Comments on: Rumor: m500/m505 Coming March 19

Both the m500 and color m505 will be released Monday, March 19, according to a Cnet article. They also confirm that the devices will have lithium-polymer batteries and 8 MB of memory. They list the prices as $400 for the m500 and $450 for the m505.

There is also a less reliable rumor circulating about the m500 series, that the serial port will be replaced by a USB port as part of the uniform base connector.

Read the Full Article Text Here

Article Comments

(23 comments)

The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. PalmInfocenter is not responsible for them in any way.
Please Login or register here to add your comments.

Comments Closed
This article is no longer accepting new comments.

Woo hoo! I'm the first to post!

I.M. Anonymous @ 3/9/2001 1:07:07 PM #

Exciting! I think those are pretty good prices for some slim devices! (I like to rhyme) ;-)

Reflective Sidelit Screen?

GregGaub @ 3/9/2001 1:32:32 PM #

It was this comment from the cNet article that caught my eye
"The color m505 is anticipated to sell for $449 and uses a new reflective side-lit screen said to be an improvement on the display of the Palm IIIc. "

I wonder if it will be anything like the color GameBoy screen? That screen looks great in sunlight, but is virtually invisible anywhere else. With a well done sidelight, making it visible in low and no light, this might be a great screen... at least until those new OLED screens start making their way into Palms. :)

RE: Reflective Sidelit Screen?

I.M. Anonymous @ 3/9/2001 1:59:21 PM #

The sidelit screen will be like the one in a Compaq iPAQ. 90% as bright as a backlit TFT in darkness and 100% stunning in broad daylight. Trust me, you'll LOVE it. ;-)

Also beware the $50 dollar difference between the m500 and m505 models. I think it is more likely to be $100 with a $499 NOT $449 tag on the m505 (which I still think is fair.)

RE: Reflective Sidelit Screen?

I.M. Anonymous @ 3/9/2001 2:11:54 PM #

Agree on at least a 100.oo price difference. Even if it is released at the cnet qouted prices, the mono version will then have to be quickly reduced to draw any interest. There needs to be more than a 50.00 gap between the two.

RE: Reflective Sidelit Screen?

I.M. Anonymous @ 3/9/2001 4:22:31 PM #

I'm very pessimistic about this sidelight. The sidelight on the iPAQ is a HUGE power drain. As small as the M505 will be with an expansion slot, I doubt one will be able to use this sidelight for any length of time. My concern is the M505 will not have a sidelight or will come with a sidelight but with
very poor battery life. If the M505 does come with a sidelight, the purpose of the light will probably
be for near darkness and not for regular inside conditions. If this is so, people will be very
disappointed because a reflective screen w/o sidelight is not bright and the colors are drab.
In other words, it will not have near the brightness or vibrant colors that the IIIc and Prism have
inside. This is all assuming the M505 screen will be like the iPAQ screen.

RE: Reflective Sidelit Screen?

I.M. Anonymous @ 3/9/2001 6:33:28 PM #

It's pretty crazy that this supposed release date is so soon. I'm just a teenager and I was hoping to have some time to save up for it :). I'm definitely buying this model no matter what, even though my parents will think I'm retarded for dropping another half grand on a second palm. At least I can probably get $100 or so to start off with by selling my 6 month old IIIxe.I'm pretty excited about a side light. It sounds to me like it will be able to be turned off/on like the backlight on monochromatic models. I think that this can only extend battery life when compared to the IIIc. By the way, does anyone know if it will use the EZ or VZ processor?

RE: Reflective Sidelit Screen?

Ed @ 3/9/2001 6:52:30 PM #

The m50x series is expected to run a Dragonball VZ chip at 33 MHz.

---
Plenipotentiary
Palm Infocenter

Not a Rumors Site

Ed @ 3/9/2001 12:56:59 PM #

There might be some concern out there so I wanted to make it clear that Palm Infocenter is not becoming a rumors-only site. Yes, most of what we've published for the last couple of days has been rumor but the circumstances are unusual. There are some major product releases coming and we want to get you the details as soon as possible, which means posting rumors. Don't worry, after the Edge and m500 series come out, we'll return to hard news. And we'll always label anything that just a rumor as such.

I wonder how companies like Palm and Handspring feel about what we're doing. Are we a necessary evil? A wonderful source of free advertising? Something they hate?

---
Plenipotentiary
Palm Infocenter

RE: Not a Rumors Site

scouter075 @ 3/9/2001 4:21:06 PM #

I'd suspect the Palm loves you guys. All they have to do is "leak" some information and they have a great source of free publicity.

Keep thse "rumors" coming. I think that having a sense of what's coming helps us all make better buying decision. You guys, PalmGeek, PalmHQ, PalmSpot, PDABuzz and PalmStation (and the rest) seem to act responsibily and are a great source of info.
Thanks.

Dennis G. Esler
scouter075@mindspring.com

RE: Not a Rumors Site

I.M. Anonymous @ 3/9/2001 6:33:48 PM #

All of these rumors and facts are making me drool. I'm sorry, it is unattractive, but I can't help it...

I'm snatching the m505 up. I can't wait. Color. More memory (my device is still 2mb). More expandability. New OS. Mmmmm...

I just hope they have enough to sell on the 19th, if that is in fact their debut (sooner the better). I so very much want one, just like a whole lot of my fellow users. I can't wait... My girlfriend says she can and would love to wait, however.

Now on to the reason I'm replying to this specific post... If I were Palm and Handspring, I would have someone give me a report on what people think about the rumors. A lot can be learned if you just observe some of the stuff that's been said, especially lately. Rumors are good. I like rumors. It gives me something to dream about... other than my girlfriend.

Eric

RE: Not a Rumors Site

I.M. Anonymous @ 3/12/2001 11:48:37 AM #

A Report back on what we think of these rumors? All they have to do is troll these forums...

m505/m500 not coming out 3/19

rajen @ 3/9/2001 3:45:44 PM #

The CNET article simply says that the units will "debut a week later" (at CEBIT in Germany). It does not say the that the units will be for sale. The new Palms might not go onsale until a couple of months from now. Who knows. All I am saying is that people are reading into the unveiling....thinking that it is the same thing as actually being for sale.

RE: m505/m500 not coming out 3/19

Ed @ 3/9/2001 5:10:38 PM #

Has Palm ever announced a product but not made it available until later? Could someone jog my memory?

I know that in an interview last fall with a Palm exec in Europe, he said that the V replacement would be available for sale a CeBit. But that was months ago and things could have changed.

http://www.palminfocenter.com/view_Story.asp?ID=1408&MODE=FLAT

---
Plenipotentiary
Palm Infocenter

RE: m505/m500 not coming out 3/19

EGarrido @ 3/9/2001 6:59:03 PM #

So Palm has officially announced the product and their intentions to sell on March 19?

I didn't get that anywhere.

Eric

RE: m505/m500 not coming out 3/19

Spaghetti @ 3/10/2001 6:11:18 PM #

palm does a press conference at the cebit with "new products and solutions". it can be expected that the Vc/m505/whatever will be presented there. this would be march 22.

Why not 16 MB of ram?

I.M. Anonymous @ 3/10/2001 10:26:26 AM #

If they are using the new 33mhz processor then they should be able to have a 16mb module.

RE: Why not 16 MB of ram?

Rusty @ 3/11/2001 11:59:41 AM #

"Why not 16 MB of ram?" Because it makes sense to NOT put 16 megs of memory in this device. More on board memory would raise the base price for the device and the average user will never have need for more than the 8 found in ANY of the devices on the market. If you can sell a device for $200 to 1000 people and a $100 add on memory module to those 400 people willing to pay for it, you will make more money and have a larger ownership base than if you were to sell it for $300 to 600 people (the original 400 plus 1/3 of the people willing to pay for something they don't need). This is one of the problems with the Pocket PC philosophy. They are trying to sell the kitchen sink and most people don't have the need for the finances to need such (Don't take this as a slam on the Pocket PC's themselves, they are good devices, just not what most of us on these pages personally need.)

I am real happy to see the SD slot finally here and can't wait to see what my Palm can do without it's 'hands' tied behind it's back.

RE: Why not 16 MB of ram?

I.M. Anonymous @ 3/11/2001 12:48:36 PM #

Well, you did not address a basic fact that there are some of us who have 12-14 megs of programs and that is why we need the higher amount of ram installed. In my case I have
1. The Holy Bible
2. Lexidrugs
3. Medical text

with these three things installed, this takes up almost the 8 meg

where is the room for
1. Travel Tracker
2. Worldmate
3. CityTime
plus a whole lot of other programs plus the game to idle ones time!!!

RE: Why not 16 MB of ram?

Rusty @ 3/11/2001 6:39:09 PM #

Actually, I did.

Why not 64 Megs? Why not 1 Gig of memory? These are not amounts that make sense in the GENERAL POPULATION, just as 16 Megs is not within the cost point for the average user.

YOU, individually, are the type of person that the SD Card slot is perfect for. If you need more memory, buy more memory. Put The Holy Bible, Lexidrugs and Medical text on the Add on SD Card. Just because you use your Palm for large amounts of information doesn't mean that others do. In fact, most people don't. Should they have to pay for the hardware that YOU need? Why dont all of the Palms come with a built in wireless modem? Not everyone needs it. It is an OPTION though.

I think this is a wonderful balance that Palm has been keeping with the ever growing memory thirst of Power Users and those who are just looking to keep their date book and phone numbers with them.

And just a final thought....

If you COULD own eveything, WHERE would you put it?

RE: Why not 16 MB of ram?

I.M. Anonymous @ 3/11/2001 8:18:02 PM #

Enjoyed your response to my comment my friend, in answer to your question, it would go right in my Palm Pilot! I have bought a Ipaq for my wife and just purchased the M-105's for my two son's

RE: Why not 16 MB of ram?

I.M. Anonymous @ 3/11/2001 10:17:03 PM #

Actually, the 8MB limit is due to the fact that the Motorola Processor used in the Palm can only address 8MB. Anything would be unrecognized by the system. This is probably one of the reasons for the change to the ARM next year.

RE: Why not 16 MB of ram? -Ask Bill Gates

MadMax @ 3/11/2001 10:37:59 PM #

FACT: Bill Gates once said, "we'll never need more than 640K".

Palm Vc...

I.M. Anonymous @ 3/14/2001 3:11:29 PM #

This comment is more on the humorous side, but I doubt that Palm will call the next unit the Vc. Can you imagine the publicity nightmare? Vc, hmmm, what does that remind everyone of? A little war fought in Southeast Asia in the 60s-70s? "Please buy our newest unit, the Palm Vc, and no that doesn't mean Viet-Cong." :) heh. It might be that my own warped sense of humor will be the only one who finds that funny. Anyway...