As some of you might know, I always speak the truth, so here is my honest review of this Palm Tungsten E.I purchased this item to replace my old Palm m515 (which had originally replaced my first palm, a Palm V). As you probably guessed, I have to have a small handheld. In my opinion, if it isn't small enough, you won't bring it with you and actually use the thing. I also have been a fond lover of this form factor (very thin and light with double-stylus holder, etc.
Well, they finally listened to us complaining of the previous left side "flap holder" and made the flap slide in from the bottom of the palm as apposed to the top. This was a large problem -I've had my old palms slide out on me at random by holding it from the flap.
The good: This palm has an astounding display! It literally feels as though you have a small computer in your hand as other reviewers have mentioned. Quality all the way here. Large enough to be easily readable, and a brightness level adjustment that gets quite bright! The buttons on the bottom "mostly" have a positive feedback. I'll discuss the bottom lack of a universal connector last. This palm accepts SD cards and has a headphone jack on the top. Processor is incredible compared to my old m515 and especially the V. Power button is recessed so you can't "accidentally" turn it on as easily as past models.
Honestly, I must mention that I've tried to purchase quite a few MP3 players out there and they have all had quirky problems. I didn't even expect to use the mp3 capabilities of this PDA but look at that -it works/sounds better than anything I've purchased for the same cost that was dedicated to MP3s!!! I am truly astounded by it.
The bad/interesting: As I mentioned above, the buttons mostly have tactile feedback, but that square ring of a button-pad in the center is a bit odd because pushing down requires quite a bit more force than up and does not result in a "click". Hrm...I guess it just sort of happened because of the small size of this unit (4.6 oz folks yes you heard me right!).
Finally, that bottom connector issue that has quite an argument brewing. This is the only Tungsten lacking a universal connector on the bottom which means you can't use all those old accessories which utilized that port. Lets look at some other aspects here....It uses a standard USB cable which means you're not restricted to palm to purchase additional hotsync cables. Also, it has a small power cord which plugs in the other port on the bottom. This I think is wonderful because I can actually take the power cable/charger and charge it on vacation or wherever I am. No longer do I have to lug around the cradle in my suitcase!
Finally, the iffy: This palm looks like metal but alas is made out of plastic. Rest assured it is extremely sturdy plastic -no creaking or anything Handspring-like and the plastic is actually the color you see -that silver color. So we shouldn't have to worry about any coating chipping off and revealing an ugly color underneath.
So far, I'm extremely pleased with this palm, and though it has these minute setbacks, I still think it is a wonderful unit especially for the price. I was able to keep my small form factor and get a wonderful display and an overall great feature set. Finally I must mention that this comes with a LOT of software. Documents to go Ver 6 which allows you to read/write word, excel and powerpoint docs, an mp3 player by realone, photo viewer, and the list goes on and on. Add that to their new personal manager programs like Contact and Calendar and you have a winning combination! If you're on the borderline between this and the new T3 well, I chose it because I'm not all that trusting of the slider mechanism. I like a palm that sits there with the least amount of moving parts/possible failure points. Hopefully this review helps out in your search for the perfect PDA.
Pro's,
1. Its a Palm, with the latest version of Palm OS.
2. Looks good and feels solid in hand.
3. Superb screen and extremely clear.
4. mp3 playback is very good.
5. Uses standard mini USB jack, not propreitary Palm connector.
6. Fast performance. Don't compare raw MHz between PDA's, this one's faster than 400MHz PPC's.
7. About 28MB is available memory, which is a lot for a Palm.
8. Good software bundle and stable OS.
9. Speaker is suprisingly good at playing mp3's (64kpbs sounds great).
10. Flip lid and a screen protector are in the box. (I don't buy a PDA without flip)
11. Stylus is superb, thick/heavy/shinning metal.
Con's,
1. Down button is hard to press, ironically that's the most used button on T|E. The 5 way navigator is poorly designed and cheap plastic.
2. Size is bigger than some other handhelds like Clie SJ20.
3. Case is slippery and tough to keep clean.
4. Thread on included flip cover scratches T|E at the top easily.
5. Battery life is just like Pocket PC's, needs charging frequently.
6. Included charger is not a world charger and is bulky.
7. No bluetooth or Wifi but atleast it has SDIO slot (poor Clie fans have to put up with propreitary memory stink slot).
8. Weak alarm sounds (think this can be fixed?) and no vibrate only mode.
9. Packaging in plastic box is tough to open and not eco friendly.
10. Battery is not user replaceable. (dead Palm after 2 years?)
Most of the minor issues with T|E will go away if you spend double and get a T|T3. Overall this is a great Palm at affordable price. Thanks Palm!
Buy PalmOne Tungsten E Handheld Now
At last, Palm gets it right -A high quality, low price PDA with all the features you need, and none you don't. This is quite simply, a beautiful piece of engineering, and whether you are new to PDAs or upgrading, you will not be disappointed...For a bargain price of 200 smackers, Palm provides the following key features:
1) A top-notch, large, hi-res screen (check it out in a store first). Many previous Palms have skimped on the screen -a big no-no in my book. I'd much rather have a slower processor than an unreadable (m505) or too-small screen (Zire, m100). Pointing and clicking on a Palm is hard enough without having a small, dark screen to boot.
2) Generous 32 MB Ram. Finally, Palm stops skimping on this important area! It's not enough to make you ditch your iPod, but you can play a few tunes, look at a few pictures, transfer some files. This is a big improvement from the bad-old 8 MB days, which is Okay for contacts but worthless for anything else.
3) Rechargeable lithium polymer. Top notch. No skimping, no muss, no fuss.
4) Great design. Clean, simple, portable, shirt-pocketable. No keyboard, but I've never been a thumbpad fan.
5) MS Office functions included -Word, Outlook, Powerpoint. Why you would use them, however, is a bit bizarre to me. Who wants to spend the time coding in a Powerpoint presentation with a stylus? Yet, if this is important to you, it's here. And having your email with you can be a plus...
As for what you won't get: There is no phone, no camera, no thumbpad, no Bluetooth, no WiFi. This is close to a pure PDA, though it can display pictures and double as a poor-man's MP3 player. That's what I was looking for.
Here's a basic product guide:
New Palm Zire -Bargain basement model with 7.2 MB of Ram, upgraded from hobbled 2 MB original model. About 100 smackers. Often offered free as bundle deals with new computers. Good starter model for the price. Includes rechargeable battery. Memory can not be upgraded. Horribly skimpy black-on-grey screen.
Tungsten T2, etc.: Deluxe models that feature, in some cases, larger screens/Bluetooth wireless connectivity/thumbpads with dropdown graffiti screens. All unnecessary features in my book, especially given their much higher prices.
Clie models (SJ30, etc.) recently have owned the mid-range of the Palm product line, providing color screens, style and multimedia features for less than Palm. But no longer. The Clie models simply can not compete with this new Palm -they feel and look clunky in comparison and generally feature smaller, dimmer screens. And the upper-echelon Clie models get very expensive.
Sony models also have a reputation for less-stellar customer service. (I've had excellent service from Palm.)
The Treo models from Handspring/Palm should be considered if you are a thumbpad fan, or if you want your PDA to also be your phone. But let's face it, how many people can afford spending four hundred smackers on a PDA?
BTW, when comparing, I've found you can generally ignore the speed of the processor. For most Palm functions, the reaction time is near instantaneous, or at most a second or two lag.
As for PocketPCs, some of them are now very attractively priced and are worth checking out. I've yet to use one extensively, so I'll stick to what I know -Palms are simple, easy to use and almost guaranteed to improve your productivity. It's like having a backup for your brain. And who doesn't need that?
Enjoy!
Read Best Reviews of PalmOne Tungsten E Handheld Here
I applaud Palm's decision to give us a low cost way into the Tungsten family. It's missing the universal connector but all of the Tungsten power is there, along with a really nice display.I would highly recommend getting an SD card to make full use of this device. In fact the MP3 player requires it. Spend the extra $70. You can fit a fair amount of music, a ton of ebooks, and a bunch of apps on a 256MB card.
If you are concerned with a lack of Bluetooth or WiFi, keep in mind that Bluetooth SD adapters are on the market and 802.11B cards are coming soon.
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(note: I've had mine for about a month now.)Everyone is reading the below review (incl. my friends) and thinks this is in a plastic shellso they are not buying it because of that. However, it is actually thin, buffed steel (hence the amazingly durable plastic comment.) Look at the edges, where the speakers open up, and where it folds over. Even take a knife and cut into it!
What I like:
-Traveling (and charging) with the standard miniusb cable.
-Great as an mp3 player (use aeroplayer)
-I downloaded updated high-res, color versions of my old software and it's wonderfully easy on my eyes.
-The photo album is great, I put 500+ pictures on their to show off :)
-Came with tons of useful software
-Fold-over flap is elegant and protects it well (esp. since I keep it in my back pocket, sit on it evenwithout problems.) That's the main reason I bought this instead of the other choices actually :p
-Has enough memory that I stored ALL of my apps, dictionaries, and databases on the internal memory.. even avantgo (which I adore.)
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