Palm m100

Despite continuing efforts from Microsoft and Psion, there has been little to challenge the supremacy of 3Com's Palm range of PDAs (personal digital assistants) in recent times.

At least, that was the case until Handspring came along. This little-known US manufacturer, sensing that PDAs were becoming more mainstream, licensed the Palm platform and went about designing a cheap and expandable alternative. Not surprisingly, it grabbed a wedge of the market. The Palm m100 is 3Com's attempt to grab it back.

The m100 has been suitably attired to appeal to teens and young adults, with click-on faceplates in the manner of Nokia mobiles. It comes with a black faceplate, but there are five other colours available with fluffy, furry and shiny alternatives to follow.

Physically, this gives the m100 a more plasticky feel than the super cool Vx, but it is still distinctly Palm-like. The backlit LCD screen is typically bright, and runs off two AAA batteries. Protecting this is a flip-top plastic cover, with a small clear plastic porthole in the middle through which the new Clock application can be viewed.

There's a new Post-It-style jotter application, but little else has changed in the operating system, except for the lack of email and internet applications. Instead, Palm has pandered to the youth market with an short message service application that can be synchronised with mobile phones.

Some might be disappointed that Palm has not followed Handspring's bold step of including an expansion slot, although there are still various pieces of hardware that can clip onto the Palm devices, such as Kodak's PalmPix digital still camera.

Also new is the HotSync serial cable with a built-in sync button. This means no cradle, but the one-click synchronising that Palm prides itself on is still very much in evidence.

See also:

Psion Revo Plus

More memory and new software for the well known handheld computer.  01 Mar 2002

Handspring Visor Deluxe

From the original makers of the Palm, the Handspring uses the excellent Palm OS, but also has a new slot for adding all kinds of other devices designed to transform your PDA.  18 Dec 2001

Palm launches low-cost colourful device

Palm has unveiled a low-cost version of its handheld device, with interchangeable colour faceplates, similar to those available for some mobile phones.  07 Aug 2000

Handspring adds voice to devices

Handspring will add voice capabilities to its Palm-based handheld devices by the end of the year, and also plans to introduce models with colour screens.  28 Jun 2000

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