PalmOne Zire 71 Handheld by Palm
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Digital camera reviews of PalmOne Zire 71 Handheld
Digital camera Review: Cool PDA!
Summary: 5 Stars
This little gadget is better than other PDAs. Because it has a built-in digital camera. You can take a picture of up to 640x480 pixels in resolution. Then I can bring this to school everyday and taking pictures of my friends. I also heard this PDA has a built-in MP3 player. Then I can have both iPod and Palm Zire 71 to listen to music, and I will donate all of my portable CD players to The Salvation Army. The price is kind of expensive. But I still can afford this little fella. I got my own job. And I got my own allowance. Then I don't have to ask my parents to buy it for me. Everytime I go to CompUSA, Circuit City, or Office Depot, I practice Graffiti on the unit. Right now I did pretty well on the letters, numbers, symbols, and the accented characters. But I still have to practice the special characters. You should buy this model other than the Tungsten Series.Digital camera Review: Coolest PDA
Summary: 5 Stars
I've recently bought the Zire 71 and I must say this is really serious PDA for the price.The most impressing feature of the Zire 71 is its crisp and bright screen, I've never seen such an oustanding display on a PDA.
Though very similar to Palm OS 4, Palm OS 5 is way quicker and more handy. In addition to all classic functions of a PDA (calendar, datebook, notebook and co on), the Zire 71 has also unexpected features...
I love the built-in camera (that is nicely hidden behind the sliding back of the Zire 71) though it may disapoint those who are looking into the Zire 71 just for its built-in camera. The quality of pictures taken with the Zire 71 is in no way comparable to pictures taken with a digital camera. However, I disagree with reviewers who critizised this feature. The Zire 71 does not claim to rival with 5 mega-pixel cameras! The Zire 71 built-in camera is perfect to take pictures of those unexpected moments you'd like to keep a souvenir, while on the go, and exchange them through email. You can even choose among several settings on your PDA to improve the quality of your pictures, which come at a really decent quality on your computer for that type of camera.
The MP3 player is very simple to use and the sound is great. Loading your PDA with music is really simple but may take time if you don't have a USB SD card reader/writer connected to your computer. Those are really cheap and can be found in all electronics stores, so you've got no reason not to get one if you plan to listen to lots of music on your PDA.
For this price, you won't probably find any other PDA packed with so many features.
The only things Palm could have improved is the back of the Zire 71 which just seems to attract all fingerprints around (though this may be considered as a minor inconvenient), a built-in micro, and the possibility to shoot small footage.
Digital camera Review: Cracked Screen Times Two
Summary: 1 Stars
When my palm was just two months old, I had my first cracked screen. How did it crack? I'm not sure. I was listening to music on a cross-country flight, with my Zire 71 resting on the seat beside me. After some time, I picked up the unit, and the screen was cracked. Palm replaced my unit (I did have to pay a bit, but not the entire cost of a new screen).Ever since the first time the screen cracked, I have babied this unit, always keeping it in the provided protective case. Yesterday I went shopping with my wife, carrying my Zire 71, in my pocket, in its protective case. A few hours later, I pulled it out to check my schedule, and behold, the screen had cracked, WHILE IT WAS IN THE PADDED PROTECTIVE CASE THAT CAME WITH THE ZIRE 71.
I'm not sure what palm intended this unit to be used for, since it is not pocket or airplane safe. If you are looking for a portable PDA that you want to leave on your desk, in it's cradle, and never take it anywhere, then this is the unit for you. It comes with a cool pop-up camera, so for taking pictures of your office this unit might come in handy, but don't even THINK about putting it in your pocket so you could take pictures somewhere else. Your screen might crack.
Move over Palm, I'm headed to Pocket PC. And goodbye to all the cash I wasted on software for this unit. :-(
Digital camera Review: DON'T DO IT! RUN!
Summary: 1 Stars
I just read a review about the lack of battery life. This is my reality as well. But mine never kept a charge beyond 2 days, and now it is dead every morning when I get to work. I was a Handspring user for years, with NO problems. None. I am sick knowing they sold out to Palm, (I hope they made tons of money and are on a beach somewhere!) as I would love to go back. And on top of this, I just read that it doesn't interface well with XP...to which my company just spent $$$ on getting us up-graded to. grrrrr, time to pitch it and move on.Digital camera Review: Decent, but disappointing - especially the camera.
Summary: 3 Stars
I got this to replace my venerable Palm Vx because Palm seemed to finally get it right: nice color screen, built-in camera, MP3 capability, and only a tiny bit thicker than the Vx - so I could still comfortably carry it in my shirt pocket. I used it for a day, carrying it around, trying basic tasks and fiddling with the cute camera. All good. Then I set it up on my desktop and began beaming over data from my Vx. I got about half my memos beamed and the beam function died. I called tech support - only finding out after 20 minutes of talking that their 8xx number is not toll free. For $41 I could get them to rush me a replacement - or I could send mine, and wait a few weeks. I paid.
The replacement unit - apparently a refurb to replace my brand new one - arrived promptly. In the interim, I played more with the camera, and looked at the pictures on my desktop.
Be warned: the pictures are lousy. Yes, they look OK on the Palm's small screen, but they're just badly-focused and overly-compressed. No, I don't expect it to match my 3.3mpx Sony, but how about coming close to my original 640x480 Mavica? Not even close. Not even good enough to email. Horrible optics, no zoom, very slow and unsteady exposure control. Could be fun at parties, except it's not good in low light and there's no flash.
I haven't tried the MP3 function yet. Apparently you need to buy a memory card first. Not included, of course. Not even the cheapest, smallest card. Nor do you get headphones. Eventually I'll spring for memory, and I hope MP3s play well. Otherwise, I'll have paid nearly $400 (unit+replacement+memory+headphones) for a prettier screen and worse battery life.