For the most part, everything looked really good. There were a few titles that didn't impress me much, but they were ports of some retro games. Figure I shows some video playback on the Zodiac.

FIGURE I


The Zodiac's video processor gives smooth, clear video playback. Roll over picture for a larger image.

Because the Zodiac runs the Palm OS, there are literally tens of thousands of applications already available, and I've only found a couple that have given me any trouble. Unfortunately, most of the standard Palm apps aren't able to take complete advantage of the larger screen and will only display in 320x320 rather than the Zodiac's full 480x320.

The Yamaha audio processor and dual speakers do a great job with the Zodiac's sound. It seems to be tuned to provide the best results when about a foot and a half from the user, which is just about right for gaming and video. You have to be careful about cranking it up too loud though and causing distortion, as those little speakers can likely only take so much. You wouldn't want to blow them. We haven't heard any specific incidences of speaker damage, but I'd recommend judicious caution.

The included MP3 player does an adequate job. It's OK if you don't have anything better, but there are several third-party MP3 players with amplifier/equalizers that will do a much better job with the Zodiac's audio processor.

The controls on the Zodiac really are unique when it comes to handhelds. The device's architecture fits very well not only with gaming, but is very ergonomic for general use as well.

The dual SD slots are very nice. They allow me to have a lot of extra data and apps available without having to change cards. Since one of the slots is SDIO optimized, peripherals such as GPS, digital cameras, and WiFi can be added.

I've been able to check out just about every aspect of the Zodiac, including the Bluetooth. What can I say about that? Either it works or it doesn't. It does. And I got just as much range from the Zodiac as I did with my T2.

By means of a loan-out from David, our Editor-in-Chief, I was able to check how the Zodiac works with the Palm/Think Outside wireless keyboard. I did find one Zodiac-specific glitch, and there are some general keyboard driver issues with WordSmith.

I've managed to find workarounds and keyboard shortcuts for most of the keyboard issues I encountered, and Think Outside tells me that a Zodiac-tuned driver is in the works. Hopefully they'll address the WordSmith issues as well.

After an initial couple of days to adjust, I can now say that I'm as comfortable with the Zodiac as I was with my Tungsten T2.

Omens
I must confess, I really don't care for the manner in which Tapwave chose to mount the stylus. It's held in a groove on the back of the machine by two rubber clips. Already, after only two weeks, one of them seems to have loosened up a bit.

In my routine usage, I typically remove and replace my stylus quite a bit, and I predict that within about six months it will probably no longer stay in the clips.

I would much prefer a stylus well and spring-loaded stylus like on the Palm Tungsten line, even if it meant an increase in the profile of the unit.