Palm's Latest: Some Advances, Some Frustrations

Palm's $99 Z22 offers none of the TX's wireless and multimedia capabilities. It's just a cheap Palm handheld, and in many of the wrong ways. Because it ships without a screen cover, its LCD picked up numerous fingerprints and dirt -- and a nasty scratch across its handwriting area -- in just a few weeks.

Even without that damage, entering any data on the Z22 was an ordeal. To call its input area postage-stamp sized would be unfair: A 37-cent U.S. flag stamp measured about 25 percent bigger than this dainty expanse.

Without a memory-card slot or headphone jack, the Z22 can't replace an MP3 player or hold more than a few photos -- assuming you don't mind viewing them on Z22's blurry, blotchy color screen. In practice, the Z22 is likely to be a read-only device whenever it's away from its host computer.

Both the TX and Z22 ship with software for Windows 2000 and XP and Mac OS X. (You may be able to get them to work on older PCs and Macs, but I didn't try.) Unfortunately, the default desktop counterpart for these handhelds is the antiquated Palm Desktop. Without a built-in mail program -- or even a convenient way to allow other mail programs to employ its address book -- it forces users to keep two separate contacts lists.

On a PC, you can avoid that issue by synchronizing a Palm with Microsoft Outlook. But if you're going to put up with Outlook's innate complexity, why not go whole-hog and buy a Windows Mobile device that pairs better with it?

In Mac OS X, the situation is far worse; even though Apple now bundles good address-book and calendar programs in OS X, Palm can't be bothered to write software to connect to them. (Apple, for its part, has returned to neglecting its occasionally promising iSync software, which can sync a Palm to those two applications but does so with numerous glitches.)

The TX still makes a fine upgrade from an older Palm, and the Z22 provides a far cheaper entry into handheld computing than Windows Mobile models. But the future may not leave much room for either device.

At the high end, you can get all the functions of the TX, plus a cell phone, by spending a little more on a Windows Mobile-based phone (or, if you can give up WiFi, by buying a Treo 650). At the low end, many other, more popular types of devices could take over the Z22's role.

Apple's iPods -- which outsell Palm handhelds by an enormous margin -- can store addresses, calendars, to-do lists and text notes, although the software to transfer that data from Windows PCs is often buggy. Cell phones, meanwhile, could easily do the same, except that wireless carriers keep treating computer connectivity as an extra. Outside of such pricey models as the Treo or the BlackBerry, you usually have to pay extra for the necessary software if it's offered at all.

It may require a minor revolution to get the cell phone vendors to seize this opportunity, but it should not take much more work to turn an iPod or other MP3 player into an effective, reliable way to carry around a Mac or PC's address book and calendar. Once either event comes to pass, Palm risks finding itself with even fewer potential buyers to impress.

Living with technology, or trying to? E-mail Rob Pegoraro atrob@twp.com.