Old Friend

I've owned a lot of PDAs over the years, from my first Everex Freestyle WInCE unit (hated it) in 1998 or so, to the iPaq 2215 I recently bought, and then returned, I've simply lost count.

From getting rid of that first Everex until last June when I bought the HP iPaq 1910, I've used only Palm handhelds. My first Palm was a III, quickly upgraded to a IIIx, then a IIIxe for my wife, a IIIc that I won at a school contest, and finally a Vx and an m515, which again, went to my wife. The IIIxe is still in regular use by my daughter as well.

I was semi-happy in PocketPC land, trading ease of use for color and the ability to display photos. I thought it was a good trade until my iPaq 1945 broke (my own clumsy fault) and the 2215 I replaced it with was simply too bulky. I returned the 2215 and took out my old IIIx in its black leather coach zipper case, did a hotsync, and suddenly it was 1999 all over again.

Actually, after using the IIIx again for the last week, I really don't miss any of the newer PDAs I've had and am seriously considering saving my money and just using this for the foreseeable future.

What I still like about the IIIx in late 2003:

The monochrome screen is terrific outdoors, better than even the latest transreflective color TFTs when it comes to just reading text and viewing icons.

The form factor remains just right for comfortable use. It is much thinner than the iPaq 2215, and with the very luxurious Coach case is still smaller than the 2215 in the dinky nylon thing that it comes with.

My old PalmModem still just plugs into the bottom and gives me internet access wherever I want, without paying wireless plan fees.

It is worth something like $20 on eBay, so I'm not all that worried about damaging it.

The games are terrific, AND FREE! I have quite a numberof games on my IIIx and now that I'm using Palm again, I've rediscovered many favorites.

It takes regular AAA batteries. I used to use rechargeable NiMH cells, but plain old alkalines last forever (2 weeks of heavy use) and don't cost very much.

What I don't like:

It looks kinda cheesy today with its gray, plasticy case.

No color and no slot for memory cards (not that it needs any more memory).

A little slow and requires third party programs for synchronizing with Word and Excel.

The plusses definitely outweight the minuses, and with the addition of Documents to Go (came with my wife's m515), I can synchronize with MS Office. I also use the freeware Eudora email client (I don't bother with the Eudora web browser on a screen this size), which synchronizes perfectly with Outlook on my PC.

While I can't find the cradle, I really don't need it, as the computer I sync to is a laptop and IR hotsync works great. I also got the very latest Palm Desktop software from the web, and only installed the hotsync manager component, as I sync my contacts, calendar and other PIM data with MS Outlook.

Even without considering current price, the Palm IIIx (or similar III or IIIxe) still makes a terrific PDA. Unless you need wireless internet and multimedia (that's what my laptop is for), this unit still can do almost everything the new ones can, often in a simpler, more user-friendly manner.

Come to think of it, I think I'll be carrying this old Palm around for quite some time.