OK. I found a Lifedrive in stock and on display at my local CompUSA in San Rafael. I like it.
It's big. Tall like a Tungsten 5 and thicker than an iPod by a little. But still very appealing. It feels light though and still seems like I could handle having it in a jeans pocket which is the acid test.
I almost bought it last night. I was right on the edge imagining the whole scenario. Here's why I was tempted and what stopped me:
4 gig hard drive. We need more and more room these days to handle our music, photos, eBooks and movies. This is more like it. Give me some room people. Think of this as a portable hard drive.
SD Slot. How many portable hard drives come with an SD slot I ask? Unlike the iPod which has a hard drive but no slot, this thing can take my cards from my camera directly. I can exchange any data from my hard drive with my card. That's a huge improvement and I am hoping this device will finally push Apple into adding a slot to the iPod. It seems obvious why the iPod doesn't have a slot. It would make it too easy to trade music and would reduce people's willingness to buy the DRMed music sold at the iTunes store. But you can only get away with that for so long. Anything called an iPod photo should have an easy way to acquire photos.
Wi-fi. Wi-fi is perfect for a device that has large storage capacity because it allows for higher bandwidth data transfer than Bluetooth. I can synch and transfer files easily using wi-fi which is a technology I'm familiar with and that has a much better track record and adoption rate than Bluetooth. And it has Bluetooth if you want it for headsets and what not.
Easier. The file management of the LifeDrive is unparalleled for a Palm device. Synching is much better with dragging folders instead of the mysterious synch process that we've inured ourselves to all these years. Drive mode is cool. And I'm looking forward to easily storing my camera pix on the hard drive when I need more room.
Big Screen. Of course, a 640x480 is what I really want, but this 320x480 is a hell of lot better than the crappy 240x320 screens most PocketPCs have and is 50% more screen real estate than my Zire. It works great sideways too which really helps for web browsing in particular.
Excellent Design. This thing is kind of big, but it's very, very appealing. The rounded bottom with mesh is cool. The minimalist front is great. It feels good in your hand.
But, of course, there are downsides that at least slowed me down and kept me from making the purchase last night:
Barely fits in a pocket. It is rather large and since it is a focused device, I have to consider whether I will have room for it. I'm also going to be carrying a cell phone for sure and would like to carry an iPod. Lately, though, I just use an iPod shuffle and leave my *big* iPod at home. Hmmm...
Pricey. This is the early adopter price. $399 would have been so much easier to impulse buy. What do I get for the extra $200 over the original Zire 72? Uh 50% more screen, a 4 gig hard drive and wi-fi. It's worth it. Think of this as competing with a 2-slot PDA except the second slot is better than a slot -- it's a 4 gig hard drive. I think a nice combination. You know those 1 or 2 gig SD cards aren't free. A 2 gig card will set you back $175+.
Tiny 32 mb RAM. That just seems small given the price of memory. But, I'm sure it will still work just fine since it runs off the hard drive.
Garnet. Wither Cobalt support? Maybe Cobalt is not happening. But, there's a small hesitation associated with purchasing what may be one of the last devices that runs the now old OS 5.
Limited battery life. I haven't really looked into this enough yet. More life would be better, but it will probably suit my needs as long as I *dock* it at night. As long as it can run a 2-1/4 hour movie, I'm set. Oh, and the non-replaceable battery is uncool but was probably dictated by space and design considerations. I can see the battery issues being a deal-breaker for quite a few people.
It's Slower. When I used it, it seemed fine. But fine isn't a big compliment in our always rushed world. All of this is due to the fact that the OS runs from the hard drive, not RAM. The 32mb RAM is used strictly as cache to help speed up what would otherwise be a very draggy experience. One of the signature features of the Palm handheld has always been instant on - instant responsiveness. The Lifedrive is more like the slower PocketPCs according to BargainPDA's in depth review. I'll have to think twice before buying a handheld that's slower than my Zire 72. Feels like going backwards.
If you love the Palm platform and want wi-fi, a slot and an unprecedented amount of storage space, definitely try out a Lifedrive in your local store -- you'll probably be swayed. I'm hoping the Lifedrive will meet with success because I'm a Palm fan and I still feel the need for a pocket computer with a large screen. If I wasn't still considering buying a Treo 650, I would be a Lifedrive owner right now.
Links:
Extended Review at PDA 24/7
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