Being the third model in Palm's m100 series, the m125 is a bit more grown-up than the two other kids with its SD slot and OS 4.0. We have a hunch mid-range users will like it.
Although the Palm m125 already has been stamped by the Palm community as a big yawn, that doesn't necessarily mean it's not a good handheld. In fact, given the price tag of the m125 compared with the features that have been added since the m105 (SD slot, OS 4.0 and the universal connector from the m500 series), the m125 seems to be a quite the little bargain for those who need a handheld that can bring with it large amounts of data and has a long battery lifetime.
The hardware | Looking slick; it's amazing how little it takes to transform a dull m105 into a rather nice looking m125
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Actually, I do believe that if a "most-neatly-packaged device" competition was ever to be held, Palm would win it without even breaking a sweat. The company swears to its simplicity, and that also shows when you open the m125 box; The device, its USB synchronization cradle and a manual wrapped in plastic is all that's there - plus, for the first time, I found two AAA batteries lodged neatly in there as well, which to me represented a nice little frosting on the cake.
The m125 itself, even though it shares the contour shape of its m100 and m105 predecessors, looks quite a bit nicer than what we've come to designate as the "dull brothers" beacuse of its shimmering light blue face plate. Actually, the flip lid that comes with the m125 has also been given an overhaul and is no longer hard plastic but rubber instead, which renders the chances of breaking it far less than on the m100 and m105.
Another couple of subtle, neat changes is that the hardware application shortcut buttons and scroll up/down buttons that are standard on the front of all Palm OS devices now have been altered slightly to make it easier to tap on them using the stylus. As for other buttons, there is only one and that's the power button which is centered at the top of the device. One thing that's not so good is that the plastic of the m125 still feels like it could splinter easily when dropped onto something hard, but otherwise its general construction feels very solid.
New for the m100 series however, the m125 has the SD slot on the left side of the device which enables users to make use of storage cards with a capacity of up to 128 MB, and a little bit later on various other methods of expansion such as Palm's Bluetooth card that will become available on December 1st 2001. Similarly new is the use of the universal connector from the m500 series, which makes it possible for the m125 to make use of expansion options that are compatible with this port as long as they are physically compatible.
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