Customer Reviews
SOLID PDA w/ INEXPENSIVE GPS CAPABILITY 
2005-07-16
Background: I never owned a PDA before the Zire 72S, it always seemed like a colossal waste of time and money. Money because $10 binder could do everything I needed for time management, quick references, and organization. Time because I knew that I would spend lots of working hours goofing off with the games. However, the ZIRE 72 caused me to rethink this position.
The Zire 72S GPS Bundle was a gift from my wife and step-daughters, they were quite tired of me getting lost when I was driving them somewhere. The idea was that the maps would make sure that I got to where they needed to go in a timely manner. As such, the ZIRE 72 GPS bundle was the best GPS/PDA combo available and slightly cheaper then the permanent GPS systems I saw in CIRCUIT CITY or BEST BUY.
There is a ton of "stuff" in the box. Each item is wrapped individually, the PDA cradle, travel plugs, PDA, and GPS. Each one requires some opening and organizing before you can get started. There is also a "splitter plug" that allows you to connect the GPS and PDA to your car power supply simultaneously.
You just can't flip the "On" switch and go to town. Both the GPS and PDA need to be charged before moving ahead. The software for the PDA must be selected and loaded on your computer which is then "synch'ed" with your PDA. One other issue that may occur is the limited memory; the GPS bundle only comes w/ a 64 Mb card. If you live in a large state like Florida or do any interstate travel at all, expect to get a larger memory card. Some of the individual maps are at least that large. When I purchased my system, there was a rebate for a 512 Kb card, but you could get by with a smaller card. I haven't had any memory issues with the 512 Kb card. However, if you want other stuff, books, pictures, music; then by all means get a 1 Gb card.
The battery is non-removable so the PDA might only have a two or three year lifetime before it stops taking charges and you must buy a new one. If that does happen, your data is backed-up from your last "synch" and should be easy to recover on your next PDA.
In terms of installing the Tom-Tom software, the other reviews are correct. It is a nightmare of passwords, access codes, and, in my case, an unobserved footnote on the large graphic instructions that tell you how to load the software. (Hint: If you don't see a Navigator icon after loading the software and synching to your handheld, remove and reseat the memory card.) Talked to their help-desk a couple of times, they are on the East coast and have normal office hours.
The PDA cradle is great in my car on the dashboard, but I have to be extra careful to ensure that the PDA is tightly seated in the cradle or it will bounce out when I hit the first nudge in the pavement. The Bluetooth means that you don't need a second cable going to the GPS hardware. I have never used Bluetooth for networking or for controlling a Bluetooth phone, so I have no information on that aspect. If you want a networked PDA, you might want to buy a Palm WiFi card for this one or perhaps consider something with WiFi built in.
As another reviewer noted, the navigation instructions can be a bit close to the turn and confusing if you are in a "cloverleaf" dense place like Washington DC. On the positive side, the software rapidly recalculates a new route if you miss a turn.
The applications that I have found the most useful are documents to go, contacts, calendar, and adobe reader. I find that I can keep my records at home and at work synchronized so that I have the same info at each place. I also can load books on my PDA and read them on the metro on the way home. Likewise I can draft documents using document to go on the PDA and transfer them to MS Office for printing or publishing. I am a bit disappointed that the PDA doesn't seem to synchronize with Hotmail. However, I can synchronize it with MS Outlook and my companies proprietary Intranet (this is done using a program called "Intellisynch". The PDA comes with a Personal Information Management System for your desktop if you are not an MS Outlook user.
The applications that I found the least useful are the WebPro and Versa mail. I haven't used the expense account application at all. The camera and the digital voice recorder are really just toys. The digital voice recorder is so cumbersome that I had to buy a separate digital recorder for my job. The camera is a nice toy, but you wouldn't want it to be your only camera at your wedding.
In summary, this is a solid PDA, but you should buy some more memory in addition to the 64 Kb card. The GPS application and software are effective and inexpensive. I'm hooked on having a PDA now and can't imagine working or traveling without one.
Beware the navigation software 
2005-05-27
Well, the PalmOne Zire 72 is not a bad PDA. However, I assume that anybody who buys this particular product does so mainly for its GPS functionality. Here comes the bad news: while the GPS receiver works reasonably well, Tomtom's navigation software that comes with it is a joke. During installation, it leads you through a nightmare of security codes (device code, activation code, whatnot ...). If you have survived this step and were able to get the navigation software to run, you are in for an unpleasant surprise: you cannot navigate directly to addresses in Palm's Contacts. Instead, you must re-enter each address from scratch. You can then add the address to Favorites, but I found no way to delete from Favorites. Compare this to Garmin's nice integration of navigation software with Palm software in their iQue 3600 model. The voice directions are terse and occasionally misleading. On one occasion the device switched off its voice directions on its own and it took me a while before I noticed this. I could count many other disadvantages of Tomtom's navigation software w.r.t. to Garmin, but I think the above examples are sufficient.
Not compatible with OS X 2005-04-12
This product sounds cool, but don't believe the statement that is can be used with OS X. The Palm Desktop software supports OS X. The TomTom GPS navigation software, however, requires Windows.
There is no way to know this from the outside of the box!
Excellent user interface. Quick rerouting 
2005-01-23
User Interface of Tom Tom Navigator included is best I have seen.
Most of the features can be used with fingres. Thus this can be used very well with the limited real estate available on Palm Zire 72.Reroutings are very quick. Everything including mountings come included in the pak. Speker volume of palm is loud enough even with the radio on. I could even load NY NJ CT maps on the included 64 MB card. This could have been larger without increasing the price substantially.
Voice prompts are good but do not give road number or names or exit numbers. Names I understand is difficult to achive without that irritating robotic tone but numbers I believe should be possible.
3D map display I though was more of a gimmick. But this does make map display more readable when driving.
Reason I have given 4 stars is inability to use palm addresses which instead need to be entered again in navigation software.
Other problem is you have very little control over routing. In simplyfying Interface features such as prefer highways / local roads / avoid toll roads / shortest paths are not available.You can control it a bit using Travel Via option. But then again only one via can be entered. Find alternative is another way of controlling rerouting. Avoid roadblocks is a nice feature available.
Overall a very nice and usable product even on Palm.
