Features and Design

Once upon a time, a small company by the name of Palm released a small pocket computer, and it took the world by storm. Once the pride of those who donned wrist watches with calculators, the PDA became a chic accoutrement for up-and-coming business people. Then the sleepy giant Microsoft awoke, smelling money in the wind, and launched its own PDA operating system. It was clumsy and the hardware was poor, but over time and with the help of tight integration with Microsoft’s other Office products, Windows CE picked up steam. As more third parties refined the hardware, and user complaints pushed for better software, the PDA that was once a laughing stock took control of the market.

Since then, Palm has spun off their software division, has been renamed a few times, reabsorbed their software company, and even managed to release a few devices in between. Overall, though, the PalmOS PDA hasn’t changed much. The lauded interface, renowned for its simplicity, remains with some nice upgrades, and the basic focus still is on managing personal information. The Palm LifeDrive continues in these veins, but adds mass storage at the core. Traditionally, pictures, music, and video were limited in quantity and quality by the miniscule storage of most PDAs. Even with inclusion of expansion ports for SD and CF cards, media was considered a niche use. But, with our media-rich, always-connected lives, “personal information” has come to include what was once multi-media.

Packaged with the LifeDrive are a few add-ons:  A power cord, sync cord, case, and software CD. We were particularly disappointed that no cradle came in the box. The case is more of a sleeve meant for protecting the screen, and lacks a belt clip. The power and sync cords are of ample length. The sync cord uses a proprietary connection instead of a standard USB connection.

The LifeDrive itself is somewhat bulky, but sports a nice 4-in. diagonal HVGA screen with a native resolution of 320x240 (supporting 65,000 colors). The bulk is mainly in the thickness, which is just shy of a full inch thick. The front quick access buttons are different from traditional Palm models. In addition to the four-way directional pad, there are buttons for Home, Favorite, Files, and Media (photos). Above the screen is an orange hard drive access light that indicates the status of hard drive activity. Along the left edge are buttons for Screen Orientation Change (landscape or portrait) and Voice Memo Record, as well as the built-in microphone. The top edge has the Power/Hold button, SDIO/SD/MMC card slot, and stylus holder. The right side is bare, and the bottom contains just the dock connector, headphone port and reset button. The back of the unit has two rubber feet to prevent the LifeDrive from slipping off your desk. The casing has a nice, brushed aluminum finish, as do all of the buttons. Unlike many Palm OS devices, the LifeDrive has a soft Graffiti area—instead of having the bottom fourth of the screen set to handwriting input, the input area exists as software and can be dismissed.

Image Courtesy of Palm