Heck, I bought my N800 to get away from the crap Palm hardware, like the screen digitizer that couldn't be calibrated (TX, TX, TX), the WiFi that would cause it to reboot every time I tried to use it (TX), the backlight that died (m505), the case that came unglued (Vx), the unreadable screen (m500), the 2 hour battery life (TX), the different-for-every-model chargers and sync cradles, and the instantly orphaned and unavailable styli and hard cases.

It got so bad over here in the US that the big-box stores like Best Buy, who would sell you your own grandmother to make a buck, got tired of the constant inventory change, problems, returns, and unhappy customers and stopped selling Palm products.

But I put up with a lot of that because the OS was very usable. They were the only people other than Apple to actually put "fewest clicks" into practice. Plus it was fast and responsive for the puny CPU they had. I'm writing my own apps for the N800 and really realizing what a challenge that is.

While discussing the relative merits of the various handled devices with my brother some time ago we came to this conclusion: "people who KNOW what they are doing and what they want have a palm computer, the OTHERS don't". We further narrowed down the statement to something like "if your primary OS is windows/mac, get a windows like device, if your primary OS is Unix/Linux get a palm". Palm computing platform is just not suitable for the non-techhead.

Also, I bought my current Palm TX at best buy last year and have never had a problem with it. The WiFi and bluetooth seem to work just fine and my battery lasts all day during normal use.

Mike suggests that Palm platform is somehow for experts and winMobe is for windows & mac users!

what utter drivel. there are many people who can use a palm who never even sync it - just back up to a memory card (if even that!). My daughter and nephews/nieces were able to use my spare Palm from 6 years upwards, it really is so easy.

I agree with previous post about variations in hardware design & poor quality. However, one thing I'd like to point out: because the palm os is, ahem, timeless (or stagnant), it means you tend to keep your palm device forever, and because you become dependent on it, are unforgiving when it finally packs up. That said, there have been a few lemons in the products... but then, pocketPC/winMobe have also had some truly sucky products!!!

Palm OS has always been a moot thing to me. Brings back memories of my olde Sony Clie UX-50 (cutting edge when I bought it to use during my college/Uni days).

My first problem with it is that most programs can't multi-task.

My second problem with it is that most useful programs for it not only costs money, but is also ungodly expensive.

Having been a user from a Palm Pilot onwards including varieties of III/C/Tungstens/V/ and now with a Treo 650 I have to say IMHO they are the best Smartphones around.

Instant response (long before Steve Jobs claimed this for the IPhone), reliable (try using any Windows Mobile devices (though I have not tried the latest v6)) and just so damn good.

I try and play a video on my shiny new N95 and eventually it starts, I drag and drop any avi file to Mplayer on my 2.5 year old Treo 650 and it plays perfectly and instantly starts.

I leave it on for months at a time without any problems, I use it every day for work and home, no problems.In essence it just works. (Camera is rubbish though :-)

I just wish Palm would stop F**** ing around and just develop a good OS that works well and preferably with backwards compantibility so the hundreds of pounds worth of databases I have for my Palm carry on working.

In 1998, after years of messing with filofaxes and swapping pages in them and rewriting addresses when a page got too many scribbles on it, I was at a conference where my diary had many many rescheduled appoitments and little notes about papers. There had to be something better ....

Then someone showed me the Palm III and demoed that it could do appointments like "the third thursday of every month", and on the way back to the hotel I saw a new CompUSA had opened on Market St offering $50 off a Palm .... so I bought one.

Since then I've had a IIIx, a m505 and a Clie. After the Clie went dead recently (bought it in 2002!) I dallied with using one of them "smartphones" - hah! "Stupidphone" would be nearer the mark - it was hard to input memos, appointments, update addresses and the synchronisation software was very dodgy. So I moved back to a "phone phone" (OK the Nokia 6300 is a bit more but it doesn't annoy like the N73) and bought the base Palm Z22 while I think of good excuses why I'd want the TX (I can read maps and have a good memory so don't need a GPS+map, I have a laptop so don't need to edit docs or spread sheets on a titchy screen, my phone already plays MP3sa, ...)

The Z22 does all I need it to do.

Since when can Palm OS play Go well? There are a few Go programs for it, but they all play very badly. Handy for recording your games against other people though.

My first Palm was a Treo 600 smartphone and from the moment I started using it, I loved it. It did everything I wanted and meant that I only needed one device in my pocket.

I found it very easy to use, responsive and reliable.

When the Treo 650 appeared it was a simple decision to upgrade, and this device has served me well for 18 months.

The problem is Palm have not produced another device that I want to upgrade to, and my Treo 650 is starting to feel old and outdated.

Palm have brought out Windows mobile devices that I find uninspiring and cut down Palm devices that give me no reason to 'upgrade'.

I think Palm have failed to keep up with a segment of their user base and the only option I'm facing is a reluctant change of OS, running my existing Palm apps with an emulator.

Oh well, maybe I'll really like WM6 or Symbian after all :)

@A Punter:

My carrier recently mailed me an HTC Touch. Being a 650 owner and therefore well aware that a keyboard is worth more than life itself, I instantly listed it on Ebay and bought myself a 680 with change.

It's a good upgrade. I shelled out extra for a red one (simple things...) but apart from that I'm quite impressed at how much an essentially identical device can be upgraded. It's another generation of the same incremental tweaks that made the 650 great in the first place. That and the improved Bluetooth is a real boon.

I'm not sure I would have paid the full £155 for it over the 650, but when free-upgrade time comes around, I would recommend it.