Palm Annouces the T/X and the Z22

[cellochick]

Moose, thanks for explaining the RAM. I had overlooked the actual vs useable RAM in Palm devices, even though I'd experienced that with past and present Palms that I have owned. ... Regarding the screen resolution, I'm speculating, but I think you meant to say "VGA" (i.e. 640x480) rather than QVGA (quarter VGA, which would be 320x240), because the big screen Palms are already HVGA (half-VGA, 320x480.) ... Thanks also for confirming the slower CPU speed for greater battery life. Somehow, it seems that Palm would offer a variable clock speed feature so that those users who want a fast PDA, but would either not be using WiFi or be concerned about long battery life, would have that option.

PalmTealLover, I think the TX is tempting, if only for the built-in WiFi and the large screen at a reasonable price. I'm going to take your advice and wait a couple of months because my Treo 650 is doing pretty much all that I want and I can still take my T3 w/ Wifi card if I know I am going to want WiFi connection or am going to need wide-screen. (Plus, the price may take a nose dive in 2 months, just before Christmas!)

OldBlue

[Rictar]

Imagine if the Palm product managers had simply listened to the customers. The T3 came out two years ago, and except for the poor battery life and lack of wifi, it was generally considered to be an excellent PDA.

All the customers really wanted was to take the T3, add wifi, add a replaceable battery, and maybe get rid of the slider. This would have been a better PDA than this TX. If Palm did this (which was very possible two years ago because PocketPC manufacturers were already doing it) they wouldn't have lost so many users to the dark side.

The TX is nice, but a lot of customers have already defected and this is not compelling enough to make them come back.

What a concept, huh? Listening to the customer. I am almost happy to see this company fail if only to teach a business lesson.

[Roll]

JMcKie - nail on the head. The T3 was really an "on time" device. Take it, drop the slider, add wifi, and a replaceable battery and the TX might have been contemporary but it's not. With NVF memory, a replaceable battery is the next most logical step? but apparently logic is not common on the Palm campus these days (except my beloved Treo).

OldBlue - my bad on the QVGA thingy - I had been remembering the PPC devices advertising/marketing of there less than resolute screens.

PTL - The T5 does give easily 5 hours of battery life. I can't speak for the TX of course but I suspect that the slow'd processor with the wifi should help.

And of course there is the wifi thingy - lets see 802.11g has been out for at least two years and Palm chooses to use b instead. I beleive that the Dell x50v uses g and it came out last fall.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I think Palm is positioning itself for something different than PDA's. The TX will not fly off of the shelf even at $299. It may not even fall off the shelf. The Z22 will do better then the TX.

But I said this in another thread: Palm is becoming a smartphone company and will end up doing nothing but converged devices in the long (perhaps short term).

The biggest phone manufacturer: Nokia posted this phone yesterday. It's got to be targeted at the Treo so what is Palm going to do? They will release a Linux version and a Symbian version of the Treo and the PDAs will fade away.

I used to be a two device guy - most of you know - but having run a Treo for now over a year in two different versions (with a blackberry thrown in for punishment) I can't think of carrying two units now.

Yes, I have the T5 but it's become a test bed for all of the other stuff that I play with and my Treo is the daily device of choice. And when a Cingular version of the Treo for Windows ( I refuse to call it a 700W) come out - it may be that I'll jump ship - I'll have to review it.

But I can tell you this - I won't be buying a PDA again, unless forced to for company reasons. I'm converged to stay.

[feg0121]

Wow...well said JMckie!

Quite frankly, I'm waiting for them to strip out the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, drop the CPU down to 200MHz, trim the RAM down to 64 or 32 MB, make the RAM volatile...and lower the price to $200 CAD or less.

[weetabix]

Well, now this is returning to the forum I've missed for a while! Woohoo!

Damn, we're a good lookin' and brilliant bunch, aren't we? We should be holding our own press conferences as the the "Panel that really knows what's going on."

From Moose's "press release" to JMckie's brutal "snap out of it!" honesty, we're painting a pretty accurate picture. Who'd have thought PTL would be the most Pro-Palm contributor on the thread! I must say I can't see much wrong with it. I think the lost/last 2 years have been a general "funk" and perhaps someone over there made a pot of red-eyes (coffee + espresso!). However - I ASSUMED (assume makes an ass of you and me!) that the WiFi would be THE LATEST STANDARD - I'm shocked it's "b" insteadof 802.11 "g." Hell, the EVDO thingies you presently need to attach to a notebook/laptop now will be internal just after the 1st of the year. Everyone else has moved on an entire generation and Palm can't give you the tail-end of the last generation. Whew.

I stand by my comments that if for nothing else other than the "fossils like me," the TX is at least a replacement (albeit not as nice) for the T3 should you be in a rest-stop somewhere and God forbid hear "2 plops" before the flush.

I have some questions that will illuminate my complete LACK of knowledge in the "pocket WiFi" area - having never done it:

1. Browser. Never used one on a handheld other than the RETARDED one on my Verizon phone - you keep wondering if the string between the tin cups is going to break. It's a joke. Is "Blazer" any good at all? Is it possible to look at and/or buy one of several optional browsers? I just looked at Eudora 2.1's webpage. I don't suppose Firefox makes a "pocket browser?" Guy on rabroad posted form TX, and doesn't care for Blazer:
http://discussion.rabroad.com/palmha...threadid=84060

2. Wifi Battery life/internet: Is a "powersled" or something like it necessary to spend 2 hours on the web and still have juice left? The T5 according to reviews has longer battery life than the TX, even with the higher processor. I figure I'll take the T5's "internet connected" life and deduct 20% and that should be the TX. How long is that?

3. When you're "on the web," using "pocket-browse," can you have bookmarks and go to any site, or is it just weather and movies (I'm exaggerating deficiencies) like my phone? Any of you use Verizon "mobile web?" You can almost hear Scotty on the Enterprise saying "The dylythium cristals are completely exhausted Captain - we've no more shields til we get power -- have you got a paper clip?" Any http* address works, right? Pardon the dumb question.

Finally - out of the 7 of us, I'm wondering how many of you will take a pass vs. buy it. I'm still considering a Fujitsu LifeBook or IBM Thinkpad + Verizon -- but it sure would be nice to have "basic email" on my belt and a backup to the T3. I'm leaning toward "TX2" if it shows up, or else this TX model if the price hits $250. So I'm a "yes," depending on the "true real-world functionality" of the browsing capability. Anyone else here?

[erica ann monroe]

Addendum: Further Questions If I May:
1. CardExportII allows you to "see" a T3 as a virtual USB storage. I assume that with the USB connector, the TX would provide the same "out of the box," correct?

2. Although not "Sprattable," instead of 10MB in flash (I'm using 7MB) and 2MB on the handheld - I now have 50 of 52MB free space, 53 apps. That's 95% free of 52MB on the T3. With 100MB useable, and no flash, I'd be at 90% free of twixe as much. Not bad.

3. I completely forget what the processor speed is on the T3 - I'll check on it now - but I'm also assuming the Tx would seem "as fast" even at 312 MHz (although it does have twice as much real estate to "look through" to call up information).

4. Has anyone dropped their T5 yet? How does a lightweight, thinner model hold up against shock? This is why I didn't get a LifeDrive - a spinning hard drive hitting the floor doesn't seem to bode well for survival.

5. Would optional mounting cradles or Car Charge (very important) kits for the T5 also fit this model, or will you need a different car charger?

6. Does it come bundled with Docs2Go 7? I currently still use v6.

I'd appreciate any input . . . will look at one "in store" ASAP. I'd prefer Fry's to BestBuy, but someone should have it soon if not today. I don't do the "web ordering" thing. I like my mitts on it first. In fact, when I got the T3 I opened three of them and picked the best slider. Guy in the store wasn't thrilled - but it was my $400.

I know this is a rehash of a 2 year old model, which for all we know they had in the can at the time - but I do view this is at least "positive," and I haven't exactly been extolling Palm's virtues lately. This would in fact change a few things for me, and I'm considering it strongly. Downsides: If the backup questions aren't answered then I'd still need the laptop to back up via hotsync; if I have the laptop with EVDO it reduces the need for a 2nd web-access unit (TX) - real benefit would only be mine if the TX "surfs well," and can back up to the SD Card properly. Someone please tell me it at least has an SD slot! Also, point #3 above was just edited by me - that's important too.

Thanks for enduring the long 2 posts, but I'm actually quite excited about this albeit a "backstep" or "sidestep." They're at least doing SOMETHING - and a properly functioning T5 with WiFi for 3 bills ain't bad as a "catchup" IMHO.

[gymnast_0111]

PTL: Browser world on a Handheld - PPC is better than Palm but both are worthless when compared to laptop/PC. I very seldom browse on the Treo unless it's to check sports scores etc - forget graphics on a handheld they just don't have enough memory to handle. But I have two employees with PPC devices and Pocket IE is better than Blazer.

Tx and T5 uses the same connector so accessories of the power type should work although I'm assuming that the battery specs are similar in their need for 5v 1amp draw. Actually, I can use the T5 and Treo 650 stuff interchangeably without issue. There are some pretty good universal cradles from Seidio etc that are interchangeable.

Virtual Storage - should work with perhaps minor issues caused by the new OS of 5.4.9 where the T3 is 5.1?

I think the Tx and the T3 use the same processor at 312mhz?

Dropping - T5 is just as resiliant as the T3 - provided its in a case. Out of the case - neither are going to do well.

Comes with v7.006 - Z22 doesn't.

And on the 802.11b standard - b takes more energy than g but it's a much cheaper chip......

Back to work.

[dj6217]

In a nutshell! Thank you, Sir. I'll look at Eudora. I want to know if I can enter an http and go to that address, or if it's "preselect4ed sites" with Blazer. Surely you can "visit" any site you want and not pick from a list of "Yahoo, weather, sports, movies."

If it's the case where you can bookmark and visit any site (like here - guy on rabroad obviously connected with that forum using Blazer) - then I'm pretty interested. I'll look today if I have time. I basically need GMail access and KTLA (local LA station) which has traffic maps by region - javascript required. Also wunderground.com is a great weather site for road conditions - if they work I thin I'd be okay.

Only other issue is the CardBackup/TealBackup question - are there restore problems on the TX. Using JackFlash on the T3 I never had to worry much - but since that "cushion" is gone with the TX, I'd have to be damn sure restore from card would work. The TX takes up to a 2GB card, apparently. Hopefully Panasonic make one as I'm not paying $249 for a Palm one (my 256MB would do me for now anyway!)

I checked out the TX accessories site; uninversal keyboard works as does cradle, car charger, etc - so I'm set there. If anyone beats me to the punch and buys a TX, please advise how a complete backup/restore works. That'd be the "closer" for me. At $299 it's almost worth it for the "experiment."

Thank you very much Moose Man for the quick, definitive answers. They knocked out about 90% of the issues & questions! Cheers.

[PartyGrl20]

Just to throw in the Uk perspective, have checked a couple of sites over here, and you can pick the TX up for a bargain ?215, which as PTL says, makes it a tempting T3 replacement.

One questionn i have is re: Wi-fi encryption - I sold my wi-fi card for 2 reasons: pants battery life on the t3, and lack of WPA encryption. Has anybody seen anything to suggest that the TX supports WPA, instead of just WEP?

My home network is wpa protected, so don't see why i should lower security just to use my pda! Of course, if the xbox 360 doesn't support WPA i'd clearly change my mind.

[ranger_guy]

PTL, contact me when you are up in my neck of the woods. We'll grab a cup of coffee and I'll show you WiFi and internet browsing on my T3 and on my Treo. You can decide first hand about the browsing experience. Like Moose says, it's not the same as on a laptop due to the smaller screen size and resolution, but it's adequate depending upon one's needs and expectations. ... I had purchased a WiFi sled for my T3, but returned it after trying it out. Connection was not a smooth as I would have like and it was, of course, bulky. Palm's WiFi SD card is much better, in my experience, but not a cool as having WiFi built in, of course. ... Power drain was solved by getting a Palm PowerToGo sled/charger.

Moose, the T3 uses an Intel X-Scale CPU set at 400 MHz. I have overclocked it and the CPU on my Treo 650 using "PXA Clocker" ... I can crank my 650's 312 MHz CPU up to over 420 MHz and maintain stability with all apps. Anything over that and a few apps start to get a bit quirky.

General thought ... maybe Palm kept the WiFi at 802.11b because the through-put and processing capabilities of the Palms would not take advantage of the higher speeds of 802.11g? i.e. Why drop a 500 HP engine in a car whose transmission falls apart at 75 mph? (Probably a poor analogy, but all I can come up with after a hearty lunch.)

OldBlue