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| Palm’s Best |
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Portable Gear July 2006 • Vol.4 Issue 7 Page(s) 52-53 in print issue |
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Palm’s Best The Palm Z22 & Palm TX Compared |
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Jump to first occurrence of: [PALM] [Z22]  When Palm’s Pilot came out in 1996, it became an instant status symbol. Today, you don’t need to be a professional to justify owning a PDA. Palm offers a range of models for users with different budgets. We’ll look at Palm’s entry-level unit and one of its high-end models to show you what each has to offer. Palm Z22 Palm’s Z22 focuses on personal organization. It doesn’t play music or video clips, but it can display digital images and organize your personal information and costs less than $100.
Specifications
Battery Life As much as we disliked the display, we loved the Z22’s battery. You can easily go a week without recharging it, and maybe more. The smaller display and nonvolatile memory almost certainly improve the battery life. The Z22 includes a single mini USB connector that accommodates a USB cable or an AC adapter. Software The Z22 comes with the basic Palm apps including Calendar, Contacts, Memos, and Tasks. The Z22 also includes Addit, which lets you select applications you want to try or buy. Addit downloads selected applications during HotSync. The Z22 includes a Palm-branded version of Photos for organizing and displaying digital images on the Z22. Images, however, look washed out and jagged on the low-grade display. Overall Although we didn’t care much for the display, we loved the battery life, the nonvolatile memory, and most of all the price. At $99 the Z22 is a perfect entry-level PDA for someone who’s looking to dump his bulky paper organizer.
Weight: 5.25 ounces. Hardware The Palm TX is larger and heaver than the Z22, but it’s worth the extra heft. The TX includes multimedia and networking capabilities as well as a bigger, brighter, high-res display. The transflective TFT display is bright indoors and remains readable in sunlight.
The Palm TX uses Palm’s Universal Connection Slot, so the device is compatible with Palm’s optional cradle. nonetheless, we were a little disappointed the TX didn’t come with its own cradle. An extra $49.99 is a bit pricey for a cradle. Then again, the USB cable is much easier to pack. Battery Life Battery life is the one area where the Z22 manages to beat the TX. We ran a continuous slideshow on both models and got an extra hour or two from the Z22. According to Palm, you’ll get about five days of battery life from the TX with moderate use, but you should expect to recharge every day or so if you use the TX’s multimedia or networking features. Software The TX also comes with a lot more software than the Z22. DataViz’s Documents To Go lets you edit or create Microsoft Office documents (including PowerPoint presentations). Pocket Tunes is a great audio player, and Palm’s Media software lets you view images and watch video clips on your TX. Overall The Palm TX is a formidable package, but at $299 it’s also significantly more expensive than the Z22. Nonetheless, if you need networking and multimedia capabilities, as well as a better display, the TX is the way to go.  by Chad Denton
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