Palm Drops Price of m500 by $70

Posted By: Ed Thursday, September 6, 2001 6:01:15 PM

Without any fanfare, Palm today reduced the price of the monochrome m500 from $400 to $330. This price has already gone into effect at the PalmStore. Expect the price to drop at other stores in the very near future, too. There were no changes in the prices of other Palm models.

It is no secret that the the m500 has been a sales disappointment for Palm. At only $50 less than the m505, few consumers saw a reason to not go ahead and spring for the color model.

Also, since the m500 appeared Sony released the S320 which is quite comparable to the m500 and costs only $200. This left the m500 looking overpriced.

Neither the m500 nor the Visor Edge, both high-end monochrome models which were announced at about the same time, sold very well. Handspring has already dropped the price of the Edge to $300. It is possible that these will be the last of the high-end models with monochrome screens.

Thanks to Mike Cane and Ron Dernad for the tip. -Ed

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Woo Hoo! It's About Time!

kevdo @ 9/6/2001 6:06:40 PM #
This is overdue but I'm glad Palm is pulling the trigger on this. The m500 is really not a bad device - at this price.

Interestingly, the Palm Vx is still being sold for $299. The extra $30 for the m500 certainly seems more than reasonable. This might finally quell demand for the Palm Vx.

One can only hope for a drop on the m505 soon as well (though I have seen it for $399 at Fry's Electronics for several months now).

RE: Woo Hoo! It's About Time!
I.M. Anonymous @ 9/6/2001 6:18:46 PM #
Wow that is $20 less then I paid for my m500 back when the m505 first came out. $330 is retail. Discounted such as from Fry's might get it to $299

RE: Woo Hoo! It's About Time!
I.M. Anonymous @ 9/6/2001 8:00:21 PM #
Ask and ye shall receive:

http://www.shopharmony.com/default.asp?file=PRICEGRABBERS&ItemID=11225

No connection with vendor.

Still Overpriced
I.M. Anonymous @ 9/6/2001 10:07:13 PM #
When you can get Sony 320 for $199. M500 is definitely overpriced.

RE: Woo Hoo! It's About Time!
mikecane @ 9/7/2001 8:50:38 AM #
I must agree with the above. The m500 is still overpriced. $220-$250 is its sweet spot. (I am tacking on a slight premium above the mono CLIE to account for the Palm brand name.)

Palm m500 vs. CLIE S320 (why Palm will soon be bankrupt)
I.M. Anonymous @ 9/8/2001 11:47:10 PM #
CLIE wins in terms of price ($100 - $150 cheaper), construction quality, screen quality, jog dial, feel (in actual use) and functional weight.

Only a fool would buy an m500 for $400, $330 or whatever other price Palm is trying to gouge consumers with.

I expect Palm stock will be selling for less than $1 by December. This will be a company that is used as an example in economics classes for how NOT to run a business.

that was the plan

I.M. Anonymous @ 9/6/2001 8:36:39 PM #
I'm beginning to think that this was in a way planned.

Palm makes 2 models that are the same, except one is color. Then it makes them almost the same price. Who in there right mind would still go for the monocrome one??? This was to basically start to kill off the non-color devices.



RE: that was the plan
I.M. Anonymous @ 9/6/2001 9:44:01 PM #
Right. Palm invested a heap of money in inventory and marketing a product that was intended to kill itself off. Brilliant plan. If you want to kill off a high end B/W device, don't make one. Duh!

RE: that was the plan
I.M. Anonymous @ 9/6/2001 10:26:11 PM #
Fastest way to kill off a high end B&W device is to install WinCE/PocketPC/etal/adnauseum ... 8^)



RE: that was the plan
ganoe @ 9/6/2001 11:20:47 PM #
It was probably a way to get rid of Vx's. Now maybe the supply of Vx's is fewer and a reduction of price for the m500 make economical sense.

RE: that was the plan
I.M. Anonymous @ 9/6/2001 11:51:49 PM #
they are not the same, aren't they? i've read some review somewhere and it said m500 uses a plastic case for its back (m505 both metal), the flip cover for m500 is not a real leather (but is for m505), and m500 doesn't feature backlit graffity area.

i even think that high-price of m500 was to compansate the developing cost for m500 series, and Palm just could not set the price of m505 higher than $450. i think they wanted it to be $500 or even more. it could've been such if it'd been released earlier.

$330 is a price that i feel for Palm. it couldn't either be $350 or $300. but unfortunately, it's still
too high for today, to persuade a potaintial customer..
if it were $280, with Vx would also go down to about $220, then they all would look very attractive.

in Japan, since Handspring slashed the price of Visor
Delux to 9800yen(about $80), the device is selling
*extremely* well. that explains that there are many potaintial customers (apparently first time Palm user)in that range, and only 2MB of RAM still can make a big deal (and it's possible that they would want to upgrade to higher model after digesting what a Palm can do for them).

RE: that was the plan
I.M. Anonymous @ 9/7/2001 12:28:05 AM #
oh no, i'm stupid. Delux has an 8MB.. it is plain Visor.. now i wish those were English version but Japanese version.

the thing is, i have just learned they made ANOTHER
price cut on 8/4!! i can't believe now Prism is now
24,800yen (about $200)!! sorry guys, they are Japanese versions...


RE: that was the plan
I.M. Anonymous @ 9/7/2001 12:40:21 AM #
ok, just FYI, i'll let you know the price of Japanese m500.. as of today, it's about $315.. and CLIE PEG-N600C is about $330. yeah, of course you can find cheaper prices at some shops. i think i saw about $280 for N600C somewhere..

RE: that was the plan
I.M. Anonymous @ 9/7/2001 1:09:06 AM #
i just can't believe Prism is sold for $200 in Japan.. and for your knowledge, some units are reported that they have flashable ROM rather than Mask ROM, of 4MB (for the OS is bigger than that of English one). Handspring doesn't acknowledge this tho.

it's too bad, you can't simply modify it to be an English version because the Graffity area is specifically designed to Japanese Palm OS. i'll try to forget about this. (i've just bought an English m505)

B/W is dead.

I.M. Anonymous @ 9/6/2001 10:45:17 PM #
a B/W device can only survive at under $200 price, or the ideal $99 price.

RE: B/W is dead.
I.M. Anonymous @ 9/6/2001 11:22:33 PM #
Monochrome/greyscale devices will far outsell color devices until color screens improve considerably (current ones are all awful) and they drop significantly in price, probably at least another year. That means B/W is not even close to being dead.

RE: B/W is dead.
I.M. Anonymous @ 9/7/2001 10:01:30 AM #
Was just interested to know what led you to the conclusion that all color screens are awful? What criteria are you using for measurement? Have you seen all the color screens? (esp. m505, CLIE 610/710)
Not intended to be inflamatory, just would like to know...

RE: B/W is dead.
I.M. Anonymous @ 9/7/2001 10:12:04 AM #
Current color screen technology is just wrong for PDAs. The m505's is too dark, and always has kind of a grey look to it. The Sony 610/710 is too small, kind of dark even with the backlight, and has some weird thick layer of glass/plastic over it (makes it look like one of those handheld TVs). The iPaq screen is better, but off the charts price-wise, and is still somewhat dark without the backlight all the way on. A friend was showing me her HP a while back and you could only see the screen straight on, about 1.5-2 ft. away from the screen, others have viewing angle issues too. I know there's one other PocketPC (I can't remember the brand, Casio maybe?) that its users claim has a better screen than any of the above, but I haven't seen it. Anyhow, unless there's some considerable improvements to be made in current lines of color screens soon, we'd better be moving on to some different, better technology that resolves the viewing angle and brightness vs. power requirements issues. I can't even believe people buy what is currently out there and think that it's good.

RE: B/W is dead.
mikecane @ 9/7/2001 11:18:45 AM #
"The Sony 610/710 is too small, kind of dark even with the backlight"

-- you should see your eye doctor!

RE: B/W is dead.
I.M. Anonymous @ 9/7/2001 12:17:34 PM #
Please! The 610/710's screen has to be smaller than any other Palm OS device except the m10x series. It sure looks that way in person anyhow. I was really disappointed, feels like you're staring into a box with the way the screen is so recessed.

HandEra line

GrouchoMarx @ 9/7/2001 12:12:03 AM #
And for $20 more, you can get the HandEra 330, which matches it and offers more features. Or if you're on a budget, the TRGpro is still available and has expansion, but not rechargable batteries or OS 4.

So the only thing the m500 has going for it against 3-4 other devices on the market is that it's thin. Sorry, but that's not enough. :-) (The m125 is even a good bet against this thing.) I just don't understand the m500.

RE: HandEra line
I.M. Anonymous @ 9/7/2001 1:59:01 AM #
Was in at a Sam's Club today, saw a TRGPro for $142.91 - Looked like the last one. :S
They don't seem to be carrying as many PDAs as they used to, though. All they had on the shelf was a couple of Journadas and the TRG.

RE: HandEra line
mikecane @ 9/7/2001 8:53:11 AM #
$142?! My God! Wish I could come across that!

RE: HandEra line
I.M. Anonymous @ 9/7/2001 12:24:30 PM #
With Palm OS 4.0 and a black case, the TRGpro would still be a slick PDA even at its current price, or even better at under $200.

HandEra is too stupid to market a PDA in a plain black case
I.M. Anonymous @ 9/9/2001 12:05:03 AM #
These guys are too arrogant to admit their designs leave a lot to be desired in terms of appearance.

I've owned 4 TRGPros, but I would *never* consider getting a HandEra 330 unless they fix its fatal flaws. HandEra needs to ditch the geek-o-tronic case, source a CLIE/IPAQ-quality color screen, and shrink the size of their PDAs. If they don't, they'll soon go the way of the do-do, despite how good their engineering has been in the past. I just hope they release AutoCard before they disappear, or at least that some other company buys the rights to HandEra's software if it looks like they'll be getting out of the PDA scene.

RE: HandEra line
I.M. Anonymous @ 9/9/2001 10:33:34 AM #
I don't think I'd want my 330 in a plain black case. It'd be OK, but their current case looks better in real-life than a plain black one would.

Sony Clie S320 still costs only $199

I.M. Anonymous @ 9/7/2001 2:34:47 AM #
no comment

RE: Sony Clie S320 still costs only $199
I.M. Anonymous @ 9/7/2001 7:35:04 AM #
But you need to spend another $60 for a cradle and $50 for "Documents to Go" to bring the Clie up to the m500. So then it actually becomes a personal question of whether "thinner" worth $20 to you.

With the Vx still $299 and the m500 now $330, there is no reason to buy a Vx anymore. The Vx has no expansion and is actually $20 more than the m500 if you consider the m500's included "Documents to Go" software.


RE: Sony Clie S320 still costs only $199
I.M. Anonymous @ 9/7/2001 9:49:34 AM #
Current steet/web price for a m500 today is $299. Price for a Vx is $207. I bought a V for my 8 year old daughter for $100.

Just like Apple.

I.M. Anonymous @ 9/7/2001 9:59:21 AM #
Remember when Apple decide to license its OS? and competitor come up with better cheaper hardware and nobody wants to buy the over priced apple?

well, deja vu.
History always repeats itself twice, once as a tragedy, second as a farce.

RE: Just like Apple.
I.M. Anonymous @ 9/9/2001 12:18:50 AM #
But this time, they [Palm] won't be able to shut down their licensees/competitors by taking away the rights to the OS. Palm is totally and completely screwed.

If anyone knows how Palm can possibly survive this Year of Disasters, please enlighten us all...

Winner and Still Champion
I.M. Anonymous @ 9/9/2001 12:47:08 AM #
They will survive by selling 5 times as many handhelds as anyone but Handspring. They only sell twice as many as them.

All of the Microsoft crowd together continues to "dominate" from somewhere well south of 20 percent. Sony has less than 10 percent.

http://www.palminfocenter.com/view_Story.asp?ID=2296

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