Got my WiFi card today!

[<33333333]

My PalmOne WiFi SD card arrived in today's mail at the office and it works great on my T3! I had downloaded and installed the drivers last week from PalmOne's web site. On the way home, I stopped by 2 coffee shops with free WiFi and connected to both seamlessly, using the T3's WebPro browser. Also was able to sync AvantGo channels without any problems. This evening, I connected with my home wireless network after entering my WEP encryption key. Nice difference with the T3 compared to my notebook is not having to wait for the unit to boot up. The immediate on and off is very handy.

My only concern is the power draw. Although I have not timed my T3's "life" with the WiFi on, it noticeably drains the battery at a faster rate than normal. I'll have to read the user's manual on the included CD to see if they offer any tips for power conservation. I've already lowered the brightness level of the screen. Guess I'll keep my car and travel chargers handy for now.

OldBlue

[Khursheed]

THIS IS NOT FROM ME . . . it was passed on to me by that "God among Men," . . . . I'm talking of course of the "Great Ryber" on this forum.

He uses PXA Clocker and told me he dropped the clock speed to 133 (if memory serves) MHz and is noticing longer battery life.

I'm SOOOOO close to trying it myself (based on PXA Clocker cost - already just shelled out $49.95 for AcidImage Pro) . . . but it might help you with your drain problems. There's no point FINALLY having WiFi and then having to "hurry up," is there?

Heard good things about these "power to go" packs too . . . that might be a safer solution.

When I had my old M505 I OVERCLOCKED it from 33 to 42MHz . . . but I'm real skittish about doing same with the T3 now I've finally got it where I "want it" in terms of tweaks.

Decision is yours - just passing it along.

[zbelmontez24680]

I'm glad to hear it works well with the Palm T3. I'm thinking of getting one myself, but now I am having second thoughts because of the "anticipated" introduction of the new T5 and Treo 650 this October 1 (???).

It seems that the new Treo and T5 will not have wi-fi, so I am definitely getting a wi-fi card once I can confirm that it will also work with the forthcoming models.

In the meantime, congratulations OldBlue on your new purchase. From your happy statements, I can see that it was very much worth what you paid for it.

[Super Troll]

I may have missed something, but where did this date come from in relation to the t5 and treo650?

Would certainly be interested in a new treo if the spec was up to scratch

[sHi GuRl]

@ PTL - I believe the trial version of PXA Clocker will only let you change the clock speed on the whole device. The registered "pro" version lets you change each application. You might want to give the trial version a go first, to see how it runs with your setup. I also have a PTG sled. It works great. I can get about two full charges (from a nearly drained T3 battery to a full charge) between charging the power sled.

@ martinr - I have heard a release date of October 1 from several reputable Palm news sites. Don't know if this is the real date or not, but it fits with PalmOne's usual release schedule.

[Cody h.]

Does the WiFi card have any memory on it? Just curious....can't seem to get a straight answer from the retail stores...
Thanks,
KimH

[emily_brightside]

I found a "Conserve Power" toggle setting in my T3's Preferences, Communication, WiFi, Menu, Preferences box. The WiFi Preferences menu will ONLY appear when the WiFi card is inserted and WiFi is turned on. ... I also set WebPro to "Disconnect on exit" and VersaMail to both "auto-Disconnect" and "Disconnect on exit." I have not yet found an auto-disconnect in AvantGo's menus, so for now I will have to remember to power off the WiFi after syncing AvantGo.

PalmTealLover, thanks for passing along the suggestion. I had tried underclocking my T3 to extend battery life using LightSpeed, but the application kept crashing. It must not have liked something else installed on my T3. I have not tried PXA Clocker, so will look into it. I had my m505 up to 54 MHz using Afterburner, but that caused instability, whereas things worked great at 52 MHz. Amazing the difference a couple of megahertz makes!

dmyu, I had thought of waiting for the T5, too, but WiFi "itch" was too great. (I'm a weak man!) Also, IF I opt for the T5 next month, my son gets my T3. If the T5 has built-in WiFi, he also gets the WiFi card. If it doesn't, I keep the card to go with the T5. Based on the rumors I've read, the T5 may not be enough of an improvement over my T3 to warrant a purchase.

martinr, the October 1 date is mentioned here:

http://www.rabroad.com/article/Palm_..._650?site=Palm

Another concern that came up last night is where to store the WiFi card when not in use. I'm using a Proporta metal case that has 2 storage slots for SD cards, but the length of the WiFi card will not allow it to be stored in one of those slots. I may have to look for a sleeve or clip of some kind to attach to the case. I'm not a big fan of Velcro and I do want to keep the WiFi card with my T3 and case.

[Beast nTha Winter Fleece]

kimh

The card has no memory included. Even if it did, I'm not sure I would opt for that, because the card (is it an antenna?) extends 3/4" beyond the top edge of the T3 and I would be worried of it snapping off. I have most of my 3rd party apps on a 512 MB SD card and a few essentials on my T3's RAM. I have 37 MB of available RAM and I have my WebPro cache set to 5 MB, so I think there's enough overhead.

OldBlue

[mamiidetuvida]

Well finally someone else has it too.
I had it for a week and it works great. The drainage of battery is noticeable, but with Lightspeed it does help. You can choose which programs you want to run at which speed . I have the freeware, but I might just get it registered

This is for oldblue.
Have you tried another web browser?
I checked the treo forum and webviewer does not support java.
I am sticking to web pro unless you know of another web browser for the palm.

Another question, how do you get to sync with avantgo directly?
I also have avantgo on my Palm.

mas

[shopaholic7191]

mspadaro

LightSpeed did not work for me. I kept getting "Fatal Errors" and had to soft reset. Obviously a conflict with one of the other apps I have installed.

I have not tried any other browsers, but the WebPro 3.0 that is included with the T3 and the downloadable WebPro 3.0.1 upgrade both support Javascript 1.5, which can be enabled and disabled within the browser. Here's a link:

http://www.palmone.com/us/support/ac.../webpro30.html

To sync AvantGo, turn on your WiFi, open AvantGo on your T3, tap the Title Bar at the top of the screen for the drop-down menu, and in "Channels", 6th item down is "Sync". Tap that and you're good to go! ... Also, I used to surf the net using AvantGo as my browser when I connected via IR on my cell phone. It worked well and was a very good browser. I'm going to try surfing with AvantGo and WiFi today at lunch. Will let you know how it goes.

OldBlue