Palm 2 MB Upgrade
Lastly, we come to the most recently announced upgrade board, the Palm 2 MB Upgrade. I swear that our marketing folks have a knack for understatement when they name these upgrades, because this board does so much more than just bring your current PalmPilot or Pilot organizer to 2 MB of memory. Replacing your existing board with this upgrade gives you virtually all the features of our third-generation Palm III connected organizer.

I probably don't need to spout the virtues of the Palm III organizer for you unless you've been living in a cave for the last couple of months, and if so, you can check the back issues of PalmPower magazine to get up to speed. The Palm 2 MB Upgrade gives you all of the software features of the Palm III organizer, including the Palm OS 3.0 operating system and the Palm Desktop 3.0 PIM software for your connected PC.

Like the Pager Card above, the Palm 2 MB Upgrade comes with a special memory door for the back of your unit for the small infrared port that allows you to send and receive data between your unit and any other Palm III organizer (or earlier device equipped with a Palm 2 MB Upgrade card as well).

No, you won't get the newly designed hardware, the new cradle, flip cover or stylus, and Pilot 1000 and 5000 owners will still be without the backlight feature introduced with the PalmPilot organizer line, but it is a great way to get the latest features without severing ties with an old friend. The upgrade will be available in June for $129.

There you goÐ a bunch of different ways to keep up with the Joneses. But hey, don't let me stop you from buying a brand new Palm organizer. These upgrades don't necessarily give you a feature-for-feature match between a newer organizer and your own. Your Pilot 1000 will never get those sexy Palm III curves or light up your life like a PalmPilot Professional can with its backlight feature. But if you still want to stick to the one that's been faithful to you, now you know how to stay competitive among your office's PalmPiloteers!

Chris Brown is the webmaster for technical support on the PalmPilot web site at http://www.palmpilot.com.