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Palm is showing that color is in with the debut of its spring lineup Monday, introducing the M130 entry-level handheld and the premium M515 model at roughly the same prices that monochrome units cost in the past.

At $279, the Palm M130 is the lowest-priced color PDA with an expansion slot on the market. With its rounded plastic case, it resembles its predecessor, the monochrome-screen M125, and like the M125, it has 8MB of memory. At $399, the M515 has the same hard-metal case as the current M505 model; it also has a color display and 16MB of memory.

Both handhelds will be available for sale on Thursday. Both have SD card expansion slots and wireless capabilities using the Bluetooth Secure Digital Input/Output (SDIO) card, which is priced separately at $129. The new offerings complement Palm's wireless-ready I705 handset, released in January.

Higher Color, Lower Price

Both of the new handhelds boast 65,000-color displays. The backlit color display of the Palm M130 is bright--comparatively brighter indoors than even its $399 M515 sibling. What differentiates the pair is screen size and technology: The M130's 2-by-2-inch screen is a quarter-inch smaller in length and width than the M515's.

Besides being a little smaller, the M130's screen is less readable in sunlight than the M515's. The backlight is not adjustable: It's always on when the unit is powered up. Though this means shorter battery life, in ordinary use that should not be an issue, because the included rechargeable lithium ion battery is topped off each time you put the device in the included USB synching cradle. The M130 is 4.8 inches high, 3.1 inches wide, and 0.9 inches thick.

The M130 is part of the 100 series that was designed with the mass market in mind, reflected in its more affordable price, according to David Christopher, Palm's senior director of product management.

Sleek and Powerful

The new M515's improved, user-controllable backlighting and sharp screen visibility make it both aesthetically and functionally appealing. Modeled on the wildly popular Palm V, the M515 has an active-matrix color screen, like the M130's, that can show up to 65,000 colors. The screen is brighter, but the colors don't seem to be. However, text legibility on the M515 is exceptional both indoors and in direct sunlight due to the reflective nature of the display.

Both the M515 and the M130 offer a choice of vibrating, sound, and LED alarms, but only the M515 has Flash memory, which makes OS software upgrades easy. If the 16MB of memory is not enough for extra programs and data, the SD card slot handles both memory cards and third-party applications, as well as appliances such as modems and cameras. The M515 weighs just 4.9 ounces and is a sleek 4.5 inches high, 3.1 inches wide, and 0.5 inches thick.

"The M515 is for professional and executive customers who use corporate databases and run large applications," Palm's Christopher said.

Both Palm models come bundled with DataViz's Documents to Go for viewing, editing, and creating Word- and Excel-compatible files and viewable PowerPoint files, as well as MGI PhotoSuite Mobile Edition for storing, viewing, and sharing video clips and still images.

Extras and Assessments

Palm's $129 Bluetooth SDIO card is a stand-alone product that is already available in most international markets, the company says; multilanguage versions are scheduled to be available April 4. The Bluetooth card enables users to create a "personal area network," the company says, whereby consumers can wirelessly send data from their handheld to their Bluetooth-enabled mobile phone, laptop, or printer.

Rumors about Palm's new products prompted PDA users to dissect the offerings in online chat rooms even before they were officially announced Monday, with mixed reactions.

One user, for instance, wrote that he was "annoyed" because he had rushed out to buy the M505 and was disappointed with the screen, only to see improvements made on the new M515.

Another user, however, wrote that she likes the improved screen and memory on the M515.

The message boards will surely be even more abuzz with commentary when the products hit the shelves this Thursday.

Scarlet Pruitt of the IDG News Service contributed to this report.

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