I would like to purchase one of those handheld PDA devices that have become so popular. The main function I’m concerned with is downloading and reading “ebooks” from the web. Does anyone have any experience with and can recommend a relatively inexpensive one? I’d like to keep the cost under $150 and again the main reason I want it is for ebooks. Thanks
I think right now the low end Palm is around $100. The other models cost more but you get more memory and other features. The big advantage Handspring has is they have a slot where you can add memory or other special modules. The Visors cost more , I think they start around $150 now. I would probably get a Visor even though you pay a little more. Palm is supposed to have expansion slots soon - or they might now on their higher end models . You can get the specs at http://www.palm.com or http://www.handspring.com If you want to check them out in person just go to Best Buy, Circuit City, Comp USA or any stores like that.
I’ve not used them for ebooks but my friend has and he uses a palm Vx. I use mine extensivly to read ‘sync’ed’ web pages (aslo a palm Vx). Some things to consider are:
1 Monochrome or color - even though your ebooks are most likely going to be in black and white it is harder to see them with the dark gray on light gray one the mono screen then black on white color screen.
2 Backlighting - if you will be using color (stay away from the m505 but out of your price range anyway) you might want to always run the backlight - very viewable. If using a mono screen let me warn you that there are certain lighting condidtion that the screen is hard to read and the backlight makes it worse. In short -These conditions are when you are in a shadow of a direct light source. In darkness the backlight is good.
3 Hi Opal!
4 Battery life - how long do you plan to read at a time. Some pda’s use internal rechargable batts - others use standard AA’s - check the run time and make sure you will not use all your juice if you read for long periods at a time (esp if you use the backlight).
5 screen size. In short the bigger the better. For this reason I’d try to stay away from hte m100 and 105 units. Also remember to subtract out the writing area when compairing units as it will not help you w/ ebooks. Some units will display over the writing area.
6 cost - but you knew it was a factor.
7 compatability - ebooks are available for palm and win ce (or whatever then call it now). There is also some propriatory ebook models. Make sure they have what you want in whatever format you choose. Also make sure your computer has the correct port available (USB or serial).
8 unit size - get one too big and it will stay home.
9 other uses - what else might you do w/ it? - is this the best unit for that.
If you want an inexpensive PDA designed for ebooks, how about Franklin’s e-bookman
They’re also doing a rebate scheme just now, so for your $150 you get their top of the range machine.
My experience: I have a Visor and LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT!
However, it’s not so great for reading from, because the durn screen’s just too small and low contrast. I do always have a Gutenburg or two on it, for when I get stuck somewhere without my “main” book, and it does the trick in a pinch, but if I really want to read a book, not just catch snatches of it now and then, I go to the library. 
You’ll have the same problems with a Palm, but a cheap Palm costs less than a Visor, so I’d recommend a Palm over a Visor for that reason.
I just got a new pda a few weeks ago.
I bought the Sony CLIE PEG-S320. I went with that not only because of the price ($170 USD plus a $25 rebate), but also because it had features the others did not have for the price It was a hard decision but I made mine on the criteria that I wanted expandable memory, the larger screen, and Palm OS 4).
I did my research at http://www.zdnet.com in their handheld section. It really helped out.
I love mine. I think I made the right choice for me.
Here’s what I’m looking for; I hope someone can offer some suggestions.
I have absolutely no need for a calendar, address book, or any of those toys. I do a lot of writing, and all I need is an ability to edit text files of 5K-15K in size, and exchange them back and forth with my PC.
I suspect that this is what the advertising refers to as a “memo”, but they give no clue on how big those memos can be. To my view, someone who uses his PDA as a datebook would probably be satisfied with memos of 50 to 200 characters, and that’s no what I want.
Any chance I can find something like this in the $50-$100 range?
The m100 from Palm is around $100 and it will do pretty big memos - it has 2 Mb of memory. It will be able to store a bunch of 15k memos. Handspring Visor deluxe has 8 MB of memory and costs around $130. You should test them out in person to see which one you like better. I would not get anything cheaper than those 2.
thanx
Keeve, you want to do a lot of writing, you’ll want something better than the memo program that comes with the PalmOS. Luckly, there are plenty of word-processing programs available as freeware, shareware, etc. and downloading programs and loading them onto your Palm’s a snap.
Palm OS has a limit (IIRC 4k) as to how big a memo can be. As pointed out there are 3rd party programs that will replace it or hacks that will get rid of the memory limit.
Pocket PC’s usually come w/ pocket office and will allow syncing of word doc’s so you can create,edit word docs on your PC or PDA. Palm has 3rd party software that costs extra to do the same.
Thanks, guys, that’s what I wanted to hear. Sounds like the Palm 100 is the way for me.
“Documents to Go” is a GREAT program for PalmOS PDA’s that let you exchange and EDIT most text files, MS-Word, MS-Excel, and AppleWorks files. I heartily recommend it for those who want to be able to edit desktop files on their PDA’s.
I just got an e-mail from Handspring saying that they have dropped the price of the Visor Deluxe to $129. (That’s directly from Handspring, which means you can probably actually do better than that.)
I have a Visor Platinum, and I love it. Remember when you’re budgeting, though, that you’ll probably want a keyboard, if you’ll be using it for a lot of writing. The Stowaway keyboard from Targus is seriously cool, and it runs about $100 or so.
Dr. J
You can also buy reconditioned Visor Handspring Deluxes from Handspring for $99-while supplies last, of course. This puts them in the price range of the Palm m100, for a much higher-capacity (8 MB vs. 2 MB base memory) machine.
It’s on my Christmas list, but nobody wants to get me one. 
I’ll probably have to buy it for myself.
Off to IMHO.
bibliophage
moderator GQ
Thanks all for the input. Looks like the eBook is just what I’m looking for. Thanks for the link GK!
Visor Deluxe owner here and deliriously happy with it, but if you’re going to be reading e-books, either get them as insertable modules (Visors have these, Palms don’t), or get a lot of memory. Mine has AAA batteries, which I prefer, but if you’re going to have it on and reading a lot, the lithiums might last longer.
Esprix
I have a Visor Prism and I truly love it. 8MB of memory, beautiful color screen that does not require a backlight, the visor add on port, it has worked perfectly well for me.
I have the Visor Prism too, and I love it 