PalmOne Zire 72 Handheld
by Palm
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Our Price: $298.99 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $49.49 (click here) Category: CE See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of PalmOne Zire 72 Handheld
Customer Review: Very good but approaching of life cycle.
Summary: 4 Stars
Zire 72 is an excellent device with minor problems. For the price its a bargain and will ensure Palm's market share stays high.
Pro's,
1. Its a Palm, with a stable version of Palm OS.
2. Looks good and feels solid in hand.
3. Superb screen and extremely clear.
4. mp3 playback is very good.
5. Uses standard mini USB jack, not propreitary Palm connector.
6. Fast performance. Don't compare raw MHz between PDA's, this one's faster than 400MHz PPC's.
7. Available memory is a lot for a Palm.
8. Good software bundle and stable OS.
9. Speaker is - suprisingly - good at playing mp3's (64kpbs sounds great).
10. Camera is better than cell phone ones.
11. Stylus is very ergonomic.
Con's,
1. Down button is hard to press, ironically that's the most used button on Zire 72. The 5 way navigator is poorly designed and cheap plastic.
2. Case is slippery. The rubbery blue layer WILL come off with regular use, see any display to local store to see what I mean.
3. Battery life is just like Pocket PC's, needs charging frequently.
4. Included charger is not a world charger and is bulky.
5. No bluetooth or Wifi but atleast it has SDIO slot.
6. Weak alarm sounds (think this can be fixed?) and no vibrate only mode.
7. Packaging in plastic box is tough to open and not eco-friendly.
8. Battery is not user replaceable. (dead Palm after 2 years?)
Overall Zire 72 is an ok device but was released a year ago and is approaching its end of life cycle. Buy only if needed now or wait for newer models from Palmone.
Customer Review: Good device, good value... but
Summary: 4 Stars
I am a LONG time PDA user and have owned several models- spent WAY too much money in this area, but that is a different story!The Zire 72 is a decent device for the average user. 'Power users' or business users may want the increased memory and slightly more stable operating system of the PalmOne Tungsten T3, and WiFi users may want to consider the Sony TH55 or something, but the average user will love the Z72.
Still camera, movie camera, MP3 player, voice memos, AND the entire suite of Palm OS features in one package for under $300? Wow! Bonus- GREAT controls! Much better than the Zire 71 joystick!
OK, the thing is a little buggy. SOME programs (both new and old) don't run well on it. There is a bug or glitch if you use the 'quick unlock' AND 'lock at a pre-set time' features together. There are not a lot of accessories out yet (and with the proliferation of new devices, this is becoming a real problem for manufacturers!), and the non-standard connectors mean all of your old Palm Universal Connector stuff will not work (but this is only a problem if you have any of it!)
I would rate this a 5 IF it was more stable/less bugs, had a better battery life, and was not quite so... 'toylike' in the color and design. A perfect 5 would also have included a larger software package and a better case (the nylon/Velcro pouch is nice and well made, but to dig a PDA out of a pocket or bag, then dig it out of a pouch is a violation of the 'Zen' of Palms!)
Customer Review: great medium-level palm
Summary: 4 Stars
got the zire 72 ~2 years ago, replaced with t/x 12/05 (see my review on it). thought i should still write a review because i thought it was a great palm overall.
pros: very quick, quicker than the t/x and locks up less; also very important for music lovers: you can lay the palm flat and actually hear the music fairly well with its speaker (volume overall much louder with 72 than t/x; and when flat, can barely hear stuff on t/x). similarly, if you connect it via the headphone jack to your car stereo, it produces a much louder sound (important to minimize static noise if using a cassette adapter); has a voice recorder!; has a decent camera as a backup in case you need a pic and no real camera around
cons: comes with only 32 mb internal memory but can use an external card; blue "paint" will flake off...i just peeled all mine off so it had a nice silver look but then they came out with the zire 72s which is basically the same thing!; some of them will start making the high-pitched buzzing noise when on...mine started doing that after i had it for a year or so; screen size is the usual size, not bigger like the t/x
all in all i think a great palm, definitely get it and not the t/x if you plan on using it more for music than other productivity stuff!
Customer Review: Great, price, great machine--charger needs some work.
Summary: 4 Stars
Just bought a Zire, upgrading from a Handspring PDA. I did a LOT of research and price comparison (Amazon's definitely the lowest I found by far)and ,despite some negative reviews,decided to go with the Zire because I wanted the bluetooth w/o paying an arm and a leg for a Treo or similar. The screen resolution is fabulous and with the soft leather case (extra) i don't worry about the peeling pain everyone complains of. Have had some trouble syncing w/ my ibook using the Bluetooth, but I've never used Bluetooth before, so this could be my own ineptitude, as it hotSyncs fine.
My chief gripe is the charger. It died the third time I used it. I bought the PDA just before returning to Egypt, so it's not going to be easy getting a Palm replacement; I'll just have to hit Radio Shack and see if I can get a universal charger. But I have a friend here who had the same problem, and I read a couple reviews of people who had similar difficulties, so obviously this is not just a one-off issue.
Customer Review: Zire 72 - Great little workhorse
Summary: 4 Stars
Not having had a lot of experience with handheld devices I was excited when my school provided a Zire72 for me to use. My previous generation handheld was so old as to be uncomparable to the capabilities of the Zire. I love it for its design and usefulness and I have no complaints with its functionality at all. My biggest complaint is that dang blue coating. I loved the color but 2 weeks into use it started to scratch and 1 month later I just decided to peel it off altogether. It looked awful and unprofessional when used during meetings, not to mention I had a difficult time leaving it alone when I needed to be paying attention! (Never hand something that peels to a person w/ OCD! :) What was the point in making something w/ a coating so fragile it couldn't take the occasional impact of my ring or a coin in my handbag without causing a new scratch? If there is a silicon sleeve for this palm I'd love to get one otherwise I will continue to use my very efficient,even if now naked, Zire72.