Archived from groups: comp.sys.palmtops (More info?)

Hi there,
my father has a two year old £75 palm m105 which he likes alot and
does everything he needs. However the one bugbear is lousy build
quality for frequent use. It's plasticy, bits fall off and its held
together with sellotape and loses everything every time he changes the
batteries (though obviously you sync it back but still).

So I was thinking for christmas I could get him a cheap second hand
equivelent but now a slightly better model. Something a bit better
built perhaps with a slightly bigger screen and same 8mb memory. No
need for colour. Being able to upgrade the data essential obviously
but presumably easy?

But it's hard to decide whats better rather than superseded by it. I'm
tempted by palm Vx but they are both described as 160 x 160 screens,
does this mean they are both much the same? And how sensible is it
buying a second hand gadget with a non replaceable lithium-ion
battery?

Any help on what might be a good idea would be apreciated. I'm aiming
for £50 sort of mark. Tempting just to get him two m105's, one to use
and one for the drawer but I hope there is something a bit tougher out
there?

Thanks a bunch

Archived from groups: comp.sys.palmtops (More info?)

On Tue 30 Nov 2004 02:56:27p, ff, wrote:

> Hi there,
> my father has a two year old £75 palm m105 which he likes alot and
> does everything he needs. However the one bugbear is lousy build
> quality for frequent use. It's plasticy, bits fall off and its held
> together with sellotape and loses everything every time he changes
> the batteries (though obviously you sync it back but still).

I just bought an m125 and, though I like the size and feel of it, the
plastic is just not as responsive as the glass ones I'm used to (maybe
I have a bad screen).

> So I was thinking for christmas I could get him a cheap second hand
> equivelent but now a slightly better model. Something a bit better
> built perhaps with a slightly bigger screen and same 8mb memory. No
> need for colour. Being able to upgrade the data essential obviously
> but presumably easy?

A IIIxe would fulfill most of these requirements. It's got a bigger,
better screen (still 160x160), is more solidly built, has an
upgradeable ROM (can be flashed to OS 4.1 -- if not already there) and
runs on 2 AAA batteries (like the m105). It has the same speed
processor as the M105 -- same amount of memory, though it is the
precursor to to M105. If your father has a keyboard or anything that
connects to the M105's I/F, the IIIxe would do the same. Accessories
are cheap on eBay and it's a solid machine -- though a bit bigger than
the m105.

> But it's hard to decide whats better rather than superseded by it.
> I'm tempted by palm Vx but they are both described as 160 x 160
> screens, does this mean they are both much the same? And how sensible
> is it buying a second hand gadget with a non replaceable lithium-ion
> battery?

A Vx has the same size screen as a IIIxe, but it's housed in a much
nicer, smaller case. Sometimes you can find m500s in your price range,
which are faster (32mhz) and have an SD slot. I see their batteries on
sale on eBay all the time -- so they must fairly easy to replace.

> Any help on what might be a good idea would be apreciated. I'm aiming
> for £50 sort of mark. Tempting just to get him two m105's, one to use
> and one for the drawer but I hope there is something a bit tougher
> out there?

As I mentioned, I like the size of the m105 (or m125, which would
definitely be an upgrade from m105 -- the same internal specs as the
m500 with SD slot -- and a bit more solid) but I haven't much liked the
screen of the m125. One review I read said the m125 was a bit more
solidly built than the m100 and m105.

> Thanks a bunch

Good luck.

--
RonB
"There's a story there...somewhere"

Archived from groups: comp.sys.palmtops (More info?)

RonB <ronbNOSPAM@bliz.org> wrote:
>I just bought an m125 and, though I like the size and feel of it, the
>plastic is just not as responsive as the glass ones I'm used to (maybe
>I have a bad screen).

There is a patch at the Palm site that fixes the m125 screen sensitivity.

Archived from groups: comp.sys.palmtops (More info?)

On Wed 01 Dec 2004 08:56:05a, AaronJ, wrote:

> RonB <ronbNOSPAM@bliz.org> wrote:
>>I just bought an m125 and, though I like the size and feel of it, the
>>plastic is just not as responsive as the glass ones I'm used to
>>(maybe I have a bad screen).
>
> There is a patch at the Palm site that fixes the m125 screen
> sensitivity.

Thank you. I downloaded the patch/program and installed it. It didn't
help. Then I did a hard reset -- screen still not good. Synced the
Palm, which loaded the update patch/program and -- voila' -- she works!
I don't have a clue what the program does but I'm sure glad it does it.

Again, thanks.

--
RonB
"There's a story there...somewhere"