Because of the 16MB of RAM, compared to the elderly IIIxe, the unit is very fast. This is noticable in operation as well as synching. The color display is very sharp and attractive, though a little hard to see in direct sunlight.

The appearance of the unit is trim and elegant, though it feels heavier than earlier models.. It is hard to believe that it packs the computing power that it actually does.

The biggest drawback that I have found so far is that the rechargeable battery does not last as long as AAA batteries, particularly if the screen contrast is set to "high", which makes it look really pretty. Fortunately, it takes a charge quickly as well. I am going to have to get the car recharger in order to be sure I don't run out of juice at a critical moment.

I have found the perfect PDA (Rating: 5.00)
Review : I have been through 4 PDA's in one year's time and I have finally found the PDA I am totally happy with. I've had a Palm IIIxe, Handspring Visor Neo, Sony Clie, and Palm m125. The m125 was by far the best of that list, because I found out the hard way that Sony Clie's are only compatible with PC's, and the Neo's screen didn't like to work reliably!! However, I've learned that if you want a PDA, definitely get a Palm.

The color on this PDA looks fantastic. Its extremely easy to use, extremely easy on the eyes, and can brighten up a dark space when a flashlight can't be found. Also the 16MB of internal memory is nice to have, just in case you wind up networking with the entire United States population.

A friend of mine has had great luck with Palm PDA's, because this m515 was only his 2nd after buying a Palm V four years ago! The price may be a little steep, but it's worth every penny and you'll see it once you start using it. I am a record producer/sound engineer, so I have many contacts and have always entrusted a PDA with my organizational needs. This PDA by far suits me the best and I totally recommend it to anyone in need of one.

Now you may read reviews by people who say it turns on randomly, or in any soft case it turns on easily, to that I say "get a hard case!". The hard case (the one I use is by iConcepts) looks very sleek, fits and protects the PDA nicely, and doesn't make the unit any heavier. You can't go wrong!

Great Palm until it dies an early death. (Rating: 2.00)
Review : Let me start by saying that the only reason I did not give this Palm only 1 star is because while it was working, I absolutely loved it. This was a great Palm pilot and I used it for pretty much everything. I loaded it up with third party software, filled my expansion card with e-books and played games with very few problems. I cannot highly recommend this unit and give it a 5 star rating due to the short life span compared to the price of $300 - $400 when I bought it a little over a year ago.

I started with a Palm xe, then a Palm IIIc, and ended up with a Palm m515. The Palm xe literally fell apart - the buttons snapped apart making it useless. When the Palm IIIc stopped working, I gave Palm the $125 to refurbish my unit which they did. Then about a year later it was accidentally put into the laundry while I was in the hospital after giving birth to my daughter, which is how I ended up with the m515. Now, just over a year later my Palm m515 just stopped working.

As much as I miss my Palm, I can't justify giving Palm another $125 to "refurbish" my unit or go out and purchase another brand new unit for $200 or more. I have spent SO much money on Palm PDA's and related items over the last three or four years that I feel like a junkie. I've been doing my research here at Amazon trying to find out if Sony is any better and it seems they are pretty much the same.

The irony is that Palm is selling products that do so much, but if you use all of the functionality, you drastically limit the life of the unit. So until these guys can make a sturdier product that has a longer life, they have lost me as a customer. And COME ON, give us a replaceable freaking battery already!

Great Product (Rating: 5.00)
Review : I'm a huge fan of the m500 series. Despite the reprehensible screen of the m505 after a few weeks of use, it really isn't that bad. Many people don't realize that the m505 stayed true to the PALM philosophy of mobility and battery life. Being a former Vx user I was spoiled with low battery consumption. Crossing over to color with the Clie N760 the first thing I noticed (after the absolutely amazing screen) was that I had to re-charge a little more often then I was use to. Although it wasn't a daily activity, recharging happened more frequently then before. Similarly that was also the case for the Clie T615. It's really no big deal for me, and to many people but I can see how it can be disconcerting. Expectedly the m515 inherits the long battery life of the m505. Fortunately for PALM they finally found a winner in the m515, unfortunately, the m515 was what the m505 should have been.

The only real reason why anyone would pick the m505 over the m515 is the price. The M515 has a better, brighter screen, and twice as much memory. If you were particular about bundled software the m515 naturally has a better selection.

...

With all things considered the real rival of the m515 is the CLIE T615C. Many real fans of PDA's will tell you that there is no clear winner when comparing the m515 and the T615C. It's a virtual deadlock. To the untrained eye the T615 may be the winner with its dazzling screen but one really has to consider many things, not just the screen when it comes to PDA's. Other then the screen when you consider price, battery life, form factor, and even accessories it's really a VIRTUALLY deadlock. It really comes down to preference. Many times reviews are written with preferences in mind not an objective overview. Generalizations like, "The m515 is the BEST, or the T615 is BEST!" is simply not true. It really comes down to personal preference. Although I value battery life tremendously, I still prefer a better screen and at the end of the day at the very last possible second of the last hour, I would pick the T615 over the m515. I still think the m515 is a great product and would highly recommend it.

I guess the best way to determine what is best for you is really to read a lot of reviews. Read reviews of many different units to get a general overview of what is available. Amazon has a great selection of PALM OS units, read about all of them!! Also go to down to your electronics store and compare the units side by side to get a first hand look.

Bottom line is, there is a GREAT selection of PDA's which appeal to practically everyone. Gone are the days when PDA's were merely toys for computer super geeks (like myself). Everyone gets a PDA and that's the best part of it all.

Worked great for about a year (Rating: 3.00)
Review : I absolutely loved this handheld until it stopped syncing.

When I started having this issue I contacted Palm immediately. They said it was a problem with static electricity - or something like that - and promised to send me a card to reset the thing. Well they took months to send it and it still didn't work. Now my warranty is over and they won't honor my claim although it started during the warranty period. I am not going to pay $125.00. It just isn't worth it.

Now it is nothing more than a play toy for my children.

Good battery life and it does what it says-- no problems. (Rating: 5.00)
Review : I had a Toshiba E740 Pocket PC for six months, and finally sold it to step back "down" to a palm 515. The Toshiba promised some cool things like wireless LAN and an MP3 player, but it seemed like every 10th thing I tried to do caused some kind of annoying error, and worst of all the beautiful screen caused terrible battery life.

With the Palm 515 I haven't had any glitches in the 5 months since I got it. Everything happens quickly, and with the "graffitti" handwriting system I get a lot fewer misspellings then with the Pocket PC. I'm just finding it a lot more pleasant to have a reliable PDA than a fancier one that doesn't always do the simple things right.

Hot Sync Problems (Rating: 1.00)
Review : I really really liked my palm until one day it stopped syncing. I didn't do anything to it, it just no longer made a connection with the USB on my computer. My warranty was up so I had to pay if I wanted to talk to the Palm tech support people. I did some searching on the internet and discovered that many others had the same problem--funny Palm made no mention of that as I went through all the trouble shooting wizards on their website. Also really irritating that they do not have a way to solve the problem. Palm does have a program that will drain the battery which apparantly makes the palm sync again, but many Internet posts have said that this makes the battery fritzy thereafter. I have purchased a serial cradle which apparently is free of the syncing problem to hopefully allow me to use my palm again. No matter how good the product is, if it doesn't sync with my computer it is WORTHLESS.