In the recent past, $99 wouldn't have gotten you much in the PDA world. While it still won't finance a full-feature PDA, $99 can bring home Palm's new Z22, a color-screen organizer that can store photos and keep your days well planned.

The Z22 is sturdily constructed and has the look of a much more expensive palmtop. The white and dark blue PDA measures about 3X4 inches and is little more than half an inch thick. The Z22 weighs only 3.4 ounces, so it's extremely portable.

The 160X160-resolution screen isn't as large as that of most PDAs, but it shines brightly and displays menus clearly. It also offers a full-color display, although not at the same sharpness as more expensive PDAs. You can store hundreds of photos on the Z22, making it useful for sharing your digital images. The images aren't incredibly crisp, as you can see individual pixels, but it's a handy feature for such an inexpensive PDA.

The included stylus can be used to maneuver via the touchscreen, or you can use the five-way navigator pad at the bottom of the Z22. There are also quick buttons to open the calendar or your contact list. Since this is a Palm PDA, there is the standard Graffiti pad for entering in text and numbers. With a little retraining in the Graffiti format, we were able to enter text quickly and easily.

Powered by a 200MHz processor and featuring 32MB of RAM (20MB of which is user-accessible), the Z22 isn't a slouch in terms of performance. It's compatible with Microsoft Outlook, so you can immediately sync up your desktop contact list. In addition, the Z22 has some advanced organizer functions, including recurring appointments and birthday reminders. Palm also includes eReader software, a calculator, and some games to keep you entertained.

Battery life was quite impressive on this PDA, as we were able to use it for several days before needing to recharge the internal battery. The non-volatile memory inside the Z22 means that even if the battery dies, all of your data will remain safe.

Palm's Z22 won't do everything that the more expensive PDAs will do. There's no Bluetooth, no wireless connectivity, and no memory expansion. However, this full-color PDA does quite a bit more than most organizers in its price range.

Pro: Color screen, stores photos.
Con: No expandability.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Palm, Inc.
950 West Maude Ave.
Sunnyvale, CA 94085
408-617-7000
http://www.palm.com

Warranty
90 days