That's right. You can actually get a PalmPilot Professional for $149. Not $199. Not $249. Not $349 or $449. Just $149.

Many of you may think "Well, the PalmPilot Professional is passe, it's old news." But think about it. I mean, think about it seriously. A large percentage of Palm device owners use just the "Big Four" applications. Another measurable percentage of Palm device users may add one or two additional applications, but never really come close to cracking that 1MB barrier. And certainly, not all Palm device users make use of beaming.

So, for the average run-of-the-mill user, for the bulk of the people out there who would use a Palm device, the PalmPilot Professional with 1MB of RAM and a fully functioning Palm OS 2.0 is just about as much Palm as many people really need. It still runs nearly all Palm software, it's pretty much the same speed as the more modern devices, and a whole lot of accessories are designed specifically for its particular shape and size. And yes, it's only $149.

This means that it's now practical to give just about anybody a Palm computer. It's no longer a big issue of "Do we invest in buying them a handheld for the office?" It's no longer an issue of "Gee, do we want to give a Palm device to the kids for their birthdays or Christmas?" At $149, it's even at a "Gee, I think I might be able to organize myself a little bit more effectively, let me go off and buy it" kind of price point. Here at ZATZ, Denise Amrich gave a $149 PalmPilot Professional as a graduation gift. At that price, it's nearly perfect.

In addition (and this is where it gets a little bit more interesting) for about $79 more, if you decide that you really do like this thing, if you decide you want to add a lot of RAM, if you decide you're going to add a lot of add-on applications, want Palm OS 3.0 or want to be able to beam things to other folks, you can add the upgrade card for a very, very low price. Of course, this is assuming you can still get your hands on an upgrade card -- PC Connection tells us they're no longer stocking these upgrades. 3Com tells us the upgrade card is currently available only while supplies last -- neither the PalmPilot Professional Edition or the 2MB upgrade are being manufactured.