I bought the item mainly to use as an eBook reader. It will not open the ".lit" formats, which is the Microsoft Reader format. Most other formats require conversion, but the software to convert them is readily available and free. The eBooks open much quicker than on my old PDA, an HP Journade 520, which I bought almost 7 years ago. It is also an excellent MP3 player and has good battery life (after I figured out how to lock the device to keep it from accidentally coming on). The camera is an added bonus and takes good pictures and video, although I seldom use that feature. It comes with all the organizer features (address book, calendar, etc.) you'd expect to find in a PDA, and has a built voice recorder. In addition, it takes SD memory, which is readily available and inexpensive. On the negative side, Palm accessories are famously expensive. The carrying case that came with it is heavily padded and too fat to comfortably fit in your pocket. Also, the paint on the PDA began flaking off almost immediately, which is making me wonder if it's really paint or a scratch resistant protective coating.Read full review
The Zire 72's design is a mixture of professional and fun elements.It is palmOne's first mid-range handheld to include Bluetooth short-range wireless networking. With sleek dimensions(4.6 inches tall, 3.0 inches wide, and 0.7 inches thick (12 cm x 7.5 cm x 1.7 cm), the Zire 72 is comparable to some of its competitors, the Dell Axim X3 and the Toshiba e400. The Zire 72's are big and comfortable to use. It also has a 5-way Directional Pad (D-pad) that lets you do a lot of tasks on your handheld one handed. The D-pad is also great for playing games. The contents of the Zire 72's primary Personal Information Management (PIM) apps -- Calendar, Contacts, Memos, and Tasks -- can be easily synchronized with their Outlook equivalents. One of the biggest things that sets the Zire 72 apart from its predecessor is the inclusion of Bluetooth wireless networking. This allows the Zire 72 to use a Bluetooth-enabled mobile phone as a wireless modem. With this combination, you can check your email, send SMS messages, and even do a bit of Web surfing from almost anywhere. There are a lot of smartphones coming onto the market these days that will allow you to do the same things, but the Zire 72 offers a much better screen, plus entering text is much easier. The Zire 72 comes with RealOne Player 1.1, an application that allows you to play MP3 files on your handheld. This can be done through the built-in speaker, but you're most likely going to want to use a pair of headphones. Unfortunately, the Zire 72 doesn't come with headphones, but it has a standard-size jack on its top, so you can easily buy a pair and use them with this handheld. You can play songs in the background while you are using other applications. Or you can turn the screen off and use the Zire 72 like a standalone MP3 player. Turning off the screen greatly increases the battery life. The Zire 72 is the first mid-range palmOne model to come with a voice recorder. The Zire 72 comes with Documents To Go, which allows you to view and edit Microsoft Office files. These can either be transferred from your desktop or come to you through email. As for the battery life, studies have shown that the average user has his or her handheld on for about 30 minutes a day. So if you're roughly average, the Zire 72 should be able to go close to a week between recharges.Read full review
The Palm Zire 72 is a little underpowered by today's standards, but intelligently designed and very useful to me. It is easy to use and the desktop software is great, providing a smart calendar, contact list and to do list. I can read and write WORD documents and EXCEL spreadsheets. I use the camera function a lot. Syncing with the desktop is one-button easy. I would give it an excellent rating if it was also a cell phone so I wouldn't need 2 devices. This palm replaces one I broke. I got exactly the same model so restoring all my files was a snap.
I own several palms of different models. I like the 72 very much because it has the built in camera and voice recorder. And since you can record to the expansion card, both functions are very usable. It also does a good job with photos. The draw back is it uses the older operating system and does not have much memory built in, so it is slower to respond. It has a kind of plastic feel and the blue coating is a disaster. With time, they all peel. Its best that after it starts, just scrape it all off. The first one I had O dropped on a concrete floor from my shirt pocket and it was destroyed. It usually can take a good hit but this one fell just right. Since then I replaced it and I use it every day. It is very handy to record a picture or conversation when you need it.
I have had a lot of PDAs, all but the first were Palms. This is the best one i've ever had. The screen is bright, it runs fast, holds a lot of applications, it's slim, does everything i need, and with the bluetooth and my phone, i go online with it all the time. I got a titanium case for it that fits in my pocket, which makes this the first palm to last me longer than 8-10 months. As usual, i did something to mine early when i got it, and had to send it in. (I think it was because i used a body glove case for it, and doubling as a wallet, it just crushed it in my pocket.) while i waited for it to be returned, i bought another Zire 72. which i don't even think i used, because by the time i decided i couldn't live without it anymore, the old one came back. waste of money, especially since i moved to the other case and have been using the same unit now for about 3-4 years. my only issues with it are that the camera is crap. other cameras of the period (cell phones, pdas) were better. i'm not looking for ansel adams quality, but even as a party camera, it's a little rough. the Zire 71 had a better camera, and Palm screwed up with this one. The video part is just as bad, and the mic gets blown out very easily. So completely forget using it at a concert, unless you hold your finger over the mic and block out as much sound as possible. I will say, though, there is difference in camera quality across the units, when working with the default settings. having owned two, and my primary one just got completely reset (which affected the quality positivly), i can attest to that! And finally, as any other owner of a Zire 72 will attest, the blue coating rubs off quickly. It's a nice touch, having a slightly rubberized feel to it, nicer feel and better to handle. but it comes right off. Palm released a silver edition afterwards, i think they just shipped it without the blue paint and called it "special". all in all, a terrific unit. except for the camera. i would recommend.Read full review