Meryl's Notes Blog

Palm has rolled out its newest handheld, the Zire. The product is targetted to the market that won’t let go of paper planners, to do lists, or sticky notes.

It’s also for those who aren’t quick to leap when new technology comes out. Instead of spending several hundreds of dollars on a fancier model, they can try out this cheaper model to see how they like it and how much they use it.

The Zire stands out from its Palm counterparts with a new style of buttons that are interwoven instead of distinctive.

It’s compatible with MAC and Windows PCs.

It differs from Palm’s other low end model, the m10x series, in that it has a rechargeable battery, no backlight, 2 MB instead of 8 MB, no expansion card slot, the latest Palm OS software, and a different shape.

The m105 is the same price as the Zire and you can view the match up. The only main difference is the Zire comes with a rechargeable battery, but the m105 comes with a backlight and more memory.

It’s a nice lookin’ handheld, but it offers even less than the cheapest model that matches in price. My guess is that Palm is phasing out the m10x series and Zire will take over.