Sony, HP and Handspring had better take note – Palm has just rewritten the PDA rules. Just in time for Christmas, Palm has unleashed a stylish, lightweight and fully featured PDA that blasts the sub-$700 opposition away – by hundreds of dollars.

The first broken rule is the design. The Zire looks as though it could have been made by Apple, with its clean, white fascia uncluttered by buttons. Only the Calendar and Address Book buttons survive, along with the vital up and down keys. This will cause a problem with third-party apps that assume the lost buttons' existence, but otherwise makes the Zire easier to use.

Another sign that Palm is targeting the less demanding user is the specification. Forget 66MHz processors and 16MB of RAM – the Zire includes a mere 16MHz chip and 2MB of memory. And there's no memory slot for adding more. The slower processor means that the Zire seems slightly leisurely compared to say, a new Sony Clie, but if you just want a simple organiser the Zire's specification is fine. The lack of a memory slot also helps Palm keep the Zire to a respectable 14mm thick, and it's the lightest Palm ever, weighing just 106g.

The screen itself is easy to read, whether in bright sunlight or in subdued office conditions. It's mono, and there's no backlight, but what do you expect for $239? Also note the lack of a docking cradle. Instead, the Zire uses a USB cable for hooking up to your PC and a separate power supply for recharging the battery.

Yes, the m150 doesn't use AAA batteries, instead it relies on an internal Lithium-Ion unit. Nevertheless, so long as you take the power supply with you on longer journeys it's a great solution. We used the Zire intensively for several days and there was still no sign of the battery running dry.

So would we recommend it? Well, power users will be frustrated by the lack of memory and should wait to see what Palm produces under its newly announced Tungsten brand. But for everyone else, the Zire is a bargain. Buy it.