Long term annoyances with Tungsten T3

[plasma]

I picked up a T3 on an after Christmas sale - clearance item. I used to be long time Palm user, but have been on the Pocket PC side for almost a year now. I figured I wanted the simplicity back. I'll be honest, the Palm is nice, but there are actually some things that I like better on a PPC.

What I'd like to know is what are the short and long term annoyances that bug T3 users? What I mean is, what are those things that could cause me to put down the T3 more times than to bother picking it up? I've read about the loose screws, digitizer drift, having to use the slider, but I've only had the unit for a week so it's hard for me to tell.

(And yeah, I also seriously considered the Z72 as an alternative too.)

Thanks in advance.

[psippl]

Hi,

well I've had the T3 now for over one year and I think the battery is not very good. I use my T3 nearly every day (for business and private). I also use it as an mp3 player when I'm not at home. This means I have to relaod it nearly every 2nd day.
I also had to send it in once because of the battery.
bluetooth connection with my Nokia 6310i and/or 6230 is also a story of its own. Although I must say part of the fault is also with Nokia.
Otherwise I'm quite happy with my T3. I have to say in comparision with a PPC its a lot more stable. A friend of mine has to reboot his PPC every 2-3 days

cheers

[elbowz]

Well I think you'll find a general consensus that the battery life sucks.

Additionally I've found that the included version of web pro is pretty awful and if you install the later 3.5 version it causes resets on certain web pages.

Opening the slider to get to the full screen is a pain, but must be traded off against the reduced carrying size it allows.

[bobbd]

Have to throw my .02 worth in here. I've had my T3 for a year. A Clie T665 and Palm IIIc before that.

On the plus side, the T3 is fast, the screen is beautiful, and there's lots of memory. The PalmOS is clean and fairly stable, especially considering I've got all sorts of toys installed.

On the down side, I've had to replace my original unit due to digitizer drift. The battery life is poor, but with PXAClocker, I can double it when needed. Since it's usually in a cradle, it's not that big a deal for me.

I would prefer no slider. Even though it makes the unit smaller, I don't think it's worth it - to me. But then I would also like a lighter unit. However, this is not enough to make me jump to a T5 or give up that big screen.

As for loose screws, I picked up a tube of Loctite and carefully applied it to each of the 6 screws. No problem any more. Besides, there are replacement screws available now.

Overall, it's easily the best PalmOS unit I've had. Could it be better? Sure, but what couldn't.

Bob

[sjweise]

I have had my T3 for just about a year, and it is my fourth. I had a lot of harware problems:
1- stopped turning on
2- screen buzz so loud I could hear it from several feet away
3- head phone jack only worked on right speaker, screen thought I was tapping it when slider was closed when d pad was pushed up
Still, I like the slider. I don't need the full screen all the time, so it does keep it a tad smaller when I don't need it. Also, I turn mine on a lot with the slider (since the power button lacement/design sucks so much!)
The battery bites big time - no lie there. I underclock to conserve batteries.

There is not another pda I do want right now...the t3 does what I want (web/email/movies/music/docs/games) so I'm okay. I just wish they'd get the gameboy advanced emultator working so I could play Metroid!

[BigRides]

Had my T3 for 10 months

Very happy with it
Digitizer drift only on bottom 3rd of screen- so fine when not opened. I don't open it very often anyway.

Screen is bright. Unit generally very stable. Crashes every 10th hot sync or so, but a soft reset seems to cure it every time.

Hardware buttons are good. "5Nav Launch" gives access to many applications- all using one hand.


Battery isn't brilliant- need to recharge every day- but not really a problem for me. I have the Palm Travel Charger for when I go away.

I had an Archos AV420 (Personal Video Recorder) for Xmas- so that'll handle all my MP3's, photos, and movies while I'm away- I can leave the Palm for just the PIM stuff.

All in all- very pleased with the T3- best Palm I have had. Would consider the T5 when the bugs are ironed out and when I "need" to change from the T3.

Regards,
Ian

[plasma]

Well... thanks to all for the candid comments about the T3. Interesting that one of the big issues is battery life. Ironically, the PPC I have is a Toshiba e800 - 4" screen and VGA at 420 X 680. Frankly, its screen outdoes the T3 no question, but battery life - no comparison. The Toshiba drains 5% to 10% a day doing absolutely nothing! I think I could probably live with the T3's shorter battery life. And there's also no question that the Palm would more stable. I reset the PPC at least once a week.

But the comments about the T3's digitizer and whine worry me a bit - more so because these seem to be problems that develop over time and are not immediately apparent. So far, no problems, but the unit is barely over a week in my hands.

Do others know if the Zire 72 also has digitizer or other problems shared with the T3? I've also been wondering if the camera would be that useful: I'm thinking about it in terms of "wish I could take a picture" situations, as opposed to just idly snapping away pictures to chat with friends or something. Anybody own a T3 wish they had built in camera functionality later on?

[psippl]

Hi plasma,

Yep I would also be glad If my T3 had a built in cam but only if it were at least 1MPixel. I think everything else is not even worth using. I have one on my mobile phone 640*480 (=0.3 MPixel) which I think is waste.
well then cheers for now

[BigRides]

I only like the idea of "convergence devices" if they do all things really well- usually they are a compromise. I have a T610 mobile phone which is brilliant, EXCEPT the camera is useless and consequently never gets used.

The T3 is a brilliant organiser with no compromises (depends on your view of the battery life). I personally would not like a camera on it, unless it was at least 2MP. I have a Casio Exilim S3 for photos.

Just my thoughts
Regards,
Ian

Also: To keep the views balanced: I have no screen whine on my T3 at all.

[jim37]

I think you're gonna find that the people who respond to a fishing expedition are ones who generally have issues. It gives them an opportunity to vent.

This is not to say that they are crazy or misrepresenting things or anything like that. The issues are real.

What I'm saying is that you're not gonna get a line of people who are chomping at the bit to say "hey my unit is OK".

Please consider that as you review the comments.

Jim (a happy T3 owner)