Spotlight Customer Reviews
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Palm Zire Handheld
Comment: The Palm would not hold battery power. Unable to use unless it was plugged in to an outlet. It was returned for a credit.
Customer Rating: Summary: Excellent Purchase, I got exactly what I expected
Comment: This product was exactly what the vendor said it would be. I received all the components as advertised. Excellent product and I'm very happy with it thus far.
Customer Rating: Summary: Ok for a beginner, but lacks in advanced functions
Comment: Pros-
1.) Works good for someone who only needs basic functions such as date book, expense, etc.
2.) Compatible with Mac and PC, also can connect to other Palm Pilots via infrared transfer.
Cons-
1.) Black and white screen.
2.) Only 2 MB of memory. This is ok if you only use the basic functions of the unit, but if you install other applications it tends to start bogging it down.
3.) Unreliable battery. The battery lasted quite a while when I first got the unit, but after about a year of using it, it got to where now the charge only lasts for approx. 1 hour.
Conclusion:
This PDA is ok for a beginner or someone who needs basic functions, but if you are looking for a hard working PDA, invest a little more and get a better one.
Customer Rating: Summary: most reliable and battery efficient palm I've ever used
Comment: I have had a zire (bought it open-box off of [...]) for about 2 years and it has performed admirably. While this palm has some very well-known limitations, it has (and is still doing) everything I need it to.
pros:
-amazing battery life (never drained it past 1/2 full, even after weeks of (admittedly light) usage.
-extremely durable. I work at Staples and this thing goes through thick and thin with me while I bang it around during my 8-hour day. While it has plenty of scratches, nothing's gone wrong with it and it still looks halfway decent.
-nice flip screen protector. While some people hate it, it does not compromise the zire's compact qualities and protects the screen while it's in my pocket.
-Very reliable. I will say this again. Nothing has ever broken, and I have had no defects show on this palm.
cons:
-no backlight. Not an issue for me, but may be a dealbreaker for some.
-only 2 buttons plus up/down buttons on face. It would've been nicer with more buttons, but I make do fine like this.
-Not fast by any means. I only do basic applications like scheduling and contacts, which work fine. but this thing will be extremely slow with any application that's processor dependent.
Conclusion: this is a great model for someone desiring a simple palm with great battery life that will take a beating. spending a couple bucks on a used/refurbished model is a way better deal than going with palm's least expensive current offering, the zire 21 (or even the zire 31, which has abysmal battery life).
Customer Rating: Summary: Unreliable
Comment: I need a palm to have my calander and address book on hand at all times. This model proved to be extremely inefficient. The lack of backlighting meant that often I could not see what was on the screen and it's memory would empty from one moment to the next. I would be stuck with no calander or address book. I contacted the company by email and the only advice they had was to keep the Palm seperate from my cell phone. This I did, to no avail, the Palm continues to discharge it's memory.
I have now discharged the Palm into the rubbish bin and will not purchase another!
