Zire 72 and Zire 31 - Aug/Sep '04

Zire 72 and Zire 31

Not too long ago, Palm introduced a fully functional Personal Digital Assistant called the Zire for only $99. Sales were stellar and the now rebranded palmOne company has capitalized on the success with two slightly more expensive models — the Zire 72 and Zire 31.

Both new models have color screens, play digital music and are based on the newest Palm operating system (5.2.8). The Zire 72 is a fancier model, incorporating a camera, built-in Bluetooth, more memory and a faster processor. The Zire 31 doesn’t have a camera or Bluetooth connectivity, but is a spectacular value for an entry-level PDA.

The Zire 72 is geared toward the professional crowd and sports an attractive blue color that feels slightly rubbery to help avoid slippage issues. It boasts a speedy 312MHz Intel processor with 32MB RAM (24MB of which is available to the user).

On the back of the Zire 72 there is a metal grill that houses the camera lens, speaker and microphone. The top of the unit offers a slot for a Secure Digital card. The power button is located on top which isn’t the most convenient place in my opinion. It also uses the newer Graffiti 2 system located at the bottom of the screen.

The Zire 72’s screen quality was impressive. The colors were vivid and the resolution was crisp. Amazingly enough, the 1.2 megapixel camera also records short bursts of video.

The Zire 72 includes RealPlayer to play digital music files, such as MP3s. With the newer processor, you can leave the music playing while you jump into another application on the unit.

If you plan to take pictures and listen to music on the Zire 72 (thereby eliminating the need to lug around a separate digital music player and camera), then put down some extra cash for a sizable SD memory card.

Palm has renamed the applications “DateBook,” “Address” and “To Do List” to “Calendar,” “Contacts” and “Tasks” to better integrate with Microsoft Outlook. The Calendar function unveils a new “Agenda View” listing your upcoming appointments, tasks due and new e-mail on one screen with a customizable background. You now have the freedom to span your appointments across midnight, and with its infrared port, you can send information from one Palm PDA to another by “beaming” multiple appointments or categories instead of just one at a time.

The Zire 72 also offers a voice recorder. You can have a message play back at a certain time to remind you of something instead of using a beeping alarm.

PalmOne bundled Documents To Go 6.0 Standard Edition from DataViz with the Zire 72. This means you can view, edit and create Microsoft Word and Excel documents on the PDA. Documents To Go costs $30 if you buy it on its own.

Another amazing functionality that comes standard on the Zire 72 is Bluetooth. If you have a Bluetooth-enabled phone, the Zire 72 can wirelessly connect to it and use it as an external wireless modem. Also, you can send print jobs to Bluetooth-enabled printers. The only head-scratcher? The Zire 72 doesn’t have a universal connector.

For about $150 less than the Zire 72, you can elect to go with the Zire 31. You still will get a color screen but you could be disappointed with the 160-by-160 resolution. Nonetheless, the Zire 31 is a good value for its price. You get a 200MHz processor and 16MB RAM (14MB of which is available for your use). The Zire 31 also incorporates an SD slot for extra memory space.

The Zire 31 is sky blue on its face and gloss white on the back. The power button and five-way navigational pad are on the front of the unit with the Graffiti 2 area located right above them.

The Zire 31 doesn’t feature a built-in camera. It does offer the same RealPlayer software so you can listen to your tunes while you update your calendar. You must purchase an SD memory card to hold all of your digital multimedia files. The “Calendar” and “Contacts” applications are all up to par with the Zire 72 and you can HotSync all that information back to your computer via the included universal serial bus cable.

The Zire 31 is a great entry-level PDA, but if you are looking for more features, step up to the Zire 72.

palmOne Inc.
(800) 881-7256

www.palmone.com

Price: Zire 72 is $299. Zire 31 is $149.

Windows 98/ME/2000/XP and
Macintosh OS 9/10

Reviewed by Brett Burney, a legal practice support coordinator for Thompson Hine in Cleveland, Ohio. He also authors a monthly legal technology column for www.llrx.com. His e-mail is brett.burney@
thompsonhine.com.

Aug/Sep '04 Issue

PROS
The Zire 72 has an integrated 1.2 megapixel camera, a 320-by-320 transflective thin film transistor color display with brightness controls, an integrated voice recorder and Bluetooth support. The Zire 31 has a RealOne Mobile Player for digital music files.

CONS
The Zire 72 handheld has no support for universal connectors and no built-in Wi-Fi. The Zire 31 uses older technology for the color screen, and there is no camera.

VERDICT
The speedy and functional Zires are recommended as excellent “starter” PDAs.