Get Free m105 with an m500

Posted By: Ed Thursday, June 6, 2002 1:41:31 PM

Palm Inc. is now offering a free Palm m105 with the purchase of an m500. The m500 must be purchased between today and July 8.

Palm said last week that demand for its handhelds this spring has been weaker than expected. Sales and rebates like this one are classic methods for spurring sales, especially now when many Father's Day and graduation gifts are being bought.

The m500 is a mid-range monochrome model with 8 MB of RAM. It sells for $300. The m105 is Palm's current low-end model, selling for $150. It also has 8 MB of memory and a monochrome screen.

Both of these products are more than a year old and it is possible Palm is using this promotion to reduce its inventory of them before discontinuing them, though this would leave the company without a low-end handheld.

The m500 can be bought from a retail store, online, or from Palm itself. The receipt , proof of purchase, and a rebate form need to be sent to Palm before August 8. Palm will ship the m105 within 8-10 weeks. This offer is good only in the United States and Canada.

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Still $300 for a Palm m500?

I.M. Anonymous @ 6/6/2002 2:00:17 PM #
That's what a Clie T615 costs, and it has many more features!

I guess maybe for a brand-new PDA user to get themselves and their spouse connected, this could be a good starter package. Even then, though, they'd probably enjoy the PDA experience more with color and a little more versatility.

Palm needs to get its product line out of the doldrums. They are still coasting on the "buzz" of the first Pilots.

RE: Still $300 for a Palm m500?
I.M. Anonymous @ 6/7/2002 11:45:36 AM #
Who would want a sony that the batery life last's 20-30% less than the 500, also to make matters worse for sony there memory run's at 2.4 mb per second the secure digital card on palm run's at 12.5 mb per second!!

What's the point?

I.M. Anonymous @ 6/6/2002 2:12:14 PM #
It seems they have too many of these lying around and can't figure out a way to get rid of them.

They should offer the M500 for 199 or less and that would be a nicer deal. The M105 is useless.

RE: What's the point?
I.M. Anonymous @ 6/6/2002 2:33:43 PM #
While i essentially agree with you - i still would not call the m105 'useless'. Afterall - i has all of the features and functionality of the m500 - just no sd expansion and it comes in a larger form factor. OK - the OS is 3.5 Not 4.1 - but essentially you can run the same software that you can on ANY palm. Its has 8 meg RAM - same as the m500/m505.
Having 2 PDAs is better than one
I.M. Anonymous @ 6/6/2002 6:12:17 PM #
Looks to me Palm thinks that is the way to go!
RE: What's the point?
I.M. Anonymous @ 6/6/2002 7:11:18 PM #
Well then by their theory, it is excellent for people to have 5 PDA's. If Palm reduced the m500 to $150, it'd be much better. WTF would I do with an m105 besides selling it...

I bet there will be a lot of cheap auctions on eBay for the m105 in about 8 weeks... LOL

RE: What's the point?
I.M. Anonymous @ 6/7/2002 2:45:35 AM #
Now I understand. Palm is doing this as a promotion for Father's day. So who get the m500 and who get the m105? Palm is expecting a lot of smart dad and dumb son.

Looking foreward, this is a good move

crustyedgeofinnovation @ 6/6/2002 2:31:18 PM #
"though this would leave the company without a low-end handheld"

I would think that the reason Palm is doing this is in order to make a clear low end handheld category. The m100 and m105 were low end last year, now they are absolutely bottom of the barrel. Palm is now classifying the m125 and m130 as the new low enders. The m515 is probably a mid range, while we must still wait for a top level handheld. I don't think the m105 should be considered part of the low end models, much less the only low end model.

RE: Looking foreward, this is a good move
I.M. Anonymous @ 6/6/2002 3:07:12 PM #
They should start selling the m500 at $200 or less, considering HS has their edge going for $200 price range also.
RE: Looking foreward, this is a good move
I.M. Anonymous @ 6/6/2002 3:34:09 PM #
This is also a potentially good move for a small business, if it wanted to hand these out to its sales force. Of course, it'd be nicer if it was an m125 and m500, then they'd share common cradles/Universal Connector, etc.

Still, it's still bound to be a good deal for some folks out there that don't read PIC/follow the buzz like we do. If nothing else, it'll help Palm win over the "joe 6-pack" crowd who think that "2 Palms for $300" > one Sony or Handspring or PPC.

RE: Looking foreward, this is a good move
I.M. Anonymous @ 6/6/2002 7:55:33 PM #
Man, you should put your feet on the ground!

Firs of all, the m500 is a useful handheld for most of the people, and the m105 offers practically the same functionality -except from screen size, overal size and expandibility. OS 4 vrs. OS 3.5? Only us here know the diference.

Of course Iīd love a clie and high-res and mp3, but thatīs because I love those gadgets, I donīt really need them to have my work done. And for the people I know, thatīs what they expect from a handheld: to get their work done.

After all that, two good pdaīs for $300? Not a bad deal

B&W is dead

I.M. Anonymous @ 6/6/2002 3:14:38 PM #
Black-and-white handhelds are dead, and this is the proof. With color models from Palm, Handspring, Sony and others, no one wants B&W anymore. I suspect we won't see anyone make a new B&W Palm OS device.
RE: B&W is dead
I.M. Anonymous @ 6/6/2002 3:18:55 PM #
unless it goes for under $40, than there are another enormous unexplored market.
RE: B&W is dead
I.M. Anonymous @ 6/6/2002 5:17:55 PM #
hmmm. $300 .

Should I buy an m500 with a low resolution screen and monochrome display or a Sony Clie with a high resolution screen and a color display for the same price.

Decisions, decisions

I guess I do get a free m105, kind of like the prize in a crackerjack box as a bonus

RE: B&W is dead
I.M. Anonymous @ 6/6/2002 9:56:25 PM #
> Black-and-white handhelds are dead [...]

With greyscale devices outselling color ones, yes, that would be the obvious conclusion ... for a troll/idiot.

RE: B&W is dead
I.M. Anonymous @ 6/7/2002 9:36:17 AM #
yeas but nobody is selling B/W more than $170 these days. Not Sony, nor Handspring. So It's insane to think Palm can seel a B/W gadget at $300.

On a side note, B/W gadget might outsell on unit count, but on revenue it doesn't even get the 30% mark

RE: B&W is dead
I.M. Anonymous @ 6/7/2002 10:57:43 AM #
>> Black-and-white handhelds are dead [...]

>With greyscale devices outselling color ones, yes, that would be the obvious conclusion ... for a troll/idiot.

OK, maybe "dying" is a better choice of tenses than "dead." Let's face it, color is cheap, fun and easier on the eyes. Who wants B&W?!

RE: B&W is dead
Bartman007 @ 6/7/2002 11:43:32 AM #
I hate to be a stickler, but......

Handspring sells the Treo 180 series from a lot more than $170. Palm sells the i705 for more. Handera sells the Handera 330 for more. Kyocera sells theirs for more. Symbol sells theirs for a s***load more.
The average Joe does not need hi-res or color, and what's more, the average Mother (buying it as a Father's Day or Grad present) does not know about all of these little features.

And for all you whiners (this doesn't have color, or hi-res, or mp3....) Then don't buy it. If I had the money I would buy the m500 and get the m105 and eBay them both for quite a bit more.


- Bartman007
owner of a flashed Clie 710c

Jacking up statistic?

I.M. Anonymous @ 6/6/2002 6:13:35 PM #
I wonder if in next quarter report because of this Palm will announce a happy press release about expanding market share and ever increasing unit sales.
RE: Jacking up statistic?
I.M. Anonymous @ 6/6/2002 9:36:22 PM #
I think you are the only non-troll in this room. Congratulations. People don't understand sometimes what a company has available to them.
RE: Jacking up statistic?
popko @ 6/6/2002 10:08:15 PM #
Maybe that's what this offer is for :) But I would rather see Palm give out stuff like keyboards and SD cards when one buys a M500 instead of another Palm. To me (and many other the single users out there), accessories are more attractive than a second low-end PDA. But than again, if Palm's got more m105s then it can handle ... this might just be the best way to get rid of the execess.

---

To the guy/girl/it above me, since your post has nothing to do with the topic, wouldn't you be the troll here?

2 bad don't make 1 good

I.M. Anonymous @ 6/6/2002 9:07:46 PM #
Yeah, this is a deal alright. A deal that lets two users know how bad the product is. Not exactly the best way to introduce Palm's product lineup especially to new users. For existing users, most would have already moved up to something more powerful or the newer ones. I doubt the majority would "trade down" to lower specc'ed ones.

I am indeed surprised Palm didn't try to palm their old stock off in Third World countries for a song (pun intended) like most companies do. Or maybe they are doing that. But I agree with some posters here. They should have just sold it really cheap instead one of their lackeys is spinning it to make it sound that it is their "strategy" not to permanently knock handheld prices down.

Well, it won't knock the prices down but it sure will knock their brand value down further.

RE: 2 bad don't make 1 good
I.M. Anonymous @ 6/6/2002 9:22:53 PM #
In a strictly work environment, if they're being bought with company funds, then this is an excellent deal. We have quite a few 105's where I work at for STRICTLY WORK, they function quite well.

-NK

RE: 2 bad don't make 1 good
melopsittacus @ 6/7/2002 8:53:16 AM #
I don't know, the m500 is a rather nice model - a Palm V with more memory and a card slot. Color still does not have much functionality on a handheld. Anyway, after thinking about it, this isn't a bad move for Palm, not a good move, but not a bad move either.
1)Every marketer knows that offering something for "free" moves product more than lowering the price. Which sounds better "2 for the price of one" or "50% off"?
2)It might get a few first-time users or get people to upgrade. Either way, this enables Palm to potentially sell more stuff (cards, for instance).
3)It should help then clear out inventory (e.g., all those unsold m105's out there, which Palm would otherwise have to take back from places like BestBuy, etc. might be gotten rid of).

RE: 2 bad don't make 1 good
I.M. Anonymous @ 6/7/2002 12:33:51 PM #
>> Color still does not have much functionality on a handheld. <<

While I agree with most of your post, this statement is laughable. Color, now that developers are working with it in mind, adds functionality to almost every app, and it's not simply about pictures anymore. Sounds like you're a greyscale owner who's offended that people suggest your model's ilk is dying.

Crazy Cradle?

I.M. Anonymous @ 6/7/2002 1:23:26 AM #
By the way, can someone tell me if the crazy cradle problem affected the m500 too? Or, was that just the m505?

If it did, will Palm ship the crazy cradle with this purchase or have they rectified it?

Not a bad idea really.

Strider_mt2k @ 6/7/2002 5:39:17 AM #
Palm does get to reduce the stock of items that probably have low interest now, but they get something else too.
Whoever ends up with the M500 may just become interested in SD/MM cards, or Universal Connector-based accessories!
And whoever gets that M105 might just want a cooler faceplate.

Not a bad way to move products AND accessories if you ask me.

RE: Actually a stupid idea really.
I.M. Anonymous @ 6/7/2002 12:36:32 PM #
>> Not a bad way to move products AND accessories if you ask me. <<

Only if the customer is gullible and/or stupid. This promotion essentially assumes that the buyer has a second person in mind to whom the m105 will be given. Otherwise, the buyer would have to be an idiot. Why would you want two Palms that force you to buy complete different accessories? Why would you actually then buy the completely different accessories? As the saying goes, "A fool and his money are soon parted," and it would only be fools who would take this deal solely for themselves.

RE: Not a bad idea really.
I.M. Anonymous @ 6/7/2002 1:27:09 PM #
> This promotion essentially assumes that the buyer has a second
> person in mind to whom the m105 will be given.

It turns out that many people have friends and family. And its graduation time and Father's Day is in a couple weeks.

Seems to me the m500 would be the gift and you'd keep the m105 for yourself. The m105 won't be delivered for a couple of months.

Or even better. Buy an m500 for your husband and give the m105 to your kid to take to college.

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