Customer Reviews
Somebody should file a class action lawsuit against Palm 
2008-04-26
Somebody should file a class action lawsuit against Palm for selling the defective Palm Lifedrive. My second (a replacement) Lifefedrive just froze in the middle of use, just like the first one. I had the same problem with the first one after only 2 days, got the second one. I figured the Hotsync caused the problem, so I never used the Hotsync nor additional softwares on the second and it lasted about a year. Shame to Palm for selling junk product and offering no support. Negative 4 stars for this product and Palm customer service.
3 yrs and still going..... 
2008-03-29
I've had my LifeDrive since it came out and love it. Sure, the wifi is slow but I don't use it that often. I imagine the newer models are faster if you really need it for the internet. I have had times when it froze on me but I was able to track down the fixes on the discusssion groups and get it going again. The problems were usually caused by my installing incompatible software. I just recently lost the ability to use the stylus for input making the unit unusable. But I kept messing with it with resets and reboots and was finally able to get the stylus setting software to take the input and it's working great now. I know that it's just a matter of time tho as none of these things last forever and I was sad to find they aren't making it still. Guess I'll have to go for the TX when at last my beloved LifeDrive dies.
I own a "good" one. 2008-03-20
I was one of the few lucky ones with this item.
The Good:
1. Works well with Franklin-Covey Plan Plus software.
2. Works well with Bluetooth keyboard.
3. Wifi and bluetooth work.
4. Hard drive space.
5. Documents-to-go software works well for me. May be too simplistic for some....
6. Holds many tunes.
7. Music sounds very good--I don't need an Ipod, and Palms manipulate data, also.
8. Syncs very well.
9. Battery is very good, I think.
10.Can view photos very well.
11.Most updated Palm software works.
12.Very good screen.
13.Huge selection of software for Palms.
14.Persistent memory on all Palms from Tungsten E2 and better.
The Bad:
1. Soft reset requires an agonizingly long time (many minutes).
2. Often requires soft reset if hasn't been used for a few days.
3. Versamail now crashes because of too many messages (may be my fault--shouldn't do this, though--may be software flaw, also).
4. Headphone jack is in wrong place (on bottom instead of top), and it becomes loose.
5. Picky about SD/MMC cards. My older ADATA 2GB MMC card won't work (it did work in the Tungsten E). As I understand it, SD/MMC cards that work currently are limited to 2GB. I haven't really needed them, however.
6. Not very good at multitasking. May automatically soft-reset.
7. Included Blazer web browser software is out-of-date and limiting (warnings to update the browser from servers may appear). As far as I know, upgrade is not yet possible.
8. Wifi uses up battery much more quickly.
9. Sync cable uses stupid proprietary short and insecure connectors for both syncing and charging.
10.Can be pokey.
11.Most useful software uses up my wallet--not much useful freeware is available for Palms.
The Ugly:
1. I can't believe that anyone obtains a rich experience in web browsing with any PDA or PDA/phone.
2. Bulky and heavy.
3. Good physical protection is essential.
4. I fear the inevitability of battery replacement: Palms always require unsoldering leads of old batteries/resoldering leads of new batteries to the PCB. Obviously, Palm wants me to buy a new Palm product when the battery dies: This is bad for the environment and my finances. Battery replacement is risky. Fixing a Palm (out of warranty) is equivalent to purchasing new in costliness.
5. Palm's branded accessories are pricey and often inferior (their pricey keyboard still uses infrared instead of bluetooth).
6. The Lifedrive before it was discontinued was really pricey.
7. The consensus is that the Palm T|X is superior, and, it always was cheaper than the Lifedrive before the latter was discontinued.
8. I wouldn't trust my Lifedrive to store important photos and then to delete photos on my camera memory card for more space--I would use the Lifedrive soley as a backup and keep the good photos on my card as well.
9. It's definitely best to check for compatibility of software before purchasing and installing. Not all Palm-compatible software is compatible with Lifedrive.
10. Palm replaces faulty units with refurbs.
11. Bundled 3rd party software for Word, Excel docs, etc., is not absolutely compatible: Such docs are not "native."
12. Very difficult to get Linux on these or even to sync with Linux. (I could sync with the Tungsten E in Linux.) Definitely, neither action is straightforward for Lifedrive.
13. It's best not to sync with legacy Palm apps (from an old Palm). Many people said this ruined their Lifedrives--again, check for compatibility and upgrade to the latest versions.
14. I'm not sure that I would trust a refurb Lifedrive; prices are getting tempting, however.
15. Pocket PC users are correct: Graffiti (Palm's shorthand for writing data with the stylus into a Palm doc) is "baggage." Yeah, I'm "biased": I can do it, but I'm not very good at it! Graffiti definitely has vocal adherents--I congratulate them for successes! The Lifedrive uses Graffiti 2 (What's wrong with simply writing in plain hand or cursive?)
OK. It seems that PDAs (from both Pocket PC makers and Palm) are among many complex but flawed devices that have many advocates, detractors, lemons, and successes: They are all flaky, at least to some extent. Palm was right (finally) to pull the Lifedrive (they waited far too long). They should instead upgrade and enhance the T|X so that larger SD/MMC cards are usable (such as 4GB and 8GB and even larger). Even more to the point: Perhaps, Palm should combine many of the consumer-friendly concepts of the Lifedrive with those of the relatively reliable, much better liked T|X, to create a new, better, more reliable, and more consumer-friendly Palm (one that's lightyears more powerful than the Z22 that's also aimed at consumers). Successfully achieving this would make the Lifedrive a distant memory (admittedly, a really painful one for many). The Lifedrive originally was a good concept that, unfortunately, failed miserably in execution: It was a noble attempt of Palm to reach out to ordinary consumers and their common needs as well to those of its normal business-oriented clientele....
skip it 2008-02-18
When it works, it works beautifully, unfortunately the older it gets the less it works, at least that's what happened to me. Mine lasted one year. It was incredibly buggy and crashed out frequently from day one (preinstalled Versamail was the biggest culprit). It takes about two to three minutes to reboot every time it crashes out on you, and after a while I just hoped that it would turn on after a crash. I installed Iambic's Agendus, which I've used various versions of since my Newton and the Lifedrive didn't like it at all. It crashed and rebooted left and right because of it. The internet browser has a bug that doesn't allow you to download anything like patches. You'll get an error message saying that your harddisk or card is full.
The last I heard the Lifedrive has been discontinued and there are no plans of a v.o 2.0. Which is a shame really, as they had the makings of a nice piece of equipment had they worked on it a little more.
Skip this one...buy Palm TX instead 
2008-02-13
I gave the LifeDrive a chance for a year. It was my 2nd Palm device. The old Tungsten E was more reliable. Even though the Tungsten E would lose data once the battery drain, I knew how to work around it...use backup software and charge it every other day. Once I knew how to work around the Tungten E's quirks then it became a reliable hardware for me. I do not know how to work around LifeDrive's quirks. The LifeDrive worked most of the time, but you always had a sense that it may not work one day and you are not clear how to fix it or prevent some issues from happening again. Sometimes it would not come on even though the day before it was fully charged. I had to charge it again for some reason. My current problem is that when I turn it on I can only see my contacts and the WiFi screen seems to be in loop (keeps flashing on and off). It will not let me use any other applications. I reset it and nothing has changed. I should have went with the Palm TX instead. Palm owes buyers an apology for creating such an expensive item that is not reliable.
Palm LifeDrive--don't get it 2008-07-13
I've been using Palm products since the original Palm Pilot, and I was thrilled with this when I received it. Then it failed. Customer service was consistently superior to Dell's or HP's, but the refurbished replacement they sent me failed. The next refurbished replacement was defective. The refurbished replacement following that was also defective. They finally sent me a new replacement. That one has just failed, but now it's out of warranty. I will not be buying another Palm product again--ever.
Palm Quality is NON existant 2008-06-20
BEWARE ... do NOT buy this or any palm handheld. I have had both an E2 and this LifeDrive and both have had loving care but both have died within a year . Palm will "graciously" repair it for $150 (plus shipping). so beware ... there is NO quality to be found here ... I suggest you look at a pocket pc or some OTHER device.
I wonder how long my luck with last???? To Bad...great concept for a product. 
2008-06-08
It is to bad that others are having such an awful time with life drive. I have had mine greater than 2 years. It has been everything I need with little problems. I like the Wi FI , pictures, and music capibilities. After reading these reviews now I am worried since it seems that it is just a matter of time before something happens to my life drive. At least I won't depend to keep anything permenate on it. My husband got it for me right after my second child was born. I use to spend hours on the internet looking up information while my baby breastfed...it was brillant for me. I viewed all my pics of him on it after I returned to work an while I was on call and missed him. I am now using the music capibilities on it with little problems. It is also nice and mobile to use the internet while letting my toddler play in the yard. It has been a wonderful mobile pda for me. I wish others had a better experience with lifedrive. I have loved mine. It saved my sanity and fed my obcession for my baby while I was away from him 24 hours while on call after I returned to work. After reading these reviews though...my experience with lifedrive seems really lucky. It will be interesting to see how long my luck lasts.
Great PDA and GPS 2008-05-26
I have been using this for a couple of years now. Great email, GPS with TomTom receiver and software - through Bluetooth. Decent MP3 player.
Adequate spreadsheet and word viewing.
Problems, Problems 2008-05-14
Owned my Lifedrive for just a couple months when it started to have problems. Had it back to Palm under warrantee 3 seperate times and they couldn't fix it. Finally they just replaced the unit with another that was "reconditioned". Just a few months later, I have the same problem again (device will not turn on).... and now the warantee is over! I know of two other lifedrive owners, and one of them is having the exact same problem. Stay away from Palm!!!
