4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
A Great 3Com Palm
Date of Review: Oct 2, 1999
The 3Com Palm IIIx is one of the best PDAs on the market. It has twice the memory of the Palm IIIe, more expandability options are available, and the LCD screen is improved.
Having owned one of these devices, I am very pleased with it. The device itself has offered me few problems, but the Palm OS can be a little bit troublesome at times, although not nearly as much as Windows CE.
The Palm OS is very simplistic, and the Palm IIIx organizer probably wouldn't be worth buying if it wasn't for the wide range of software available on the web. The first thing I did was to install an improved version of the Date Book, datebk3. Even so, a positive part of the Palm OS is it synchronizes with my computer very quickly and efficiently, partly due to it's simplicity. One important thing to note, though: The Palm IIIx is not compatible with Macintosh computers
The device is also very useful because of it's infrared capability. Since Palm organizers are so common, it isn't too surprising to find a client who has one so you can "beam" business cards to each other, so you don't have to enter it into your contact database later.
As for mobile data entry, this device is multi-faceted. You can enter data in with the hand-writing recognition software known as Graffiti, purchase a GoType! keyboard from LandWare that allows you to use a laptop-sized keyboard in conjunction with your Palm organizer, or you can use the on-screen virtual keyboard (my personal favorite.). One of these is sure to appeal to your wants and needs.
Enough about the OS though, let's get on to the good stuff, the hardware.
The case is made of tough plastic, and the screen can be protected with a flip cover that comes with the device, which is convenient when you are travelling but a pain when you need quick access to the device.
The screen scratches relatively easily, so I would recommend buying screen protectors such as PilotRite or WriteRight (http://www.conceptkitchen.com) screen protectors simultaneously when you buy the device.
One thing though: The Handspring Visor Deluxe (http://www.handspring.com), which is much cheaper, has twice the memory of the Palm IIIx (8mb) and expandability via the Springboard slot. (For more information, check my review for the "Handspring Visor Deluxe")
One important thing to note, though: The Palm IIIx is not compatible with Macintosh computers out-of-the-box, you need to buy a $14.95 "MacPack" kit. The Handspring Visor Deluxe is compatible out-of-the-box with Macs and Windows PC's with USB, and you can buy a serial cradle for use with older computers.
At the time of this writing, the Visor Deluxe hasn't been released yet, but if the pre-release reviews are true, your purchase of a Palm IIIx might better be held off until this new organizer comes out so you can see which one will better suit your needs.
