Palm Zire 21

The Zire 21 is a back-to-basics handheld computer. Forgoing such fripperies as colour has kept down its price and prevents its battery life from expiring quickly.

Essentially, the Zire 21 is an upgraded version of the Palm Zire that we looked at in Issue 154. It harks back to the glory days of Palm, when simplicity and battery life were its most important design factors.

It is great to be able to listen to music on your handheld, but this often drains battery power. Without this feature, Palm claims the Zire 21 can last a fortnight. In reality, you'll get around four or five days average use before needing a recharge.

The appearance of the Zire has not changed greatly, with white plastic on the front and grey behind. An integral cover is supplied to protect the screen, but it's a rather unappealing rubbery plastic that flips down over the top. Apart from matching the indent of the screen there is nothing to keep it in place so a carefully placed (and colour-matching) elastic band might be a clever alternative.

The stylus is all plastic, but is easier to hold than those in more expensive devices. The screen is slightly smaller than other Palms, but has the same resolution. This is a double-edged sword - images and text look better, but it is harder to read text for any length of time.

The only two visible sockets are for power and mini-USB, for connection to a PC or Mac. This excludes using any additional Palm accessories unless they are infrared.

The Zire 21's 8Mb of memory is four times the amount of memory of the original Zire, making it very appealing. There are thousands of compatible Palm applications available and this extra memory makes it possible to install quite a few at once.

If you only intend to use the Zire 21 for basic contact details and calendar entries, this extra memory is unlikely to affect you, but it has the potential to really expand the handheld's usefulness. The Zire 21 also speed things up with a much faster processor than before and the latest version of Palm OS.

Contact: PalmOne 0118 974 2700
www.palmone.com/uk