MobileTechReview.com Discussion Forums: palmOne LifeDrive Mobile Manager Review

Lisa-
First off let me tell you that I have read practically every review out there since I am really interested in this pda and I really liked yours. It covers all the things I need to know. I do have a couple of questions though, and I was wondering since you do mention that you have been using the Lifedrive while on the road, maybe you have some more answers. All the reviews I read have really confused me since many of them have totally contradictory statements.
1) While I am really interested in palm based PDAs I was wondering how this matches up to a PPC such as the Dell Axim X50v. I realized that for the same money I could buy an axim and a 4gb microdrive. Would it experience the same lags as the lifedrive does while accessing the drive?
2) A lot of the other reviews mention stuttering during high action scenes during video playback. I currently use TCPMP and I realized that probably some of the other reviews were using the media player that comes with the palm which would account for the different results. I was wondering if you experienced any choppiness while viewing high action scenes.
3) Many of the reviews also mention problems with audio stuttering while playing music especially when letting it run in the backround. I was wondering if this is a software problem or a hardware one. I currently use aeroplayer and don't have any problems with it. Some even call the lifedrive "unusable" while playing in the background due to how sluggish it is since all the RAM is used up to buffer the music. Is it unusable and would a different program alleviate this problem?
4) Other reviews experienced a lot of problems with pauses in wifi access. Have you had any problems with wifi just pausing for a while before it resumes with what you are doing? (Once again, I have the same question. Would this be a hardware or software problem?)
5)I'm curious to find out how the hard buttons hold up as far as games are concerned. While I realize that games aren't the only reason why people purchase a PDA, I personally use it quite a bit for games. Also, in the games department one reviewer had trouble with choppiness in bejeweled 2. I was wondering if you have had any problems with games doing this.
6)I am really worried about the whole speed issue. There are many reviews including yours that mention the lag but don't make a big deal out of it. There are others that talk about 6 second delays while switching between apps. They say that since the harddrive has to "spin up" it takes a while to check anything once it has spun down. While I don't mind a 1 or 2 second delay, a 6 or 8 second delay while switching apps will really get on my nerves. From what I understand, everything is stored on the harddrive. If I have not checked my contacts for 3 days and I tap on the address book function will it take a long time to boot up? Or are we talking 2-3 seconds. I can't imagine that it is SO much slower than my current PDA (see below), but that's why I am asking.
7) Last but not least, I am currently using a Sony Clie TJ-37 which runs on Palm OS 5.2. You mention compatibility issues between 3rd party apps and the lifedrive. Is it safe to assume that anything that works on a Palm OS 5.2 device will work on a 5.4 device? Or is there a big possibility that some of my programs and games that work on my Clie will not work on a lifedrive?

Sorry for all the questions. I really want to buy it tomorrow and after reading all those reviews (about 150 pages printed out!!!) I was left confused by the diversity in results between the reviews. I would appreciate any help you can offer in clearing up the matter. Thanks!