IBM WorkPad z50 Handheld

I've hesitated to submit a review on the z50 WorkPad, but after returning two units which went dead in the water within 10 days of receipt, I feel I should share my disappointment.

IBM's great reputation for manufacturing quality products suggests their products shouldn't be like this.

The first unit (purchased online from PC Wonders in Whippany, NJ in early-March), failed the first evening I worked with it. It was absolutely DEAD. Removing and returning the main and reserve batteries, pushing the reset button and rebooting the thing would not revive it.

I returned it to the distributor on March 13 on an RMA (return material authorization) they gave me. They said a replacement unit would be forthcoming in 48 hours after receipt. Three telephone calls and four email messages, all unanswered, were beginning to severely try my patience. I finally got a call back to one of my voice mail message. They finally sent a replacement on April 5, which was then mistakenly delivered to a neighbor's front porch two blocks away, who was wintering over in Florida and had not returned. My wife found it while driving around the neighborhood, suspecting this might have happened., on April 11.

One week later, the unit went toes up again. Nothing I did would revive it. This time, PC Wonders said the thing was past their 30 day return period and I needed to work with IBM for a repair or replacement. I called the IBM customer service people and asked them for a refund, since I had now lost all interest in the whole product. They said they could only repair or replace it.

IBM, to their credit, did air ship a padded return carton with a prepaid Airborne Express label that arrived the next day. I returned the carton via Airborne on May 2. I have not received a replacement yet, but we're now about 2 months into this fiasco and I still haven't spent 3 quality hours with a unit that will stay alive.

Maybe it's a great little unit as many reviewers have noted, but my experience has not been a good one.