Palm V™

I got a Palm V partly because I had convinced myself that I was very organizationally deprived and partly because it looked really cool. My choice came down to the Palm IIIxe and the Palm V. The Palm Vx is a great machine, but to me, $400 dollars is just too much for something of this nature. I figured that I could get that type of machine in the Palm IIIxe for cheaper, but the Palm IIIxe just didn't look as cool. Basically, I went for style over substance, I believe. Not to say that the Palm V is not a good PDA because it is.
A major plus of the Palm V is the small size. It easily fits into a shirt pocket. I would recommend the hard aluminum coated case because it definitely makes you feel more comfortable handling the Palm. The leather case seems helpful too, but I really do not think that the included cover is enough. The Palm III series really isn't THAT much bigger, but the Palm V is definitely thinner, thanks in part to it's lithium battery. Plus, the Palm III series has plastic flap covers and the Palm V series does not.
Overall, I am very happy with the Palm V's performance. The I've never had any problems with the Palm OS and I've upgraded to the newest upgrade (version 3.3) which can be downloaded off the net. While this isn't as good as the Palm 3.5 OS, which comes with the IIIxe and the Vx, it is definitely more than satisfactory for most users. The interface is easy to use and the hotsync and palm desktop were easy to set up and use. The lithium battery can be charged easily, but I would also recommend the travel kit if you do any long term traveling as the battery only lasts for 2-3 weeks or so and it does not run on AAA batteries (as the Palm III series does). If you want to run some big programs such as Quicken or AvantGo (to read webpages), then the 2 MB memory will not be enough. Otherwise, it is sufficient. Plus, there are more and more people offering to upgrade Palm V memory to 8 MB (which voids the warranty). The backlight could be improved however. In pitch darkness, the light works well, but if the conditions are merely dim, the light is actually less effective. The stylus on the Palm V series is more flexible than that of the Palm III series, making writing more comfortable.
Overall I am very happy with the Palm V and would recommend it to most users for the purpose of simplifying their tasks and consolidating their scheduled events.