Stores Begin Advertising m500, m505 Still MIA

Posted By: Ed Saturday, April 28, 2001 9:34:18 AM

Reader reports on m500 and m505 availability have continued to come in. They report that stores have begun to put advertising fliers in this weekend's newspapers for the m500 but none have seen anything for the m505.

Staples is advertising the m500 for $400 with a free 16 MB Sandisk SD memory card. Other Staples stores are offering a free PalmPak Games SD card instead.

Circuit City and Best Buy are advertising the m500 for $400. Best Buy offers a $20 mail-in rebate if you also buy a 32 or 64 MB SD card ($80 and $140, before rebate).

At this point, the m500 is in stores in most major cities so the real question is when the m505 will begin appearing.

If you see the m505 advertised or in a store, please tell us about it. -Ed

As long as we're on the subject of advertisements, Staples is also advertising the Kyocera Palm Phone for Sprint PCS for $500 and a $100 Staples Gift Check (or $400, the same price as the m500). Best Buy is also advertising the Sony Memory Stick mouse (optical, USB) for $90.

Related Articles:

Thanks to Craig and everyone else for the info. -Ed

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m500 and free 16MB SD Card!

I.M. Anonymous @ 4/28/2001 9:56:58 AM #
I got a 500 frm staples a few days ago. I saw the ad today advertising the FREE 16MB Card. I called up he store and talked to the manager and he said I could bring in my sales slip and the flyer and they would give one to me but he did not have them in stock so check be the end of the week. Also I asked him if he had the 505. He replied there in the back room but not on display. I asked for the price then he put me on hold. When he came back he said, "My mistake we do not have them I confused it with the 105." I think these store have them put have to wait until May whatever it may be becasue PALM told them to hold them....

RE: m500 and free 16MB SD Card!
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/29/2001 1:56:25 AM #
As someone that works at Staples, I can assure you that no store has the m505's yet. The earliest we will get them physicaly in-store will be at the end of this week or even the middle of next week. Different districts have different warehouse delivery dates, so i can't give an exact date or time.

Believe me, I'm waiting for them to come in myself! I'm the lucky one that gets to put out the PDA displays ;)

RE: m500 and free 16MB SD Card!
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/29/2001 3:44:12 PM #
I purchased an m500 last week at Office Depot. Today they had an ad in the Sunday LA Times offering a free 16mb Palm memory card with purchase and coupon. I went back this morning and they gave me the memory card with no hassle when I showed them the receipt.

RE: m500 and free 16MB SD Card!
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/29/2001 4:38:38 PM #
I just managed to walk in to my local Staples this afternoon and get this (i.e. no reservation and I got the free SD card too). None were on display and most of the employees didn't know they were in stock. Manager sed they had "just a few" in the store.

RE: m500 and free 16MB SD Card!
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/30/2001 7:43:52 AM #
Saturday the 28th, I stopped by Staples in Morrow, Georgia (South of Atlanta) and asked about the m500 series. The manager was working the PDA area and told me that the 500's were in but the 505's would not be out for "several more weeks". I asked him if I could buy an m500 (not really interested in the color) and he told me that he could not put them on sale until Sunday the 29th at noon. He said this was per their agreement with Palm and that if he sold me one on Saturday that they could be fined $30,000.00. I asked him if I could just see one and he brought out the sealed box and let me look at that and read the specs off the box. The next day I was there at 12:05 and purchased one, receiving a free 16 mb SD memory card to boot. My summary of the new unit is as follows: it is lighter than the Vx but as a result, does not feel quite as sturdy as the V series. The unit does not slide into the cradle the way previous units have, requiring a tilting, then pushing motion according to the manual. It does emit a beep when inserted properly so you do know when it is in place. It works faster than the Vx due to the higher processor and the sync time is quick due to the USB cradle vs serial. The case is silver and looks lighter than the more graphite Palm Vx. The power button has an LED light that is on during charging or flashs with alarms. Two new added functions are the clock and notepad. The clock has a tiny icon in the top left corner of the grafitti area and the contrast has a tiny icon at the top right corner of the same. The left silo is very narrow and will not accomodate a stylus. Palm has carried over the cheap leather flip cover from the V series that fits via the new small left side silo. The screen is more sensitive than previous palm units. The buttons have a more decisive feel (could be my Vx buttons were getting worn out though, making me think that). I like it but it by no means makes the Vx feel dated at all. In fact, the Vx, due to the more solid feel still emits a higher quality form factor overall.

PalmPowered@aol.com

HandEra

atrizzah @ 4/28/2001 11:29:14 AM #
I hope the handera comes with deals like that

Peace Out
Alan

J&R Computer World

I.M. Anonymous @ 4/28/2001 12:03:58 PM #
HI:

I stopped in at J&R Computer World, Park Place, NYC. They have the M500
and the salesman said they were expecting the 505 in "next month."

Grace Lee

M500 at CompUSA

I.M. Anonymous @ 4/28/2001 12:57:27 PM #
The m500 came in on Thursday or Friday, not sure which. The store I work at got 10 (Brentwood, TN). Most stores should have gotten the same or more depending on area.

Best Buy

I.M. Anonymous @ 4/28/2001 2:02:30 PM #
Just talked to a manager at Best Buy and he showed me the press release that Best Buy will begin receiving shipments of the M505 on May 10th

RE: Best Buy
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/28/2001 10:01:29 PM #
I have a good friend that is a manager at Best Buy. He has been checking on the m505 status for me regularly. As of Friday, the computer was telling him June 1st as an ETA. We are in Pittsburgh, PA. The demand here is much lower than the West Coast. Staples plans on getting them early May and noone here can confirm a date. As long as the Penguins are winning, my IIIxe will tide me over.

RE: Best Buy
ckohl23 @ 4/28/2001 11:06:03 PM #
hello...i go to school in pittsburgh. it'd be nice if you could let us know if any stores in the area got the m505 in.

thanx

Comments from the Moderator

Ed @ 4/28/2001 2:42:01 PM #
First off, please don't post any message here saying that the m500 is available in your area. It is now widely available throughout the U.S., at least in limited quantities.

Also, I just deleted a long thread of messages responding to someone who claimed to have bought an m505 in Miami this morning. I called the phone number given, which was for an Office Depot by the way, and spoke to the manager. He not only didn't have any m505s but was tired of people calling who said they had read that he did. So the messages have been removed, as I don't believe in rewarding people who play silly pranks in any way. Let's grow up, people.

---
Plenipotentiary
Palm Infocenter

m505 Prophets

I.M. Anonymous @ 4/28/2001 5:56:17 PM #
Folks,

While we are waiting for the Palm m505, there are "prophets" claiming "the existence in their warehouses" or "ready to go on May 1st". I wonder if anyone would take the hype to the next level: Put it on eBay. Well, there are! From telling you to bid on the "firm order that was made before went into back-order status" to "info package that leads you to get it at wholesale price", someone are dare to bid on it as high as $560! One e-tailer, Direct Digital, offers 3 units for bidding while the $399 deal is "sold-out" at its own web site.

It seems the hype works for Palm this round. However, the question is: Can Palm fill the demand? I have a funny feeling on its new design side-lit color LCD touch-screen. I think the manufacturer may have problem to crank out in volume with high quality, despite the reported deal between Samsung and Palm. It reminds me about the similar situations for the Apple iMac and Sony PS2 (of course, they have created even bigger hype).

Will geek line up for the "holy m505" outside Staple, Business Depot or even Blackhole? Will those retailers get flooded with mountains of e-mail and phone call about the release date? So for the next couple of days (hopefully, not weeks), tune in the "Prophets' Channels" and on our knees!

Howard.

RE: m505 Prophets
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/28/2001 7:41:34 PM #
I spoke to the guy from direct digital and he said that he should get them within the next week or so. I was one of the winning bidders and have placed good faith in him that he will ship once he gets a new set in ASAP..he mentioned that he had two earlier but those went fast--once the new ones are posted on his website they will go up but he has a reputable record so i look forward to a smooth tranaction. at least this person is getting for 50 dollars less

RE: m505 Prophets - Direct Digital?
scouter075 @ 4/28/2001 9:21:19 PM #
I was abe to place an order on the Direct Digital web site for $399. I got a confirmation of my order. When I emailed and asked for a ship day I got:

"Most items take 7-10 business days to ship. Please see our information page for more details."

I sent back a reply asking if he really had one in stock for me. I'm waiting for a reply.

Has anyone done business with these guys before? Are they legit?



scouter075@mindspring.com

Kyocera's

jayhawk88 @ 4/28/2001 6:43:37 PM #
We had a Sprint rep recently tell us that our company could buy Kyocera's for $399 if we bought some through some sort of business plan (Nationwide Volume Plan I believe). No minimum number purchase either. Now this from Staples.

Looks like Kyocera has decided to price these babys to sell. Smart move, I think. Price them the same as the new Palms and Visors, and it suddenly becomes a lot harder choice for those who think they might want a cell phone/wireless solution.

RE: Kyocera's
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/28/2001 7:09:10 PM #
No difficult choice. Kyocera's are BIG, ugly and monochrome. Enough said.

RE: Kyocera's
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/29/2001 12:35:18 AM #
Kyocera's are a HIGH margin item. Certain companies have deals set up where they get a discount of 12% above cost where I work. Thier price for it is $351.78. Think about how much everyone is making on them. We make more off of these phones than off of computers.

RE: Kyocera's
jayhawk88 @ 4/29/2001 2:05:28 AM #
Interesting. Of course, it makes sense that providers are willing to sell these things cheap, as they get some sort of service contract out of whoever's buying.

It kind of makes you wonder how much Palm manufacturers are making on Palm devices. I mean, here we have this Kyocera, only a few months removed from availability, and they've already got providers selling them for $100+ off retail. And the Kyocera is a somewhat complex piece of hardware, at least as far as Palm's go. The margins on these things must be insane.

RE: Kyocera's
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/29/2001 10:27:08 AM #
A case of selling cheap razors and profiting off blades. These deals comes with "plans" so they make money off the service contract or the Kyocera unit are not selling too well that they had reduce the price so soon after introduction. I don't think these "new" gadgets are high margin as some manufacturer like Handspring is still losing money.

margins
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/29/2001 11:29:20 AM #
I don't know about the kyocera (we don't sell that) but at my store we have very dismal margins on palms. we sell at list price for them, and we barely make 15% (not much in the technology sector!) But products like the m100, are very inexpensive to manufacture (about $50, then palm sells to distributer for $80, then distributer sells to us for $110, we sell for $129) and a lot of markups occur between palm and the consumer! You guys may think we make a lot of profit, but let's go back to the m100, of our $20, how much is shipping!?! sometimes we save that cost by running out to the distributer and getting them ourselves (when we buy from certain distributers, that is), but selling palms is really a thankless job!

RE: Kyocera's
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/29/2001 4:39:00 PM #
Hmm, if selling Palms is such a thankless job because the margins are so low, then why are retailers like Staples and Office Depot running newspaper, radio, and TV ads featuring the Palm m500? I just saw a TV ad an hour ago that featured this unit. Funny thing to do for such a low margin product.

RE: Kyocera's
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/29/2001 6:38:28 PM #
Palm's are hot items. They advertise based on that poeple want these tihings and to get them in to the store hoping they return for other items.

RE: Kyocera's
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/29/2001 6:48:44 PM #
we don't make much profit off of just one or two sales, but when people buy in quantities or a lot of people buy, it's worth our time. when we put up an add, we asume that it will reach enough people for it to be worth our time, or it will at least help us get our name out there. Infact, selling to individual consumers IS thankless, if you don't have exactly what they want instock, then they get all pissy! Because of this we are starting to aim our pda sales at corporate buyers. think: 500 palms (yes companies buy this many) @ $25 profit each (not the m100, the Vx) = $12,500! that is the type of profit we are looking for!

margins
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/29/2001 8:22:31 PM #
You don't say! Are you sure you're not going to get in trouble for releasing that ultra-slick strategic plan?

For some reason, I was under the mistaken impression that retail outlets were geared to serve one customer at a time. Now I know that the dismissive attitude I get from the salesperson must come from the fact that Michael Dell was in there half-an-hour ago and snatched up 500 Palm's from you guys and paid retail price, making even those razor thin margins worthwhile.

Perhaps you should let your retail customers know how detrimental our business is in your advertising so that we can do you a favor and stay away.

RE: Kyocera's
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/30/2001 2:38:02 AM #
The reason the Kyocera is a high margin item is because it is a consiered a cell phone. Price's are set by Sprint on what to sell it at. If we sold it at normal markup it would probably be aroudn $350-$400 instead of $500. PDA markup is similiar to computer markup, both are very slim.

margins
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/30/2001 4:46:59 PM #
it's no big secret. anybody in the pda market knows what it's like.

m500 & m505

I.M. Anonymous @ 4/28/2001 7:48:56 PM #
I've seen the m500 in stores since two tuesdays ago (office depot) but won a free one just thursday (i'm holding out for color). My quest continues to find the m505 as soon as possible. I work for a reseller, and we are expecting them very soon (palm said april 30th, so let's see how THAT turns out) and my local staples said may 1st (but the guy a talked to didn't know what a PDA was; he thought the "palm m505" was a printer or phone . . .) I'm betting we get it sooner then staples, and i should have one in my hands by end of day, monday

m505 news...

I.M. Anonymous @ 4/28/2001 8:40:56 PM #
I just got a chance to play with an m500 at the local comp usa. The form factor is great (small and light), and the screen surface appears to have a 'stickier' feel to it...more like the feel of paper and less glare. The stylus has a nice feel and really 'snaps' into place in its holder. The included flip cover is fairly cheesy, but who's going to use that anyways?

As for the m505, the kid behind the counter said that his mother worked at palm and she has had an m505 for 2 months. He said the screen is very bright, and is better than the IIIc. He also said that it wasn't coming out until mid to late May. I'd like to believe him since he was working at the San Jose Comp USA and Palm headquarters is just a few miles away.

I guess we'll know in a few weeks!



Some m505 pics

I.M. Anonymous @ 4/28/2001 11:29:54 PM #
I found some early pics of the m505 and some expansion slot peripherals at this site:

http://www.waterworld.com.hk/ww/article/article.php?link=2001020501&lang=eng

RE: Some m505 pics
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/29/2001 12:38:21 AM #
Half of these have been seen before.

A close up pic of m505
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/29/2001 1:25:32 AM #
enjoy

http://212.187.68.103/um2c/pages/pagina.show.asp?pagina=Palm%20OS%20at%20CeBIT

RE: Some m505 pics - THANKS! LOOKS GOOD TO ME!
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/29/2001 11:59:38 AM #
I'll take it!

Releasing the m505 later

I.M. Anonymous @ 4/29/2001 5:29:01 AM #
I think palm have deliberatly released the m500 ahead of the m505 due to the hype surrounding the m505. If you went into a shop and had the option of both no one would buy the m500. I think they are trying to heighten sales of the m500 first.

RE: Releasing the m505 later
pdajunkie @ 4/29/2001 9:24:43 AM #
Actually, from a Devil's Advocate perspective, I think they've hurt the sales of the M500 with their actions. I may end up buying the M500 should some of the concerns about the screen on the M505 prove true. However, until I *see* the color unit, its black and white cousin will remain on the shelf. IMHO, both units should have shipped the same day.



www.alwayslowest.com ship M505 on May 1st

www.TPUG.org @ 4/29/2001 7:59:04 AM #

According ot Max - the sales representation of alwayslowest.com, He said they expect to ship M505 on May 1st.

I ordered (pre-order) from alwayslowest.com because they offer the lowest price that I never see from others side.

M505 - US$419
M500 LEATHER BELT CLIP CASE - US$18.19
M500 16MB SD EXPANSION CARD - US$ 44.81
M500 SERIES TRAVEL CHARGER - US$ 35.83

Compared with Outpost.com (http://www.outpost.com/entry?site=cn:a101&sku=93891) , every items that I order at alwayslowest.com much cheaper.

Any one has any ideas, somebody please contact them to check the shipment date again.



RE: www.alwayslowest.com ship M505 on May 1st
www.TPUG.org @ 4/29/2001 8:13:04 AM #

M505 page at alwayslowest.com

http://www.alwayslowest.com/al/store/getspec.cfm?part=3%20%20%20%20%20%20%20939605


RE: www.alwayslowest.com
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/29/2001 10:35:46 AM #
I don't think they picked the best name for their site. When I first read your comment, I wondered why you were odering from a place that advertised that it was always slowest.

RE: www.alwayslowest.com ship M505 on May 1st
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/29/2001 11:07:17 AM #
I ordered from them a month ago for $400.16 for the m505. Obviously the price has went up. But to confirm the shipping date, it is May 1st they said.

RE: www.alwayslowest.com ship M505 on May 1st
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/29/2001 12:52:11 PM #
Duh, it's not "alwaysslowest.com" it's "alwayslowest.com"

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