It’s hard to imagine that 10 years have passed since I reviewed the Palm V. It was the latest and greatest Palm OS device on the market and was released back in the day when Palm was the king of PDA makers. The Palm V was a real change from Palm’s previous chunky plastic PDAs. The thin metal body made it one of my all time favorite devices.
Do you remember the Palm V as fondly as I do and do any of you still use one?
Gadgeteer Comment Policy - Please read before commenting
Yes I’m sill using mine from time to time.. 🙂 (a speciall software with RS-232 interface)
I have a TRGPro, which is fairly similar to the V minus the sexy design.
I had so many Palm devices over the years, starting with the original Pilot 100, that I am not positive I had a V, although I think I did. Thanks for the flashback, Julie.
My first PDA was a Palm Vx. I loved that device, I don’t have it any longer but remember it fondly.
I had an IBM Workpad C3, which was a Palm V rebranded for IBM. Nice PDA.
One of my first PDA’s was a Palm Vx as well. I loved the thing…for the time, it was lightyears ahead of rest. Currently mine is boxed up sitting in my tech-closet. Every now & then, I check Craig’s List for a m515 to play with. Palm was definitely @ the top of their game back when the Palm V was the best PDA on the market….how times change.
I’ve upgraded a few times since then, but my current PDA is a Palm TX. It makes me sad that Palm is walking away from their legacy applications, and customers, with the new WebOS. It would not be that difficult to provide an emulator, like they did with the transition from Dragonball processors.
I have purchased a number of V’s and Vx’s in the past couple of years and use them almost on a daily basis for Geocaching. I download thousands of waypoints and other cache data onto the device which allows me to go “paperless”. And if I should lose or break the Palm out on the trail, I take some consolation in knowing that a replacement can had for ~$8 on eBay. I still love the sleek metal style of the Palm V series!
@amason61 They are only going for $8 on eBay?! Wow!
Yes, I still use a Palm TX and I have a backup for when it fails. I, too, am disappointed in the direction that Palm is taking with their PDAs. My first PDA was the Handspring Visor.
I bought my Vx (from ValueAmerica.com, RIP) after finding this exact review online 10 years ago…
I still have a -boxed- Palm Pilot Professional work gave me. I already had one at that point. That’s back before the (rumor) Pilot pen company made Palm stop with the ‘Pilot’.
I remember this review, because it’s what made me buy a Vx. I already had a Pro, as I recall, and the Vx was about $500 at the time. As I think of it, Julie’s reviews often led to me spending money.
@LeoB ummmmm, I don’t know whether to say that I’m sorry, or you’re welcome 😉
I have been using various PalmOS handhelds since 1998, but I skipped the slimness of the V due to cost: $399, wow! What one can buy now for $399.
My Palm life started with the original Pilot 1000 > Pilot 500 > PPPro > Palm 3 > Palm Vx > IPAQ 3650 (Terrible!) > Palm Tungsten C to a few others. I still have my original Palm Vx hanging, but charging on the circuit board from the original cradle. I used to have Big Clock loaded and used it as a wall clock…but I’ve not taken the time to load it back on after a power failure a while back. My unit still has a piece of tape of the left two buttons that I broke playing Asteroids. 😉
However, I do have a mint-condition IBM C3 Workpad & cradle in my desk. Why? I still refer to them as the near epitome of good design: thin & light, but really functional. Good stuff!
I had the V, before that I had a Palm with a plastic case. But my first PDA was a Sharp. It had a keyboard, but not QWERTY. Instead the keyboard was laid out a, b, c, etc. Then I bought the Sharp Zaurus. The screen was landscape format, and it had a nice generous keyboard. Still have it, but since the backup battery died, I cannot turn it on. I also had an HP IPAC (I think that was the name). I gave my Palm V and the HP to my parents. My Mom now uses the Palm V as an address book, and she is 72!
Yep, those were the days….
Pretty sad what happened to Palm in the past few years…who knows, maybe the new Pre will be a hit for them….
Ahhh the Palm V, loved that device. I actually purchased one of the modified ones which a third party company (forget who) opened them up and plopped a whopping 8Megs of memory on them. 8 megs! 🙂 And now I have 16Gigs in my iPhone …
Hi, I have a bunch of Palms with all the original packing and software. Plus keyboards, modems and the like. I got the first one bought for me as a birthday gift 11 years ago and was immediately hooked. Last PDA I bought was a Sony Clie TH55 and now I have a Treo (or two). I don’t know how Palm went so wrong and lost out. I am in the UK and just don’t see Palms around anymore – sad. I was thinking of trying to use the Sony as an MP3/MP4 player. I have used it as an MP3 player in the past, it was pretty good for audio books which is mainly what I listen to. Anyone any out there with experience of MP4 on a Palm?
my first pda was a palm v. my friend gave me one with broken buttons. fortunately, there was a rare palm repair shop here in the Philippines during that time. i also let them upgrade the memory from 2mb to 8mb. i still remember other people looking at it every time i use it. i also used it with a palm portable keyboard. from then on, i had other palms and pda’s. and i influenced some of my friends and acquaintances to have their own pda.
My first Palm was a PalmPilot Personal (yes, that far back!) in a real leather book-style cover. It eventually broke down –something in the power management– but I have never felt able to throw it out. Then I had a Palm IIIc, before moving to a Palm T5. Eventually I needed something a bit beefier and I moved to a Tablet PC after flirting with the idea of getting a refurbished Apple Newton 2100 (had to abandon that idea –limited compatibility with PCs). I never could stand Windows Mobile PDAs…
Now I am the happy owner of an iPhone. But the Palm Pre is already tempting me… must resist!
IMO Apple Newton 2100’s are still the best PDA’s ever made, but the Palm V is a very close second due to its excellent physical design, functionality and ruggedness. If I needed a no-frills functional, compact and robust PDA with good battery life then the Palm V would be a no-brainer.
Juilie:
More, “you’re welcome.” It was a great PDA and I used it a long time.
I fondly remember the V and Vx… I bought my first Palm Pilot from Office Depot and upgraded every time a new model came out… I got the V from CompUSA and kept upgrading through the Palm line all the way to the TX… In the meantime, I started with the Treo 650 a few years ago and also progressively moved through that line too.. I currently am anticipating both the Treo Pro from Sprint and the Palm Pre!
Oh, I remember that review too. 🙂
The Palm V was my first PDA. I broke the buttons playing games, replaced it with the Vx I’d bought my wife (who never really took to PDAs). These days my son has the Vx, while I’m still using a T3 (though the casing is held together with tape because 3/4 of the grub screws fell out). None of the later Palm devices appealed to me, and I’d still take a faster/higher contrast V over the T3 if that were offered.
What next though? I really do wish Palm well with the Pre – I don’t live in the cloud, so I’m not sure it is the device for me, but it seems to do a lot of things right, as far as one can tell right now. Pity they spent so long losing the plot before – certainly at the last minute, and I can only hope not too late – finally finding it again.
i had one of these at universty i used to use it to write my notes on. it was a great bit of kit. i think i still have it some were in a box. it still work as well. i think Palm shound make a new one of these
The memories! I also remember this review. Both my wife and I had one of these, she later got the special edition blue one they made. We still have them… in a box stored somewhere.