Brighthand's First Impressions of the palmOne Tungsten E2

[Ed Hardy]

Originally posted by foxfire4321
My core point is not that the E2 is a bad handheld, rather that it is a good entry level handheld, not the mid-range offering that it is being put forward as.

IMHO a mid-range handheld has to have dual wireless now.

I think you are lumping together devices with too wide a price range. Maybe we should create sub-categories. High mid-level ($300 -$400) and low mid-level ($200 - $300).

It's true that dual wireless is becoming increasingly common in high mid-level devices. But it is still pretty rare in low mid-level ones. I can only think of one, the Axim X30.

While you may be willing to pay an additional $100 for Wi-Fi, a lot of people aren't. Let's face it, Wi-Fi has really caught on among the technoratti (I couldn't live without it), but not among the man on the street. And it's the man on the street that the Tungsten E2 is aimed at.

I understand that you think the T|E2 should have been $200. Lots of people agree with you. We'll have to wait and see whether the price jump affects the sales of this device.

I definitely agree with you that palmOne needs a Wi-Fi device in the high mid-level range. Are we likely to get one? I doubt it.

[imported_corinthos]

Ed, could you tell us if the E2 has the vibrating alarm feature? I was looking through the manual online and couldn't seem to find any info to confirm one way or the other. I googled about it and read some posts about how it would be included in the E2 but nothing official.

Thanks in advance.

Also, do you or anyone know if the TREO 650 has the encryption/password protection features like the E2?

[Ed Hardy]

Originally posted by corinthos
Ed, could you tell us if the E2 has the vibrating alarm feature?

It does not.

Before anyone asks, there's also no voice recorder.

Originally posted by corinthos
Also, do you or anyone know if the TREO 650 has the encryption/password protection features like the E2?

I believe it does, but you'd be better off posting this question in our Treo 650 Forum

[dbman]

Even though I have the HP4705 and love VGA, I am suggesting the E2 to my wife as a replacement for my old m505. She has been using the 505 for over a year now and is quite happy with it. She is not concerned that the display is dated and washed out and she uses just the PIM functions. Her only requirements are that the PDA be simple to use, reliable and easy to sync with Outlook on her computer.

I think many of us forget that there is a huge market of potential customers out there much like her. While we are constantly trying to expand the uses for our PDAs, installing new apps, buying multi gigabytes of memory, and complaining about how we need a Cray in our pocket, the mass market will be happy with a device like the E2. They want simplicity and easy of use and the E2 seems to be a decent response to those needs. Time will tell, but like the E, this will be a great seller even if it does lack Wi-Fi.

[ackmondual]

I don't see the big hoopla about integrated wifi. It seems only big cities and medium sized corporations and up will have good wifi coverage. I wish P1 would include another high end model and perhaps another mid range model (altho the T|C may alr have that covered despite being old) just to appease those that really do use wifi alot and to keep them from going to the PPC camp. Surely, the Lifedrive will pull through.

know, a lot of people would prefer a 320-by-480-pixel display, like the one on the high-end palmOne models, but that's just not feasible on a device that costs just $249. So that's why this handheld has a 320-by-320-pixel screen., like its predecessor (That's still a higher resolution than you're going to get on a comparably priced Pocket PC.)

Well, for straight-up comparison... the Zod1 was $300 when it first came out. I'd bet it would be available as low as $275 brand new depending on where u'd get it. As for the REAL comparison.... since the Zods are old, u can get a Zod1 for about $220 or so and $265 at compUplus among many other online stores.

[Ed Hardy]

The Zodiac is a different kettle of fish. Like all gaming consoles, the idea with this device was to sell the hardware at a discount, and make a profit off the games.

Trying to compare a standard handheld with a gaming console is like comparing apples and Tuesday.

[ackmondual]

Originally posted by Ed
The Zodiac is a different kettle of fish. Like all gaming consoles, the idea with this device was to sell the hardware at a discount, and make a profit off the games.

Trying to compare a standard handheld with a gaming console is like comparing apples and Tuesday.

THAT's what they were trying to do!?! At $300 and $400, I'd hardly call that a discount. And the games were sadly non-existent outside the group of Zodiac/palm devotees.

Even so, a Zod could still be used a business device, so a comparison can still stand. Tru, u'd have to get past the fact that it looks like a GBA and not too business-like, but otherwise, It would be a comparative product.

[imported_felixdd]

Just played with the E and the E2 side-by-side at my local store. IS it just me, Ed, or does the E2 screen have a bit of a yellow tinge to it? It's very noticeable when you put it beside the E.

[ackmondual]

Originally posted by felixdd
Just played with the E and the E2 side-by-side at my local store. IS it just me, Ed, or does the E2 screen have a bit of a yellow tinge to it? It's very noticeable when you put it beside the E.

U mean like off white effect?

[imported_felixdd]

Originally posted by ackmondual
U mean like off white effect?

Never heard of the term, but the screen slightly resembles the screen on your avatar