First to RECIEVE a T5 - Post Here

[Shawn F. Jacobson]

PTL wrote:

I agree wholeheartedly. I still wouldn't buy one at a lower price though. It's not the right PDA for me but it might be for a greater number of people.

What really kills me about the price is that it's priced as their flagship model. If it were priced lower, I'd feel better because it would give us hope that a true T3 replacement is on the way.

As it stands, we either have to wait for the T5 to drop in price before a new PDA comes out or else expect a higher priced flagship model.

[H.B.K fan]

SoS has been scouring the boards for T5 experiences and is a bit confused..

1. Does it trickle charge - conflicting reports but probably it does

2. Does everything get wiped on hard reset - well, more conflicting data here but people on Palminfiocenter (I think) report that the whole of flash is lost. P1 FAQ suggests that this may not be the case. I gues time will tell.

3. The new connector sounds awful. Needs very careful connection else nothing happens (and without charge LED, youll never know).

4. OS5.4 is clearly buggy and users are reporting problems with compatibility with some important apps - BBVFS for example! Given point 2 above, this is a very big problem.

5. Apparently only 4Mb of dynamic heap! This, if true, is insane IMHO. T3 has 11Mb.....What are the P1 guys smokin'?? Quite possible that many of the new games for palm will not be able to run on this device if this is a fact.

6. Screen sounds great, by and large. Not clear how much variability yet.

7. Not much info at present on battery life but someone has reported only a marginal improvement over T3 but this needs to be taken with a pinch of salt I think until real battery tests can be done.

8. Processor speed sounds good but apparently the machine is sluggish when changing between apps (one report of 15 second delay in closing one app and starting the next - a little hard to believe but dont shoot the messenger)

9. The calendar bug that has been reported is real and P1 have posted a work around in lieu of a patch.

10. Transfer to flash in drive-mode seems quite slow

11. Hotsync is slower

Overall, I am a little underwhelmed by all of this. The dodgy connector is particularly disturbing. I was seriously keen on getting hold of one of these things as my TT is showing its age (bless its cotton socks) but unless a lot of this info is wrong, or easily fixable, I cant justifiy the risk. Its amazing but the T3 looks even better as time moves on.

If anyobne with a T5 can confirm or otherwise any of these points, I, for one, would be very grateful.

Cheers

Steve

[ohsweetjane69]

I can't confirm anything yet, but I'm guessing that most of your points are untrue. There's people out there who are just trying to make the T5 look bad simply because it didn't come with everything they wanted. I can't imagine an app taking 15 seconds to close. If that's a true thing, then it must have been that somebody wrote trash code.

You're right that battery tests aren't reliable until we get the device in our hands. P1 is telling me it'll ship this coming week, so I'm hoping it'll come before I take a little trip on the 26th. If I could take it with me, it'd give me a chance to test the battery life and such.

Dynamic Heap....I don't know what size they made it. They've got all that RAM, so it should be big...but who knows. Maybe there would be a way to increase this if it wasn't enough?? I don't know. I'm not up on that type of thing.

I'll definitely be making a good length post on the unit as soon as mine arrives. Nobody really knows much yet. Stay tuned.

[Kalombus]

Hi Matthew,

as I said, its just what I have gleaned from the other boards so who knows. I look forward to your real world experiences with this machine. Wont be available in UK foir a while I guess so time to accumulate more info before taking the leap....

[mmelissaa]

Lol, sounds like a plan!! I will certainly let you know.

[Red Eagle]

Good of you to do the investigating SOS. However, lthough not AT ALL thrilled with the sound of the T5, I would have to agree with mhammann about at least SOME of the negativity.

As Confucious said, "It's all bull****."

Point 2: This is the most disturbing to me. The whole point of FLASH is "keeping it." A hard reset does NOT delete anything protected by JackSafe (I've tested it twice!). I have said all along that this isn't "true flash" but rather "borrowed flash" - and like an SD Card can go south, so can this. NOT good at all!!

Point 4: I'm not surprised the T5 "may" have conflicts with BBVFS and would defend the T5 on this point. BBVFS has had bugs all along!! There were conflicts in restoring portions of TealMaster, TealLock and others, supposedly fixed in 2.15 but I wasn't taking chances. A failed restore was the reason I switched to CardBackup (jkware). I wouldn't use BBVFS to restore a dishtowel, T5 or not.

Point 5: I can attest to Point #5 probably being incorrect - I remember clearly seeing that the heap was 16MB - I remember noticing because I use TealMover's ability to "tweak" an app's request from the default 3300 bytes. I upped MobileDB(3,300 > 6,000), Agendus (3,300 > 6,500) and Acid (7,168 > 8,500) with good results - I couldn't do that if the "max" was 4MB - and I'm sure they haven't "gone down" on the T5.

Point 7: Battery life will NEVER be enough. More "real estate" to search through, ROM, RAM, Flash, faster processor, bigger screen on ALL the time instead of just when "slider is open" on a T3 -- all reasons for battery life to be all over the place. BT on/off, beaming on/off, degree of brightness all play a role - I read (on the link recommended by mhamann) about 5 hours; I get at least that on my T3 and would probably get more on the T5 because I'm "power stingy." I can NEVER understand people complaining about battery life on the T3, T5 or anything else - carry a cigarette lighter/wall charger and/or a "Pwer to Go" thingie, and be done with it. I haven't drained mine YET using it "most of the day," on and off. If someone does, then they'll have to stop and take a breath and recharge it. Life is hard.

Point 9: The calendar bug is also VERY bothersome and more proof that P1 pre-release stuff too soon for testing, too little for marketing and too late for users' needs. I've had enough "calendar crap" with Agendus to have to deal with an INTERNAL one as well . . . Jesus, P1 -- have a couple of RedBulls and TEST it first, okay??

Point 11: Hotsync is bound to be slower because there's more to HotSync; I doubt it's dramatic, and even if so, what the hell -- my T3 syncs in around 16 seconds, 30 seconds if lots of Bonsai and Docs2Go changes. So that goes to 47 seconds? Are we really all that busy? Besides, with the drag and drop USB virtual thing, a lot of hotsyncing could be avoided altogether.

Somewhere between the careful, perhaps pessimistic view most of us are taking (me included), and mhamanns terrific optimism, lies the truth. It's probably not the nightmare some claim, but it's certainly not the sharpest knife in the shed either. I was originally THRILLED with the sound of the T5 because it was perhaps "last shot" at a landscape OS5 model, but got a little gloomy after some investigating about the definition of "flash."

It depends on what your definition of "is" is.

WHEN IN DOUBT, VOTE WITH YOUR WALLET.

T3 lads . . . . T3. They're gettin' cheaper!! Sprat, Flash and go!! CardBackup! TealStuff! Bonsai! AcidImage! FindHack! SnapCalc! MobileDB4!

There's an AWFUL LOT RIGHT WITH THE WORLD, and for that matter "right with Palm." I just don't think the "newest and greatest" . . . . .

is.

[Nosebud]

Hi Paul...
I think the most disturbing is the real (and not very encouraging) experience of people with the new connector! This is going to be a real thorn in P1's side if it turns out to be general. I know at least two people who have reported this same problem with their brand new T5s, both of impeccable credentials........

bTW...I have been using bbvfs with no problems, its dug me out of at least three hard resets, one on the road but I know that others have had problems...

cheers

s

[Allie L]

You posted during my "editing!"

EXCELLENT news on BBVFS. You mustn't have anything "glitchy" to restore.

The connector thing is their own nightmare of their own creation . . . the "universal connector" ISN'T . . . . after we all bought "universal" add-ons.

Somebody's getting milked here . . . . could it be the customer???

Noooo . . . .

I hear that for next Easter you'll be able to get little Easter sweaters for the T5, but the reindeer helmet for XMAS will only work on the Treo . . . and you'll need a separate connector AND stylus . . . .

Be careful with the stylus . . . those reindeer all have attorneys.

ON A SERIOUS NOTE . . . if ANY OF YOU tell ME something in private . . . it stays private. This new app coming down the pike which I've been "teasing" about for a week . . . will make a big difference. I can't divulge anything yet because someone TRUSTED me . . . but for those of you who decide on a NOW CHEAPER T3 . . . you won't be making the "wrong move." The T5 is probably not a "bad" buy, but personally I'll wait and see what OS6 brings. Until then and perhaps BEYOND - the T3 is still the best thing going and I do applaud PalmOne for that. I'm watching the prices on T3s and will either get a "spare" at $299 or perhaps slightly lower. I have to be careful they don't just "discontinue it" and all I'm left with is the T5.

[Tiddlywinks]

me again....there are some pretty disappointed folks here .

Ok, Gekko has been flaming the T5 (but he still bought one) but it really looks a bit of a mess....Much of it is clearly attributable to the OS5.4 'tweak' and these teething troubles can be fixed by patching. Nevertheless, P1 must have been in a serious hurry to get this out..

PTL, the bbvfs thing looks like it is caused by the unusual memory configuration and this may be a problem for cardbackup etc also....what else lies in store? Well, you can bet one thing, Zlauncher will work when Li and his mates get on the T5 case (if they havent already).

also, the slow app problem was an incompatibility with....Agendus.........

[NeedzMoarDesu]

I love this guy!! SOS: PM him on that board and get him over here!!

Forget my silly attempt to be "positive" above and take it all with a "grain of salt." NO TEALSCRIPT??!! Well now I'm upset. I thought this was OS5??!! You messin' with Tealpoint, you messin' with PTL . . . OH! Startin' to hear the voices . . . .

What a crock. So let me get this straight: No Backup, no TealScript, slow Agendus!! Well what are we all WAITING FOR? Christmas? I hope those Easter T5 sweaters are in the "appropriate Spring colors," as you've got to find some way to make it look good. Wonder how slow it is with the WIFI CARD??!!

I loved the post underneath, where someone said "oh well, save your pennies . . . soon you can upgrade to the T3."

HA HA HA!! OK back to serious . . . if developers have to make YET ANOTHER "special tweak" for a "one-shot-in-the-dark" Palm model, they're not going to be happy. I'd be interested to see who takes the time. I wouldn't if I were a developer.

OK I'm done trying to be "positive." I was with Gecko almost from the beginning when I read more FACTS - and held out some hope thanks to people saying "Well, wait til someone actually GETS ONE. Well now people have. The jury ain't out now. As I said, other than permanent landscape . . . not much going. Besides that, you lose the VOX and APPARENTLY some real functionality in terms of "little things" -- you know, CALENDAR, BACKUP, BEING ABLE TO WRITE!!!

"We can use Dad's old barn as a stage . . . Come on Kids -- Let's put on a show!!" I'd remember where my MickeyMouse ears were if only I'd been able to write it down in TealScript on the T5 and back it up . . . .

There's really no need to despair everyone . . . the T3 is still here and it's a "mean machine," even with its own "prematurity bugs."

ADDENDUM 1:22PM Pacific Time:
Gekko has placed SEVERAL posts on that thread linked above; latest is (paraphrasing somewhat):

Bugs galore, will explain later, reloading T3 Desktop now, this thing is GOING BACK TOMORROW.

I have posted there, and have invited him to sign up here, too. This is one sorry customer but hopefully he can save others some grief.

I'll go out on a limb here and suggest that ALL OF YOU should follow MooseMan's lead and cancel until things are straightened out; $400 doesn't grow on trees for any of us. Personally I'm concentrating over the next few weeks on "purging all unnecessary apps" and adding new ones that will make me genuinely more productive. The SnapCalc 5.6 "find" yesterday went a long way toward that. There are several IMPORTANT upgrades to softwares coming early next week for me at least, and Agendus is just about perfect but I'll keep an eye on Iambic for updated releases. At least Agendus WORKS on my T3 - and I might add, very very well now.