Replaced by the 72 for a reason
Written: Jun 09 '04 (Updated Dec 10 '04)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Relatively Inexpensive, High-Resolution (320x320), Mp3 Playback, 144 Mhz, Camera, Os 5
Cons: Durability, Battery Life, Camera Quality, No Zoom, No way to turn off backlight, No Rom
The Bottom Line: After only a year, it fell apart on me. I wouldn't recommend this palm unless you're looking to purchase a new one in a few months.
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| gpolice's Full Review: Palm Zire™ 71 Handheld |
Update 12/10/04 - My Zire 71, after less than a year of use, is falling apart. The IR is completely broken, my headphone jack broke after only moderate use and the joystick is completely broken too. The Joystick is so loose and irritated, that I had to download a program to disable it because even when I didn't touch it, it constantly registered that I was pressing up. With IR and the headphone jack broken, and my joystick navigator unusable after a year, the design of this palm was replaced by the 72 design for a reason. I never dropped it or abused it, this is completely from average use. I suggest you get a Zire 72 or a Dell Axim 30x instead. This product simply won't last. If you are interested in my review before the palm started to fall apart here it is:
I've owned my Zire 71 for a few months now, and I've been very satisfied with it's performance and value. I originally bought is as a replacement for my m515.
Overview
Os: Palm OS 5.2.1
Memory: 16mb
Flash Rom: No
Speed: 144 Mhz
Expandable Memory: Yes, SD/MMC slot
Screen Res: 320x320 Hi-Res
Connectivity: Palm Universal Connecter
Camera: 0.3 MegaPixels, 640x480 resolution
Audio Output: Internal Speaker or Headphone Jack
Battery Life: 6-8 hours depending on use
Case: Annoying Slide-In one
The Zire 71 has recently been replaced by the Zire 72 (I chose not to upgrade), but it still stands as a great palm. You can get a refurb one for around $150. Considering the small upgrades from the Zire 71 to the Zire 72 ($299), I think that the Zire 71 serves a better value for $149 less.
The Zire 71 isn't a business palm, it's meant for fun. It plays mp3s, has an internal speaker, plays video, takes pictures, has high-resolution for games, and has OS-5.2.1 (One of the most current operating systems).
Being a multimedia palm, it obviously has an SD/MMC slot so you can put your movies or music on an sd card and play them on your palm. If you do choose to buy this palm I strongly recommend getting at least a 128mb sd card. It is a multimedia palm. You have to load it up with movies, music, and pictures!
The Zire 71 runs a Texas Instruments OMAP310 144 MHz processor which, while not the fastest, is definetly enough speed to run anything you want.
It has 16mb installed memory
The Palm Universal Connecter
Until recently, i've been a fan of the Palm Universal Connecter. Now i'm undecided. The Palm Universal Connector allows you to connect the Zire 71 to a cradle, keyboards, and various other accessories. It isnt as portable as a USB cord. I'd rather carry around a charger then a cradle.
High Resolution
All newer palms have high-resolution, but since this is probably the cheapest multimedia palm, I praise it. Most older palms under $200 come with low-resolution. High Res is clearer and the screen looks brighter and sharper with the backlight. About the backlight... you can't turn it off! You can only lower it to a point. This bring me to:
Battery Life
The Zire 71's battery is ok. For mp3 playback I get about 8 hours of it. It gets around 6 hours of normal use, less when watching video or playing music in the background. The battery is an internal lithium one.
The (Toy) Camera
The camera of the Zire 71 is a full 0.3 megapixels with a 640x480 res. This basically makes it a 'toy.' The quality of the pictures arent supurb but on the palm they look nice. You can't take videos (at least without 3rd party software) and taking a picture is rather hard. For about 2 seconds the subject of your picture has to be totally still. Otherwise, the picture will come out with less than perfect quality. There is also a completely useless freeze function. You can press an on-screen button to freeze your screen to see what the picture would look like, but afterwards you cant save it! Once you let your finger off the freeze button it reverts to normal camera mode. Overall the camera is useful for taking fun pictures, or pictures for just emailing friends. It's obviously not for professional use. The camera also drains battery like theres no tommorow.
Mp3s and Video
For Mp3s the Zire 71 comes with RealPlayer for the Palm. This is a basic audio player with very limited functions. Also the volume through the speaker and a headset is very low. You will need to buy/download 3rd party software if you want to listen to music in any noisy place. The built-in speaker has very limited power. It sounds better then old models and will play short clips, such as sound effects of programs, fine but for playing music headphones are basically required.
There is no built-in video player for the Zire 71 but you can easily find a free one on the web. The video playback is fine and clear. I've encountered no problems with it.
Video drains battery more quickly. Since the screen turns off during mp3 playback, battery actually drains slower.
Other Notes
The case that comes with the Zire 71 is fairly decent, except for the fact that theres a 50% chance that when you slide the Zire into it, you will hit the navigator stick. This means that if you weren't in a program, you might launch one. And more annoyingly, if you just started listning to music and you put it in the case, the music stops playing! There's basically an art to putting it in the case.
I noticed that the stylus falls out of the Zire less than on some of my other palms. The stylus is located on the back, instead of the side.
There isn't a calculator button on the Zire screen. Instead it's a star. You can set it to any program you want/use most often. By default, its calculator!
Compared the the 72
The Zire 72 would probably be another palm you're considering if you read this. The only thing that the Zire 71 has going for it is that it is about $150 cheaper at this time.
Compared to the Zire 71, the Zire 72 is better in the following areas:
Camera: 1.2 MegaPixel (Vs 0.3 MegaPixel)
Speed: 312 Mhz (Vs 144 Mhz)
Sd/io support
Bluetooth
Voice Recorder
32mb ram
Better battery life
$299
The Zire 71 has everything you need, the Zire 72 just enchances all the features of the Zire 71 and adds a few new unnecessary features. If you are looking for the best multimedia palm, then go with the Zire 72. If you are looking for value, go with the Zire 71.
Conclusions and Recommendation
Note: View the paragraph at the top of this page, I no longer reccommend this palm!
The palm Zire 71 is probably the best multimedia pda around $150. If you are looking at buying a palm for fun, organization, a camera or anything else besides professional business use, the Zire 71 is proabably a great choice and will fit your needs.
Recommendation: Do not purchase this palm unless you plan to get another one in less than a year!
Thanks for reading
~ GPolice
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 150
Recommended for: Gadget Lovers - Trendy and Hip
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Epinions.com ID:
gpolice
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Member: TJ Wilkin
Location: A Dark Hole Apart The Earth
Reviews written: 23
Trusted by: 2 members
About Me:
I love Handhelds, Games, Computers, D&D, Anything fun!
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