The Palm m505

Technical Summary

Processor: 33 MHz Dragonball VZ

Memory: 16 Mb

Screen: 8-bit colour, backlit, 160 x 160 resolution,

Operating System: PalmOS 4·1

Power: Internal Lithium Ion Polymer, 650 mAh

Form Factor

The Palm m515 has the new style PalmOS case and button arrangement, coming in a lightweight, sleek and stylish metal case, which looks very similar to the Palm m500 and Palm Vx. There are differences between the m515 and m500, which are covered here in greater detail, but for most people, they look the same. The power button sits at the top right of the device and the four application buttons sit at the bottom, under the screen. By default they launch the Datebook, Address, Tasks and Notepad applications.

The m515 is one of the smallest and lightest PalmOS devices ever available, and even though it is marginally larger and heavier than the m500, most people won’t notice the difference.

Screen

When Palm released the m505, the screen was almost universally disliked even after discounting the resolution of the screen. The reason is because of the backlight - it is rather dim, especially when compared side by side with the m515. Although the m505’s silkscreen is illuminated (something dropped from all subsequent PalmOS devices), people figured that the backlight was a serious disappointment.

I argue against this. Yes, the backlight is dim, but the m515’s backlight is too bright in dim conditions, and the m505’s backlight is perfectly acceptable.

Sound and Notifications

Palm introduced the vibration alert into it’s handhelds with the m5xx range, which is certainly a useful facility. The vibration is reasonably subtle and you only feel it if the device is next to you (such as in a shirt pocket or in your hand).

The speaker is of the typical Palm variety, although it is one of the louder models – it’s certainly louder than the IIIxe and the Visor Professional.

Storage

The m505 has the standard PalmOS 3·x of 8 Mb of memory - disappointingly, Palm did not give the m500 the full 16 Mb of memory that the m515 benefits from.

Battery Performance

To be advised.

Expansion

The m505 has a SD I/O slot, allowing the device access to memory and Bluetooth cards.

Summary

The m505’s only significant weakness, in my opinion, is that it only has 8 Mb of memory rather than 16 Mb. The backlight issue is a non-starter for me, especially given how I use my personal digital assistants. I love the form factor originally started by the Palm V and continued in the Vx, and of course the m500 and m515. It is a superb “Classic” PalmOS personal digital assistant.