Brighthand Reviews the palmOne Tungsten T5

[imported_ypwandrews]

I currently have a T2 and I don't see the T5 as an upgrade from that! I use the voice recorder and vibrating alarms a lot and that alone would stop me from "upgrading". While I like BT, palm doesn't have drivers for my Nokia 3620 so WiFi is the only way I can connect to the web. I had my hopes up for the T5 having dual wireless. Since my T2 is getting very long in the tooth, it looks as if I have no choice but to give the dark side a chance at my business for awhile. Hopefully palmOne will get their act together in time for the next release cycle.

[foxfire4321]

While I use a WM2003SE I have to admit that I had high hopes for the T5. I was very impressed with the T3 and hoped that the next interation would have a feature set that would make me consider it. However, there is no way a mobile power user can handle a handheld without WiFi now a days (and I don't mean with an add-in card). The situation would have been mildly better had they added two SD slots (like the Zodiac). While there are a couple of real innovations (drive mode and nonvolatile system memory) here, this "high end" Palm does nothing for me given that my mid to low end HP has built in WiFi and BT for a comparable price.

It is a sad time for Palm with Sony having backed out and the only real competition being the niche Zodiac (though this is an excellent handheld from all accounts). I am afraid that the same will happen in WM units now that Toshiba has pulled out.

[CentralCT]

As soon as Palm confirmed the specs on the T5 I placed an order for an HP iPAQ 4700. No regrets.

Sorry Palm, too little, too late.

[Mike Cane]

Forget bugs in the T5! BH has its own bug: From the printer-friendly version of this review, clicking on going to part II does not work. I hope you will be faster than palmOne with a patch, heh-heh!

[Mike Cane]

Just finished reading. There were some points left out (see http://tinyurl.com/5ob64 ), but there were also some things I learned.

I *loved* this sentence: "Even my beloved T3 was assassinating expensive SD cards at launch[...]"

Excellent work.

[marianco]

In response to the review of the Palm T5 http://www.brighthand.com/article/palmOne_T5_Review_2:

As a physician, despite having purchased and used various PDAS such as iPaqs and Palms, despite being highly computer saavy (as a software developer), I have always returned to writing notes on a pocket-sized paper notebook. The primary reason is that it is too easy to lose data stored on RAM, dependent on your battery charge. Reliability for storage of entered data is an important factor.

As an example, this summer, I loaded up my iPaq with tons of medical software and the top-of-its-class Destinator GPS software and maps of the US and Europe. On returning home, I got busy at work and was away from my desktop computer for a couple of weeks. I thought by conserving my use of the PocketPC it would have enough of a charge (given it has two batteries) to get it to its charger before it ran out of battery power. But no.

The iPaq's RAM was wiped clean by the loss of power. It was wiped to its virginal state. Data was lost from RAM. Unfortunately, Microsoft's ActiveSync did not correctly back up the iPaq. I had to re-install all the software. Some of the software would not recognize what was already installed in the Compactflash Card. Thus I had to reinstall the datafiles that were in the Compactflash Card. Some of the software would not run despite being installed in the Compactflash Card because of data it stored in RAM. I had to reinstall those applications as well. It was a huge pain.

The problem of PDAs for data-storage is that you have to worry about the battery charge too often because it is too easy to lose data from volatile RAM. PocketPCs are not immune to crashes from software either. Because of this, PDAs for me are primarily used for looking up data, not entering data. PDAs were a one-way-street.

Because of past experience, the one most important feature for myself - over anything else - is nonvolatile RAM. Second, a battery that lasts and lasts. Finally, with the T5, these exist. Using Flash memory for RAM gives it nonvolatile RAM. Using Flash memory allows the battery to last a very long time since battery power does not need to keep RAM alive.

The reviewer cited the loss of data if you have to do a hard-reset because of rogue beta-software. You can just as easily lose data with volatile RAM. Also, for mission-critical work, why would you run experimental, highly potentially buggy, programs on your primary PDA? You should run it on a second, less mission-critical PDA, to test out its stability. PDAs are so inexpensive these days, you should be able to purchase a second PDA for experimentation. Note that the T3 also had teething-pains when it was initially released. With updates, it became the reviewers preferred PDA.

The reviewer cited the lack of Wi-Fi, vibration alarms and microphone as problems. However, I don't find these as critical issues. The T5 does have bluetooth which allows you to connect to the internet via your cellphone. For real internet work, I prefer using using one of my laptops with their much larger 12 to 17-inch screens. For voice memos, alarms, vibration alarms, my Motorola cell phone does these already. The cell phone allows you to mail the voice messages to others.

The cellphone has a camera also. Soon, on upgrading the phone to newer models, I'll have a 5 megapixel camera too.

The ability to connect to the USB port for use as an external hard-drive and for trickle charging is fantastic.

My primary complaints of the T5:
1. Use of SD Cards rather than Compactflash cards. SD Cards can easily pop out. They are not as securely attached as Compactflash cards. SD cards also don?t have the storage capacity of Compactflash cards - which can now go to 8 gigabytes. Compactflash cards allow the possible use of 1.8 inch hard drives for storage - which are now up to 60 gigabytes in capacity. Compactflash slots allow more accessories than SD/IO card slots. This area is where PocketPCs have a huge advantage over Palm devices.
2. I wished the internal Compactflash storage was much greater. 512 megabytes would have been much preferrable to 256 megabytes.

The T5, more than any other PDA before it, can finally replace my paper notebook. No other PDA has a chance of doing "Mission-Critical" data work like the T5.

[TroutySchumi]

I am very dissapointed with the digitizer, why is it so slow to respond?

Graffiti2 does not work very well because of that.

I am strongly thinking of returning the unit to Palmone.

Resets are slow to come back also.

Knowing you lose all your USB hard drive information on a hard reset is a minus also.

I think I am going to go back to my T3 if they take this one back.

PS: I don't mind no wifi since I use a bluetooth phone.

[TroutySchumi]

Do not install FileZ on the T5, it is not compatible.

[StickNMove]

Was anyone successful in replacing Graffiti 2 with original Graffiti on the T5?

Shawn mentions in the article that he refuses to use Graffiti 2, but beaming over old Graffiti locks the T5, requiring a hard reset. Did you (Shawn) or anyone get past this problem? I can't stand Graffiti 2.

[TroutySchumi]

I've gotten to like the T5 after using it for a week now.

That slider really was a paine in the ***....

I use Textplus which makes Graffiti usage moot....

TextPlus allows you to write 2 letters and then select a word from a pop up list taht comes up....

Filez works if you don't use it in high resolution mode.