Palm Zire 31

I have a palm. It was a gift. It is a pretty spiffy looking gadget. The only thing is that the screen resolution isn't too hot. It is advertised as "thousands of colours" in its specs because the company's reasoning is that anyone in the target group for the Zire 31 wouldn't care about the exact numbers, but it is plain that the number of colours is in the "low thousands of colours".

But otherwise, I've been having fun learning how to use it. The most useful thing for me right now is that it hotsyncs perfectly with my Microsoft Outlook Calendar where I keep all my work appointments and meetings. It hotsyncs with tasks, notes, and the contact list as well.

The bible reader with daily readings is neat too (download royalty free versions from www.olivetree.com). There is a built-in search engine that is useful if you can't remember a reference to a verse. You can write notes linked to specific verses and retrieve them later; you can bookmark verses for easy reference; you can even download John Wesley's entire Journal if you wanted to.

The best game is potello, a palm version of otello. I think I downloaded this one from tucows.com. You can play with the computer or play with a friend. Hours of entertainment! tucows.com has an array of programmes you can download at your peril.

The downside of the Zire 31

• No documents to go included in set-up. Documents to go allows you to read and edit Microsoft office documents (word, excel, powerpoint) on the go.
• Non-intuitive placement of databases. I downloaded three versions of the bible. One ended up in my expansion card (path: palm/launcher) and the other one in the handheld. I can get the one in the SD card out by copying it into my computer, but the one in my handheld is visible in the info section, but un-beamable. Maybe I haven't got the hang of the palm's insides.
• Low screen resolution
• Non-user-replaceable battery.
  

The pluses of the Zire 31

• Expansion slot for SD card included.
• Hotsync capability to Microsoft outlook
• Lots of fun programmes in basic setup: expenses, notepad, real player.
  
• Cheapest usable low-end palm in the market, with colour.

Someone has offered $200 to buy this palm (original price $288) and I don't know if I should sell it. I never needed a palm to begin with, yet I've grown a somewhat attached to this toy, so I don't know. We'll see.