Easy upgrading
I unscientifically tested the Palm IIIx by loading it full of applications that I had had no problems running on my Palm III. I encountered difficulties with only two, DB Explorer and ZDoc, both of which generated Fatal Exceptions requiring a soft reset. At the time of this writing, SwitchHack is the only application that I know of that has been rewritten for Palm OS 3.1. This experience appears to be typical -- in the week since release I have seen very few postings detailing applications with known problems.

Conclusion
If you use your Palm device intensively, have large databases or receive lots of email, or want the security of expanding your Palm's capabilities, I recommend the Palm IIIx. If you're new to the Palm world and don't anticipate the need for lots of memory, you want to impress your Palm device-toting peers, or simply admire the sleek design, choose the Palm V. Either way, you can't go wrong.

Contributing Editor Bill Mann is a freelance technology writer/instructor who has trained over 2000 people in the use of Microsoft Outlook. Check out his book, "How to Do Everything with Microsoft Office Outlook 2007" on Amazon.com. For more on Outlook, visit his website at http://www.living-with-outlook.com. You can also write him at Outlook2007@techforyou.com.