GearHeadsUp: Palm Pilot M100
Email from Lifeminders. Link has pictures of the model.
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GearHeadsUp: Palm Pilot M100
Think Handspring is the only company that can make cheap, colorful PDAs?
July 25, 2000
Product: Palm Pilot M100
Classification: PDA
Price: $150.00
Comments: Current PDA styling a little too dull for you? Still trying to avoid Microsoft Operating Systems? Budget keeping you from the excellent Palm Pilot Vx? Well, you will be happy to learn that the PDA giant will be releasing a new entry-level PDA this year: the Palm Pilot M100.
Palm has been on top of the PDA field since they joined the game. The popularity of their entire line is unbelievable. Among the III, V, and VII series there is really something for everyone. And then about one year ago some of the original Palm folks split and founded their own company: Handspring. Handspring's Visor had the buzz of a triple Espresso before the thing was even close to market. When the Visor launched it took months to get one because of the enormous demand for the thing. It was cheap, colorful, and used the formidable Palm OS. I suppose you could say that the Visor changed the way we think of PDAs. And the M100 is certainly a reaction to the Visor.
At $150.00, the M100 will replace the IIIe as Palm's basic unit. But, unlike the clunky III models, the M100 is about the size of the svelte V series. The case is made of plastic - the V and Vx boast aluminum casings - and the screen is a shade smaller than the V's.
In order to keep down accessory pricing, the M100 does not have a sync cradle. Instead, the cable that links the PDA to your computer connects directly to a port on the M100.
The M100 will have the dubious distinction of being the Palm unit with the least memory: 4MB. This sort of does and doesn't matter. For most users 4MB of RAM is plenty. Hell, it's overkill. However, when the competition is cramming up to 32MB into their PDAs... Only the most powerful of power users really need more than 4MB. And the M100 is plainly not aimed at power users.
Lastly, the M100 is available in five colors: silver, gold, black, royal and light blue.
I will post a review as soon as the thing is out. Bet on it.
-M Wiley |
