Is Palermo a good base for a week in Sicily? Any other thoughts about a visit there are welcomed!

I would spend a few days on the western side and a few days on the eastern side. I would not use Palermo as my base.

Palermo is very interesting, and you should see the noted sights including the "Antica Focacceria", from the mid 1800s, where you can sample traditional Sicilian fare from boiled spleen to chick pea fritters.
As for a base I agree with AUD, Palermo is very difficult if you have a car, and there are wonderful locations near Trappani,(west) or Gela, etc.

Palermo is a very big noisy city. I would stay here for a few days and then move to the east coast of Sicily, many great towns there and beautiful beaches.

I see that you are new to the forum. In the search box above type in "sicily trip report" and then to the left will appear many many threads to read and help you decide where you might like to stay/visit.

I totally agree with the above. Whilst it is worth a visit (it is interesting) I definitely would not base there because it is big, noisy and downright difficult to drive in. There are much more charming and tranquil places in which to stay.

My favorite town on the east side is Taormina.

Taormina is a beautiful, albeit crowded tourist oriented town. It is not easy if you have a car. The beauty of this seaside resort is its grand old hotels. Try to avoid the town on "Cruise Ship" days, it can get somewhat chaotic, and you lose the feeling of a typical day in Taormina.

Sicily is a very large region of Italy. For a week, you only going to scratch the surface, wherever you go.

I have only seen about a 3rd of Sicily, and you are unilkely to find anybody on Fodor's who has seen much more of it. So it's hard for them to make comparisons.

From the 3rd that I have seen -- which didn't include Palermo -- I would most like to return to the area around Siracusa and, above all, the "baroque" towns of Sicily -- which include Noto, Modica and Ragusa. Neither is doable from Palermo as a base.

But much of Sicily is -- including its legendary islands.

Driving in Palermo is not advisable. But it is connected to other worthwhile sites by train, bus and ferry, so if you don't want to drive in Sicily (which is really advisable if you want to see the baroque towns, or many other places) Palermo can make a good base for a non-driving experience of Sicily.

Depending on the time of year (it was July for me, three years ago), the Aeolian Islands were one of my most favorite places of ANYwhere I've been. While I went after two nights in Taormina, you could easily also get there from Palermo and just stay in/near the city one or two nights after arrival. The hydrofoils were preferable to the ferries both for speed and on- time reliability. I also toured Mt. Etna and experienced opera in the ampitheater in Taormina- you need to decide what your personal interests are (maybe not volcanos!), however- recommending for someone else is not easy!

If you can only manage a week I would split it between Palermo and Siracusa (Ortigia), and I wouldn't bother with a car. But if you want a beach experience you'd be better off in Cefalu or one of the islands.

I would spend some time in in Palermo if only to visit Monreale but certainly not a whole week.
Trapani is not very touristy but a good base to visit the western part of the island (Erice, Segeste, Marsala and the saltpans, Agrigento, Selinunte can each be done in a a day) and is a little bit over an hour by train or bus from Palermo.

Sicily is very big, I think the size of Vermont. The more places you sleep in, the less miles you will drive to get back every day after sightseeing.
For a relaxing holiday with a few excursions I suggest Plaermo and Taormina, with a transfer between. If you want to see as much as possible I suggest Palermo 2nights, Montallegro 1 night, Modica 1 night, Taormina the following nights.

You will need to make some tough decisions if you only have a week. Here is my trip report from 2005. We liked Palermo. I would consider 3 destinations max:
http://www.slowtrav.com/tr/tripreport.asp?tripid=634