The Palm m505 is an attempt to meld all that is good about the Palm V and all that is good about the Palm IIIc whilst leaving out some of the bad of each. In that, Palm acheived moderate success. However, unlike many who praise the m505 as the second coming and the device that is going to save Palm, I’m just not that impressed.
The best of the Palm V: The m505 is small and sleek, approximately the same size as the Palm V. It weighs slightly more, but there is no significant difference in the size or weight of the two devices.
The best of the Palm IIIc: The m505 has a color screen.
The worst of the Palm V: The Palm V has its own hotsync port that is incompatible with III ports. Most accessories have been manufactured for the III port and won’t work on a Palm V without a converter. The m505 uses the new Universal Connector which currently has the same problem (without having a connector) but Palm has promised that future devices for at least two years will use this connector and new accessories should support it.
The worst of the Palm IIIc: The screen is very pixelated, resulting in a black grid that many people find bothersome. Also, the IIIc screen is hard to see in bright sunlight. The m505 screen is still pixelated, but much less so. There is definite improvement here. The m505 has increased visibility outside, but at the price of a faded screen indoors.
Other new features: The m505 has a Secure Digital slot that supports additional memory cards up to 64MB. Unfortunately that’s all it supports, as larger memory cards and actual devices such as modems, digital cameras, etc are not available for SD.
Other drawbacks: The m505 may be approximately the same size as a V, but it is shaped differently. Form fitting cases probably wouldn’t work right now.
Recommendations: Unless you must have color, I’d avoid the m505 until some SD devices are available, the price of SD memory drops, and accessories using the Universal Connector appear.