The 72 carries the Zire aesthetic further with sleek body and bright 320 x 320 pixel color display, framed in metallic blue and silver. A trio of multimedia must-haves are immediately apparent: a headphone jack, a slot for both SD and MMC memory cards and a 1.2-megapixel camera that can also shoot low-res video.

If you've got a Bluetooth-equipped PC, the 72's USB jack isn't even necessary. During my tests, I never once plugged it in. Of course, Bluetooth is convenient only once it's set up. My PC uses a Bluetooth hub by Logitech, and at the beginning it was hard to get the PC and the PDA on the same page. Now, they're old friends. Also, you must keep your charger handy because Bluetooth can drain power.

Fans of the Tungsten line should note that Bluetooth isn't the only thing trickling down into more affordable Zire models. Documents to Go, a program built to handle Word and Excel documents, is included, though you have to install it yourself. It's a bit clumsy — you can't always tell what an edited Word doc will look like when you send it back to the PC — but it does a nice job preserving file formats and saves you the trouble of having to download (and maybe pay for) a program of equal or lesser functionality.

The RealOne MP3 player keeps things simple: it instantly finds MP3 files you drag to your memory card, provided you've copied them to a folder titled "Audio." To build playlists, all you need to do is check the songs you want, then name the list. At a time when many software makers prevent you from going portable with music — even tracks you own outright — this came as a relief.

The only real disappointment is the camera. It turns out images of 1280 x 960 pixel resolution, yes, but to be honest they look better on the small handheld screen than they do on a computer monitor. The focus is just not sharp enough, and shadows are inexplicably greenish. There's also no easy way to take a self portrait.

Photography aside, the Zire 72 is a great machine offered for a good price. If $299 is still too rich for your blood, look into the Zire 31. Blue like its big bro, it's the first $149 PDA to have both a color screen and an MP3 player.