>>My concerns about battery life were soon put to rest.<<<br><br>That’s good to know. Since I use the “desktop” software 90 percent of the time (at home and at work) as opposed to the Palm itself, and the Palm spends a great deal of time a cradle, I was sort of concerned that I’d never find out what the battery life was in normal use- only when it became an emergency.<br><br>>>I compromised by going with the m500 vs m505, reasoning that the monochrome display would be less power hungry than the color one.<<<br><br>That’s the way I’m leaning now- I have NO interest in a color screen except for the possibility of 100 percent black-on-white contrast for reading, which is an attractive thought. Unfortunately, the m505 screen was a disappointment, so may as well go with the m500.<br><br>>> I think it would be almost trivial to make a sled to use drycells for power. The transformer for the docking stations indicates a regulated output of 5vdc. A sled with 4 dry cells and less than $2 of off-the shelf parts (excluding the connector) would do the trick. With a little more effort (and a few more components) it could be done with fewer dry cells.<<<br><br>Well, that would depend on whether the recharging logic is in the cradle or in the Palm itself. I had assumed it was in the cradle since the price of cradles more than doubled when they went rechargeable, but I don’t really know... maybe it's just the cost of the brick-on-a-leash. Recharging LIon cells is trickier than NiMH (and more dangerous). If the logic is in the cradle, then what you’re proposing could be hazardous.<br><br>>>A compromise Palm model, if one wished to use replaceable dry cells, is the m125.<<<br><br>I’d much rather see a compromise of removable rechargeable cells, like a cell phone- so you could buy, charge and carry as many as you need to be comfortable for trips, without giving up the convenience of a rechargeable. This also covers the question of what happens if the cell starts to go bad…<br><br>>>Meanwhile, I prefer to NOT do without my PDA, as others have stated. If I had listened to my brother more closely years ago... I had no idea how truly useful it would be until I (almost reluctantly) got this one several months ago.<<<br><br>I got one for the lady of my life a couple of years ago.. she really didn’t want it, wasn’t that interested, but I was buying my third (not counting a Newton... and I wouldn't). Now she’s in a serious panic if she thinks there might be something wrong with it.<br>