Palmcricket News

21 December 2005 - A first look at the new Palm Z22.

Palm Z22 Multi-Media put Palm's latest offering, the Z22, under scrutiny by scoring the First Test between Australia and South Africa, played at Perth from 16 to 20 December, 2005, directly from the live Channel 9 TV broadcast (click here to download the full Palmcricket score-sheet).

As previously reported under FAQ, Palm Model this unit's screen blanks out in direct sunlight, making it unsuitable for scoring while umpiring. However, as a low cost unit, the the Z22 can still fill a niche for scoring matches in the shade or overcast conditions. The match also provided an extended opportunity to test the new wagon-wheel capabilities built into Palmcricket 1.30 (beta).

Results:

Battery life:
- Days 1 and 2: Scored with the Z22 continuously from start of play to lunch on day 2, battery failing after 8 hours 23 minutes, 110 overs. On day 1, there was a break of 11 minutes between the Australian and South African first innings from 17:20 to 17:31 and play was extended until 18:05.
- Day 2: Recharged the Z22 for 3 hours, while scoring the session after lunch with a Tungsten E2.
- Days 2 and 3: After tea, scored four sessions with the Z22. On day 2, there was 10 minute break between innings from 17:00 to 17:10 and play was extended until 18:00, on both days 2 and 3. Battery expired at 17:30 on day 3, after 8 hours 24 minutes, 112 overs.
- Overnight recharge.
- Days 4 and 5: Scored with the Z22 continuously from start of play on day 4 until lunch on day 5. Tea was taken from 14:46 to 15:06 directly, after Australia's declaration, with play extended until 17:41 when bad light stopped play, on day 4. Battery life 8 hours 17 minutes, 114.4 overs.
Other comments:
- The flash-ram memory is a great positive in that nothing is lost after battery expiry (as for the Tungsten E2). After 5 minutes charging, the unit came up immediately where it left off on the Palmcricket score-sheet, before battery expiry. The match could then be archived and beamed across to the Tungsten E2 for standby scoring while fully charging the Z22.
- Another positive is that the reset pin has been improved so that one can do a soft reset directly with the stylus, rather than the old trusty bent paper-clip.
- Palm's world clock allowed one to switch easily to Western Australian time for real-time scoring, from half-way across the world. The match was scored in South Africa, with a 6 hour time difference between Perth and Johannesburg. This feature of course is also present on low-end models such as the Palm Zire 21, so nothing new here.
- Wagon-wheel co-ordinates were recorded for every scoring shot, and this worked well, but probably shortened the battery life by about 5%. Revision 1.30 comes with a preference screen where one can enable or disable wagon-wheels, so one should switch off this feature when remaining battery life becomes critical.
- The full colour capabilities of the Z22 affect only the wagon-wheel display. Other than that, there is really no need for colour, when scoring with Palmcricket.

Overall impressions:
The Z22 is a useful little unit, with positives comprising low cost, sufficient battery life, flash-ram and improved soft reset button. The only drawback is the zero visibility of the screen display in direct sunlight. As a result, it is completely unsuitable for scoring while umpiring. The display is quite acceptable, however, when scoring in the shade or indoors. Under such conditions, the Z22 can be used with confidence.