Tethered TT impressions

[slotmachine]

I spent some good time with a TT on display at my local Circuit City today.

Color
I liked the color of the anodized aluminum finish.

Ergonomics
It felt really good to hold both open and closed. The power and voice memo switched were perfectly positioned.

Display
Very bright screen, even under the harsh lights of the store. Crisp fonts that put the Sony hi-res fonts to shame.

Stylus
The retractable stylus worked well in conjunction with the sliding mechanism.

Speed
VERY fast, but there were no multimedia apps on the display unit to test.

Slider
I was disappointed in the action of the slider. It did seem very durable, and I have no doubt that it passed the 100,000-slide test as Palm claimed. However it was a bit hard to get the slider going on an open or a close. I was hoping for an audible an tactile *click* when it opened or closed, but there was only a crude snap.

One-handed operation
The D-pad felt very durable, and was fun to use. I was zipping around the built-in apps and launcher after about 3-5 minutes of practice.

Overall, this is a great unit with the potential for being a mean machine as more TT - and OS5-speficic software (like an MP3 player?!?!) is released for it. I do plan to get one.

But not for $500!

When you hear the first TT price reduction/rebate announced in Q1 of next year don't be alarmed. I'm sure Palm has planned already for it, and I'll tell you why with my next post.

[jmpage2]

Q1 of 2003 is a long time away.

I'm not going to hold off on a purchase for an OS6 version announcement or something similar.

Besides, I paid $419 for the Tungsten which seems extremely reasonable.

[Mountain Man]

Your impressions are pretty much the same as mine. If I had the cash, I'd trade in my m130 and pick up a Tungsten T in a heartbeat! The beautiful high-res screen and faster speed would be worth the price of the upgrade. Maybe when Palm drops their prices I'll consider it.

[slotmachine]

Originally posted by jmpage2
Besides, I paid $419 for the Tungsten which seems extremely reasonable.

What was your formula to get to that price?

[slotmachine]

Originally posted by Mountain Man
The beautiful high-res screen and faster speed would be worth the price of the upgrade.

That screen was very close to paper white. I can only imagine what it looks like outside of the glare of store lighting.

[slotmachine]

One build issue that I forgot to mention was with the plastic panel on the bottom of the unit. When I applied a reasonable amount of pressure to it with my finger, it creaked! I'm thinking that two weeks on a demo unit is equal to about 4 weeks of heavy use. Has anyone else noticed this?

[slotmachine]

Let's look at a few types in the PDA consumer spectrum

Consumers
1. Loyal to Palm / loyal to PalmOS
2. Loyal to Palm OS, any hardware
3. Like Palm or PPC PDAs, decides purchase-to-purchase
4. Loyal to PPC, any hardware
5. Loyal to particular hardware / loyal to PPC

Corporate accounts
6. Corporate buyers, no PDA investment yet
7. Corporate buyers, PPC investment
8. Corporate buyers, PalmOS investment

Despite my best efforts, I fall into category 1. I'm not a Palm snob, I just like the way they build handhelds. I liked the form factor of the 505 so much that I returned a CLIE N6xx in favor of it.

Palm will keep the price at $500 at through Christmas to "skim the cream" off of the group 1 early adopters. After that phase is over, I expect two $50 rebate/reduction by the end of April. Why? I was really excited as I tried out the TT. I was brought back down to earth every time I glanced over at the $350 Clie 655 and < $400 Toshiba. As good as the TT is, folks in group 2 or 3 are going to find it hard to resist the cheaper handhelds with the same featureset.

[jmpage2]

I got the Palm Tungsten T for $419 at Staples... they were selling it for $469 and they offered a $50 coupon through their website. I called them, gave them the product code and coupon code and got that price. Many other people seem to have gotten that price too.

Amazon has a $50 rebate on the Tungsten.

I expect more coupons discounts as we approach Christmas, some stores will have their regular 10% discounts on everything in the store which brings it to $449.

BTW, I was a PPC snob and the lower price devices you describe (Toshiba E335, etc) don't hold a candle to the build quality and processing power of the Tungsten. It is extremely quick and has the best reflective screen available.

[slotmachine]

Originally posted by jmpage2
I got the Palm Tungsten T for $419 at Staples... they were selling it for $469 and they offered a $50 coupon through their website.

Staples is very good about that. I got almost $100 off of my 505 there last year with a combination of e-coupon and internet price match.

BTW, I was a PPC snob and the lower price devices you describe (Toshiba E335, etc) don't hold a candle to the build quality and processing power of the Tungsten.

That's encouraging. Which PPC do (did) you have? The build of the TT is such that it gives you the feeling of holding somthing like a swiss army knife. It is a durable tool that just happens to have a computer inside of it. However that creak bothers me. Have you expereced it? Maybe it was the result of that display unit getting a lot of impersonal abuse.

It is extremely quick and has the best reflective screen available.

I was very impressed. It is the first PDA other than the iPAQ that has appeared bright to me under store lights.

Have you found any software enhancemts that make the center D-pad button drill into the details of a Datebook appointment? It works that way for the Address book and Memo pad.

[jmpage2]

I had an Ipaq 3765... and the Tungsten blows it away.... I realize that there are newer, better PPC devices available but they are by and large bigger than the Tungsten with poor battery life. The Tungsten also has wireless built-in which is a huge feature for me.

The bottom of my unit does not creak, but I'm not sure exactly what you are referring to. The bottom is somewhat free to move when extended, but that is to be expected.

I can access notes for a calendar entry with the D pad but not the details... I usually need to look at notes since details just gives me alarm information.

I am amazed at how much I can do with the D pad without having to touch my stylus.