Zire 31 from Palm – Fast processor

Zire 31 is a Palm device and it is 4.4 inches by 2.9 inches by 0.6 inches. The device weighs 4.1 ounces and the light and compact gadget feels good in the hand. You can easily tuck it in the pocket or stow it in to a bag. The five direction navigation keypad along with two buttons for shortcut is located underneath the display which can be easily accessed by one hand.

Zire 31 has a display with resolution of 160×160 pixels. The screen is bright enough but the resolution is a bit low and my images didn’t look well defined. Extended use strained my eyes too. As compared to this, the TJ27 has a resolution of 320×320 pixels with support for 65,536 colors. The manufacturer gives a flexible cover for the screen but if you want something sturdier, you will have to buy a carrying case for $15.

This device has RealOne Mobile Player for audio playback and the supported formats are RealOne audio and MP3. Video playback is not supported and it is really disappointing. There is a MMC/SDIO expansion slow along with 3.5 mm headphones jack which can take in Walkman-style headphones. Both of them are located on the top of Palm Zire 31. The slot is a bit recessed in the case and this makes it difficult to insert or remove the card. This is a minor yet noticeable inconvenience.

Palm Zire 31 runs on OS 5.2.8 and it has all the latest Calendar and Contacts apps. The syncing here is better than the predecessors and there are some enhanced features too. Apart from that, you get Note Pad, Memors, and Tasks with extras like Handmark Splash Money for tracking expenses, Palm Reader for the eBooks, PalmOne Photos for sharing and viewing pics, and for leisure, there is Solitaire.

Palm Zire 31 is powered by Intel Cotulla 200MHz processor which is fast enough and I didn’t have any problems operating the applications. Also, there were no delays while switching between the apps. For storing contacts and adding apps, there is 16 MB internal memory out of which 14 MB is accessible to the user. I was impressed by the audio quality, the music played loudly and clearly on the speakers of the device.

In my lab tests, I installed Kinoma Video Player on Palm Zire 31 and played a video clip with display brightness set to 50 percent. The battery lived for a little less than three hours which is not great but then this is not meant for multimedia use.