How Much Did the PalmPilot Cost in 1997?
By the Price Time Machine team · Updated
The PalmPilot price was $299 when it launched on March 10, 1997. Adjusted for inflation, that is about $629.66 in September 2026 money, roughly 2.1 times the original price.
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PalmPilot Personal at a glance
- US launch price
- $299
- In today’s money
- ≈ $629.66March 1997 to September 2026 (CPI-U, BLS)
- US release date
- March 10, 1997
- Where the company was based
- Mountain View, United StatesMade by Palm Computing in California's Silicon Valley.
- Category
- Gaming & tech
- Price source
- en.wikipedia.org
Today’s price is the US launch price adjusted for US inflation with the Consumer Price Index (CPI-U) from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, comparing the launch month with the latest published month. It updates automatically as new figures come out.
PalmPilot prices in 1997
- PalmPilot Personal (512KB): $299
- PalmPilot Professional (1MB): $399
- Upgrade kit for older Pilots: $199, or $99 for registered owners for a limited time
- 14.4 kbit/s modem: $129
The PalmPilot price in today’s money
Inflation means a dollar buys less today than it did in 1997. Using the US Consumer Price Index, the original PalmPilot price of $299 works out at about $629.66 in September 2026 money, around 2.1 times the original figure. That is what the same amount of spending power would cost now, not what the PalmPilot sells for second-hand.
What was the PalmPilot?
The PalmPilot was a handheld electronic organiser, or PDA. It was the second generation of Palm devices, after the Pilot 1000 and Pilot 5000 of March 1996.
You wrote on its touch screen with a stylus, using Palm’s Graffiti handwriting system, and synced it with your computer.
Who made the PalmPilot?
Jeff Hawkins founded Palm Computing in 1992 and hired Donna Dubinsky and Ed Colligan, who together guided Palm to the Pilot. Palm began by writing software for the Zoomer, a Casio-made PDA sold by Tandy.
USRobotics bought Palm in 1995, so the PalmPilot launched as a USRobotics product. 3Com bought USRobotics in June 1997.
When was the PalmPilot released?
- Palm Computing founded: 1992
- First Pilot launched: March 1996
- PalmPilot launched: March 10, 1997
- Replaced by the Palm III: 1998
PalmPilot facts you might not know
- It reportedly sold over a million units by 1998.
- IMAX used a controller designed to look and feel like a PalmPilot so projectionists would find it familiar.
- In 1998 Palm’s founders left to start a rival company, Handspring.
Frequently asked questions
How much did the PalmPilot cost?
The PalmPilot Personal cost $299 and the PalmPilot Professional $399 when they launched on March 10, 1997.
How much is $299 from 1997 worth today?
Adjusted for US inflation, the PalmPilot’s $299 price is about $629.66 in September 2026 money.
Who invented the PalmPilot?
Palm Computing, the company Jeff Hawkins founded in 1992 with Donna Dubinsky and Ed Colligan.
What replaced the PalmPilot?
The Palm III replaced it in 1998.
Want to compare the PalmPilot price with other launch prices? See what the Apple Newton cost, browse more famous launch prices, or play this question in Price Time Machine.
Sources
Launch prices and dates are checked against the sources below. Today’s price is calculated from official US inflation data and updates automatically when new figures are published.
- Wikipedia: PalmPilot
- Wikipedia: Palm, Inc.
- US Bureau of Labor Statistics: Consumer Price Index (CPI-U)