx Handheld

The new Vx is a good choice, lots of memory and the other advantages of the Palm V like a better screen, and rechargeable battery. But the darn thing is still overpriced. If money is no problem though, I'd probably go with the Vx.

The V is good too, but only 2 meg of memory...yuck! Now, 2 meg of memory is going to be enough for a lot of people. If all you want to do is the basic appointment/phone book/to-do stuff, 2 meg is more than you'll ever need. But that's it...you're stuck with 2 meg and can't upgrade (easily). If you are interested in using your Palm to do internet stuff, grab webpages with AvantGo, play games, read books, etc. you're going to find yourself a bit squeezed by 2 meg. You can still do quite a bit, but it's a bit more work to manage your space.

Now, for less money you can get the IIIx. You'll have twice as much memory, and the ability to upgrade. I personally put on the TRG xtra xtra pro board which gave me 4 meg more of RAM and 2 meg more Flash...it's like having an 11 meg Palm! Really great. Of course, I bought this before the Palm Vx came out, today it's not quite as good a deal to do.

One other reason I like the Palm IIIx is that I have a lot of add-ons that only work with it...the Palm Navigator (compass), the Weatherguide, Landware's GoVox voice recorder, etc. I don't believe these will fit a Palm V. Of course, it goes both ways....Palm's new 33.6 modem and the new wireless Omnisky modem only fit the Palm V.

I do believe the Palm V has a better screen, it doesn't seem to have the streaks that a lot of the Palm IIIx's have. And there's no doubt it has a certain "coolness" factor. Most of my friends at work went with the Palm V. But they are fairly impressed with the space and the accessories I have for my Palm IIIx.

The IIIx has the same screen technology and processor as the IIIe, but twice as much memory. Some users have reported "streaking" problems on the screen. I have not experienced that. In most cases, my screen is very clear and readable.

However, Palm recently introduced the "reverse backlighting" feature that inverts the color when you turn it on. It's great when you're sitting in very dark conditions, but in dimly lit rooms or during twilight outside, it can be quite difficult to read the screen because of the reverse backlighting. I learned, though, that there is a simple Graffiti shortcut to make the backlight "normal". Even with the normal backlighting, I had trouble reading the screen in twilight conditions.

Another feature of the IIIx that the IIIe lacks is an upgradeable operating system. This was the deciding factor for me when I chose the IIIx over the IIIe. The current PalmOS is 3.3, but the IIIe was shipping with 3.1 when I bought the unit for a friend for Christmas. The IIIx also had 3.1, but I immediately upgraded it to 3.3. There is no way to do that on the IIIe.

You may ask, Why would I need OS 3.3 instead of 3.1? Here's one reason: HotSyncing via infrared. OS 3.1 can't do it. If you're a laptop user and don't feel like carrying your HotSync cradle everywhere, or springing the extra money for a USB cable, then IR is a great feature. It's slower than the cradle, but way more convenient.

The IIIx also has an internal expansion slot that the IIIe lacks. Supposedly, you can open up your IIIx and plug devices like pager cards, etc., into it, but I don't think many of these devices exist right now. It wasn't a deciding factor for me.

Many people (including myself) have wondered: Why get a Palm IIIx instead of a Handspring Visor Deluxe? Here's is my reason, that I don't see many people mentioning: like the IIIe, the OS in the current Handsprings CANNOT be upgraded. That means if it ships with OS3.1, you are stuck with it.

If upgrading your OS is important to you, you should not get a current model of the Visor. (Perhaps in the future, their models will be upgradeable.)

The other reason I chose the IIIx over the Handspring was that Handspring was experiencing 6 week delays. I know that another reviewer has said he got his in 2.5 weeks, but if Handspring's own website is saying "It's going to be 6 weeks," then you pretty much have to take it at face value. I just checked their site as I write this, and it says their wait is down to four weeks. If you can wait that long and don't need an upgradeable version, then I would take a hard look at the Visor. It has a lot of attractive features. Remember that Visors ship with a USB cradle. If you don't have USB support on your computer, you'll have to purchase a serial cradle for (I think) $10.

As far as cost goes on the IIIx, shop around a little if you're cost-conscious.

To sum up, get the IIIx if:

(a) You can't afford/don't need the slimness of the V or Vx (b) Need the extra memory compared to the V or IIIe (c) Need the upgradeable OS or IR HotSync (d) Can't wait the possible 4 weeks for the Visor.

Hope this info is useful.