IBM Begins Offering c500 and c505

I have the bad habit of using "case" and "housing" interchangeably. I've changed the word in the article but if that isn't clear, the actual unit itself is black, not the metallic silver of the m500 and m505.

I think I remember Palm calling the m500 series "arctic ice" but you could be right and I can't find a reference to it. In any case, it was confusing so I dropped it from the article.

Thanks.

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News Editor
Palm Infocenter

they both have the mmc slots...

I agree. It will be interesting in a few months when Palm has to report to the shareholders how their m50x series are selling. They might have a big headache on their hands, with the Clie coming out and all that.
-jt

HA! you really believe that palm has enough m505's in stock?

It seems that either Palm has the m505 in stock or not, people who do not like the screen will keep bashing it. It there ends up to be a surplus, then that's great for us consumers. Prices will be competitive and there will be no outrageous bids on auction sites.

i think not. there's really no difference if the pda is black or silver. they all run the same os!!

Big Blue uses them as an e-Business Solution to many small and large businesses. They create hardware and software add-ons as well, rising to the needs of those companies. If they are to OEMed, it's cheaper for them to perform this task for businesses. As for selling them to consumers, they figure they might be able to make a buck by doing so. And I kinda like the black casing. I have a c3, and now an m505, but the black was pretty cool.

Eric Garrido

1. They're black
2. If you work for IBM (or maybe even own stock) they're probably cheaper :)

What hardware hacks were installed on c3? The only difference I know between the c3 and Vx is the black case (obvious) and not-so-green screen background compared to Vx

To fill you in on a little history....IBM's reasoning for offering their own version of the Palm was that, at the time, it was felt that corporate America would be more likely to purchase such a device (which seemed new and radical at the time) if it had the name IBM emblazoned across the top of it. The WorkPad is sold only through IBM authorized dealers and is generally intended for large companies rather than the individual user. It is nice, however, that if charcoal gray or graphite doesn't float your boat or if it is just a situation where you have to have IBM on everything computerized, that you as an individual consumer can purchase one of these models. I would prefer the black case over the gray but when the new model came out, I was so impatient to get one in my hands that I didn't want to wait on Blue to get their model out. Also, the writer who said you won't get fired for buying IBM is probably right-I work for local government and an invoice with "IBM" on it would go through accounts payable with nary a glance. However, try buying something with "Palm" on it through the government and everybody thinks you are spending taxpayer bucks on a gizmo that has no practical application towards government work. I am personally glad IBM offers this product if for no other reason than the considerable acceptance and prestige of their name.

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Purchased the M505 12 days ago and I decided to put up with the dim screen, however when I saw the sony clie colored I returned my M505. In fact, my new sony should be in at the end of May.

A moderate amount of skepticism is often a good thing.

While I don't fully agree with the above post's claim that the new Clie will "bomb," I tend to agree that it won't necessarily be the massive success that people claim. When Palm announced the m505, everyone thought it was the "IT" PDA, remember? Then the screen issues hit. Every PDA has its downside, and I'm sure the Sony will be no exception. Will the enhanced screen resolution and color result in less-than-stellar battery life? Will multimedia capabilities be rendered useless because of a 33mhz Dragonball, or lack of memory(even with memory sticks)? Does anyone really want to drop gobs of cash on memory sticks? Something will provide a downside.

And as the previous post said, nobody REALLY knows much about Clie performance yet. Only a handful of people have actually seen the device, and they didn't see mass-produced items. Yes, the website lists the specs, but it's dangerous to be drawn in by the additional ad copy. Then you fall into the trap of "If it's on the Internet it MUST be true. Sony's ad guys wouldn't overhype their product, would they?"

I, too, eagerly anticipate the release of the Sony, because I want to see if it's really as good as it appears. But we all need to realize that something about it will likely disappoint us.

This is silly. Sounds like someone purchased some other, inferior device just before the launch of the Clie, and now feels a need to justify the purchase. Toss it and buy a clie.