As expected, Palm officially announced two new color handhelds today. The two new handhelds, the Palm m515 and the Palm m130 are poised to bring color to the masses. With its moderate price point of $279 the m130 is sure to make a splash with the mid-level consumer, while the m515 looks to be a hit with the higher end market with its $399 price tag.
Palm m130
The Palm m130 is the first handheld in the m100 series of devices to feature a color screen. As has been promised in various rumors that have been circulating the m130 is basically the Palm m125 with a color display. The basic shape of the m100 series handheld is kept in tact, as is the ability to change the faceplate of the handheld to give it a personal feeling.
The m130 utilizes Palm's universal converter enabling it to make use of a wide variety of peripheral devices already in production. The ability to use older peripheral devices is nice if you're going to be upgrading from an older m100 series handheld to the new Palm m130.
The m125 is also the first handheld in the m100 series family to feature a built-in rechargeable battery. Battery life has always been an issue when dealing with color screens, but Palm claims that the battery in the m130 is capable of going a week between charges based on normal usage.
At a very reasonable price of $279 the m130 is the cheapest color handheld on the market. If you've been thinking of upgrading to a color screen, but didn't want to spend the cash for a higher end device the m130 may be exactly what you've been looking for.
