Well, since I have been running around the internet bitching about my Palm m515 being broken, I thought I'd give some good Palm reports for a change.
I dropped my Palm m515 on the way to the library on Labor Day. Pissed as I was, I persevered. Eventually the screen got so bad I needed to upgrade or replace. New Palm screens were $70, but I thought now would be a good time to upgrade.
I knew right off the bat I was going to get the Zire 72. I've played with various floor models and loved this one. It has voice recording and a 1.2MP camera built in. I was a little upset that video recording and mp3 playback required a SDD card - but since I wasn't likely to use those features much it didn't seem to sway my decision (plus I can always yoink my mom's card).
I went online to the Palmone.com store to have a look. Instantly I was attracted to the "Free hard case with the purchase of a Zire 72" - which I believe is in effect till the 19th. Considering I dropped my last Palm this was very appealing. Ordering was smooth, though my bank didn't have my cell on file so I had to work it out with Palm but it was mostly my error and not Palm's. I chose Overnight shipping.
When i got my Zire I was ecstatic. I ran up to my room and ripped it out of the packaging. Which bytheway is the worst packaging ever. Anyways, naturally I neglected the "charge for 3 hours" required from step one and began my syncing. Well, I did have to wait 10 or 20 minutes for the unit to get enough power to turn on it's blue tooth - but after that it worked fine. I had to uninstall my old palm software, since the Zire's software is i guess unique. So I went it did that. No problems. I then setup the conduits and whatnot (I had to tell the Media and Voice memos conduits to sync because I had them off). Then I turned on the "bluetooth-serial" port in the conduit manager so I could bluetooth sync. So upgrading was pretty easy (if anyone caught my thread about it). I just synced and it asked me which user and it just synced. Though I forgot a step, you have to delete your backup folder in your ~/Documents/Palm/user folder. If you don't, you'll get a lot of apps that you thought you deleted along time ago. Anyhoo, I canceled the sync, deleted the folder and synced again. It was nice. I use the iSync Conduit, and well I wished that worked better. My AIM nicks didn't sync and neither did the pictures. I wished they would though. The calendar syncs perfectly though. Well - I installed all my old apps and beamed my old prefs using an app called "Filez" that lets you see hidden files.
After setting the thing up I was satisfied with the product. The reported battery is a bit of a disappointment. Only 3.5 hours. I mean it's ok and the like, but it seems I got more with my m515. I guess that most that comes from me using the built-in 1.2MP camera. Like I could use my m515 all day and the battery meter not budge. However around 8 pm or so the battery starts dropping. I guess that's normal. They say it can go a week without charging if you use it only 30 minutes a day. It does have good recharge time. 30minutes and it'll fully recharge. I also like the lack of a universal adapter. Because now when I travel I don't have to worry about a bulky cradle. Also my m515 screen protectors fit adequately. not perfectly, but well enough.
The free hard case is nice too. It has a slidable slot for the camera on the back. It opens well and provides good protection. It's metal on the front and some kind of rubber coated metal on the back (for grip-ability). I love it.
I can't comment on the video/mp3 playback because I don't have an SSD card - but the 1.2MP camera is awesome. Attached is an example. Of course you need ample light because no flash. There is a low light setting but that seems to increase image noise. Also, when dragging the images to iPhoto it seems to have the wrong date. Like 1969. I wish I could get that fixed.
Anyhoo, if there's something I forgot to add please add it - or if you want to know something ask me. This is a really awesome machine and works really well with OSX. Any syncing issues seems to be Apple's fault since they make the iSync Conduit - the address book picture issue and IM entry not syncing.
Sample Photo
Product Picture (has a screen protector on it btw)
I dropped my Palm m515 on the way to the library on Labor Day. Pissed as I was, I persevered. Eventually the screen got so bad I needed to upgrade or replace. New Palm screens were $70, but I thought now would be a good time to upgrade.
I knew right off the bat I was going to get the Zire 72. I've played with various floor models and loved this one. It has voice recording and a 1.2MP camera built in. I was a little upset that video recording and mp3 playback required a SDD card - but since I wasn't likely to use those features much it didn't seem to sway my decision (plus I can always yoink my mom's card).
I went online to the Palmone.com store to have a look. Instantly I was attracted to the "Free hard case with the purchase of a Zire 72" - which I believe is in effect till the 19th. Considering I dropped my last Palm this was very appealing. Ordering was smooth, though my bank didn't have my cell on file so I had to work it out with Palm but it was mostly my error and not Palm's. I chose Overnight shipping.
When i got my Zire I was ecstatic. I ran up to my room and ripped it out of the packaging. Which bytheway is the worst packaging ever. Anyways, naturally I neglected the "charge for 3 hours" required from step one and began my syncing. Well, I did have to wait 10 or 20 minutes for the unit to get enough power to turn on it's blue tooth - but after that it worked fine. I had to uninstall my old palm software, since the Zire's software is i guess unique. So I went it did that. No problems. I then setup the conduits and whatnot (I had to tell the Media and Voice memos conduits to sync because I had them off). Then I turned on the "bluetooth-serial" port in the conduit manager so I could bluetooth sync. So upgrading was pretty easy (if anyone caught my thread about it). I just synced and it asked me which user and it just synced. Though I forgot a step, you have to delete your backup folder in your ~/Documents/Palm/user folder. If you don't, you'll get a lot of apps that you thought you deleted along time ago. Anyhoo, I canceled the sync, deleted the folder and synced again. It was nice. I use the iSync Conduit, and well I wished that worked better. My AIM nicks didn't sync and neither did the pictures. I wished they would though. The calendar syncs perfectly though. Well - I installed all my old apps and beamed my old prefs using an app called "Filez" that lets you see hidden files.
After setting the thing up I was satisfied with the product. The reported battery is a bit of a disappointment. Only 3.5 hours. I mean it's ok and the like, but it seems I got more with my m515. I guess that most that comes from me using the built-in 1.2MP camera. Like I could use my m515 all day and the battery meter not budge. However around 8 pm or so the battery starts dropping. I guess that's normal. They say it can go a week without charging if you use it only 30 minutes a day. It does have good recharge time. 30minutes and it'll fully recharge. I also like the lack of a universal adapter. Because now when I travel I don't have to worry about a bulky cradle. Also my m515 screen protectors fit adequately. not perfectly, but well enough.
The free hard case is nice too. It has a slidable slot for the camera on the back. It opens well and provides good protection. It's metal on the front and some kind of rubber coated metal on the back (for grip-ability). I love it.
I can't comment on the video/mp3 playback because I don't have an SSD card - but the 1.2MP camera is awesome. Attached is an example. Of course you need ample light because no flash. There is a low light setting but that seems to increase image noise. Also, when dragging the images to iPhoto it seems to have the wrong date. Like 1969. I wish I could get that fixed.
Anyhoo, if there's something I forgot to add please add it - or if you want to know something ask me. This is a really awesome machine and works really well with OSX. Any syncing issues seems to be Apple's fault since they make the iSync Conduit - the address book picture issue and IM entry not syncing.
Sample Photo
Product Picture (has a screen protector on it btw)
