PalmOne Zire 72 Handheld

The Palm Zire 72 has come a long way since the Palm's early days. I love the speakers (yes, it's tinny, but no speaker is good at that size!), the camera (it's more relevant to have a wee camera in a palm than on mobile phones), the colour, the video recording capability, MP3 playback, plus the usual Palm functionality. Palm's always been great in terms of speed due to the Palm OS itself.One gripe I have is that the rubbery blue bits on the sides of the Zire 72 are already coming off only after about 2 months' usage! And I even use a PDA case to protect it! That sucks because now my Palm looks old and haggard due to the blue bits peeling off. It's a real pity PalmOne didn't think a little bit more about the design of this!

Yeah, I'm "old school" so I was happy working w paper calendars / planners till I hit my 7th Tri(mester) at Palmer (College of Chiropractic). Juggling 3 academic calendars was precarious enough; the prospect of throwing patient appts. into the mix convinced me I should check out PDAs, and peers recommended the Zire 72. My only gripe is that the case that comes with the zire 72 has no belt clip -- and I do NOT feel comfortable leaving my $200+ purchase "lying around." I think PALM should have put a belt clip on the case for the purchase price, and spare buyers the additional purchase of a belt-clip-case. Aside from this, I've been quite happy with it thus far, (had mine about a week now) am still working on my familiarity with some of the software, but this is NOT difficult, and the camera really IS kinda nifty. If you haven't used PDAs in the past (you "ol' dawg") this model should be a welcome intro to them.

Zire 72 is an excellent device with minor problems. For the price its a bargain and will ensure Palm's market share stays high.Pro's,1. Its a Palm, with a stable version of Palm OS.2. Looks good and feels solid in hand.3. Superb screen and extremely clear.4. mp3 playback is very good.5. Uses standard mini USB jack, not propreitary Palm connector.6. Fast performance. Don't compare raw MHz between PDA's, this one's faster than 400MHz PPC's.7. Available memory is a lot for a Palm.8. Good software bundle and stable OS.9. Speaker is - suprisingly - good at playing mp3's (64kpbs sounds great).10. Camera is better than cell phone ones.11. Stylus is very ergonomic.Con's,1. Down button is hard to press, ironically that's the most used button on Zire 72. The 5 way navigator is poorly designed and cheap plastic.2. Case is slippery. The rubbery blue layer WILL come off with regular use, see any display to local store to see what I mean.3. Battery life is just like Pocket PC's, needs charging frequently.4. Included charger is not a world charger and is bulky.5. No bluetooth or Wifi but atleast it has SDIO slot.6. Weak alarm sounds (think this can be fixed?) and no vibrate only mode.7. Packaging in plastic box is tough to open and not eco-friendly.8. Battery is not user replaceable. (dead Palm after 2 years?)Overall Zire 72 is an ok device but was released a year ago and is approaching its end of life cycle. Buy only if needed now or wait for newer models from Palmone.

If I could give no stars, I would. I twice purchased this item and twice returned it. I followed the instructions to charge them, however when I tried to use them, neither time did they work, whether on charged internal battery or direct current. Twice I had to make the trip to the UPS store to return them. Interestingly, the returns were necessary because Amazon wouldn't allow an exchange since Amazon served only as an intermediary for a purchase from an outside vendor. I was very disappointed and dismayed by the entire process. I am still without this product, one I need to replace the identical product I've had for many years. But thank you for asking.

Note that at this time, at the beginning of January, Audible does not appear to be answering its phones. Individuals interested in taking advantage of the Audible promotion may wish to confirm that Audible is providing customer service, is answering its phones, and gives customers the ability to do things like cancel the service pursuant to the terms of service.Oh, and the Zire 72 which I got through this promotion, had a battery problem so I had to return it and had to cancel the Audible subscription - but have not been able to get Audible on the phone.

My Zire 71 was acting up and I thought it was on its last legs, so I looked for a replacement that wasn't too expensive. I am a physician and what I need a pda for is to keep track of short memos that I have prepared for myself to summarize certain medical problems that I encounter infrequently, so that I don't have refer to books when I am busy. Also I keep an couple of medical references on the pda to look up things on the fly. An ipod touch is a nice toy but not really as helpful as a pda and way too expensive. The zire 72 filled the bill nicely. Installation of the software on my Windows Vista computer was a little tricky, but with the excellent advice of the seller of the Zire 72, only took 1 afternoon after I got a bluetooth adapter. So far I am happy with the purchase and pleased with the price.

The product I ordered was in excellent condition. Installing it was a little bit complicated because my new computer required additional software. The tech help was unbelievable. They were prompt to respond. They were very informative and helpful. They had to spend a lot of time with me to make sure everything was perfect. The problem was on my side, not theirs. I would definitely order from them again. A very satisfied customer.