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3Com Palm III organizer gets handier
By Richard Morochove
First published April 2, 1998
3Com's recently-announced Palm III should gain new fans for the popular handheld computer organizer. The upgrade to the popular Palm Pilot (more than 143,000 sold in Canada) is more evolutionary than revolutionary. Even with the new features, the device maintains its small shirt-pocket size and light weight, about half that of other handheld computers.
The Palm III comes with 2 megabytes of RAM for storing data and supplemental programs. There's also 2 megabytes of flash memory that contains the Palm 3.0 operating system and the organizer applications.
The increased RAM allows the organizer to store 6,000 addresses, five years of
appointments (about 3,000 entries), 1500 to-do's, 1,500 memos and 200 e-mail messages. The
flash memory makes it easier to upgrade, as future software upgrades could be downloaded
to flash.
New is a removable flip top cover that locks in two positions. The case is stronger and easier to hold since it's contoured with a rounded back and tapers from top to bottom. The scroll buttons have been replaced by a peanut-shaped rocker switch. On the pre-release Palm III I evaluated, shifting the rocker sometimes added a spurious appointment to my day book.
The monochrome display is the same size, 160 pixels square, however there's a wider range of contrast adjustment. The contrast knob is recessed, which makes it harder to accidentally knock it out of whack.
I particularly like the new stylus, a three-piece affair slightly thicker than the old version. The metal shank adds heft that I found improved the accuracy of my printing with the built-in Graffiti handwriting recognition software. Should a program freeze, you needn't search for a paper clip. You unscrew the top of the stylus to expose a pin that can reset the Palm III.
A new infrared port lets Palm III owners easily share information. You can beam data such as memos and appointments as well as third party software applications. The epitome of geekdom is the electronic business card. Simply hold down the address button for a couple of seconds and your name, address and other card information is transmitted to the second organizer.
Infrared communications works up to one meter or so between units. Unfortunately, it
doesn't work with other IR devices, such as PCs. According to 3Com, it's prohibitively
complex to use IR to synchronize data with desktop PCs. 
However, you can still backup and synchronize data with your PC by using an updated ergonomic cradle that plugs into the serial port. A new file linking capability lets you automatically import data from a remote server when synchronizing. The new cradle matches the curved back of the Palm III, so it cannot be used with older Pilots. However, the Palm III can be used with older cradles.
The new Palm 3.0 operating system includes two additional screen fonts, bolder and larger than the original. You can select which font you want to use to display the data in each application. There's greater integration between applications, allowing you to drop information from the address book to the to-do list, for example. The alarm is slightly louder than in earlier versions and there's more flexibility in selecting a sound and the number of reminders.
The Palm 3.0 desktop includes PC versions of the standard organizer applications for MS Windows 95 and Windows NT. Windows 3.1 users can continue to use the Palm 2.0 desktop. A MacPac software upgrade for Macintosh users will be available this summer on the Web.
One of hidden values of the Palm III, compared to other computer organizers, is the widespread availability of applications developed by others. These range from computer games, golf scorecards and wine tasting databases to specialized calculators. I tested several and found they all worked with the new operating system.
Over 1,000 applications are available, many of them shareware. Visit PalmPilot Gear for an extensive list of software, along with user comments.
The Palm III will be available mid-April at a suggested list price of $549. While I'd prefer a built-in modem (an add-on is available), the Palm III's software is top-notch and makes it easier to use than other organizers in its class.
Competing devices based on Microsoft's Palm PC design should be available in a couple of months. It will be interesting to see what Microsoft has learned from its sorry experience with the larger, and slow-selling, Windows CE handheld PCs.
In contrast to most other makers of organizing devices, 3Com makes it easy for current owners to upgrade. Starting in June, registered Palm Pilot users can purchase an upgrade card ($179) with 2 MB of memory, infrared port and upgraded software. Owners of the original Pilot 1000 and Pilot 5000 units can trade in their units and receive $105 from 3Com.
The Palm Pilot Pro and Personal are still available, at reduced prices. The Pro, with 1 MB of RAM, lists for $429 (down from $519) and the Personal, with 512 K of RAM, lists for $279 (down from $349). CW
Richard Morochove, FCA, is a Toronto-based computer consultant.
Copyright ©1998 by Morochove & Associates Inc. All rights reserved. This work may not be copied or distributed by any means without our prior written permission.
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