"Flat" Folding metal case for TX?

[David the old one]

I'm dumping my trusty old Palm V for a new TX, which is enroute. At $266 I couldn't afford NOT to. I have two questions:

1. I'm looking for a metal case that will open either flip-top or book fashion (I don't care which) AND that has a top that will fold ALL the way back and lie flat against the back of the TX when opened. This probably means the case would have to be "double-hinged" to allow the foldback to happen. I don't need a bunch of credit card and SD card pockets, so that's not a concern, although connectivity openings would be a handy feature. I've worn out the web looking with no luck. Anybody know of a case like this?

2. I've ordered a 1GB SD card for this thing. Can I leave it in the slot all the time without seriously affecting battery life?

Thanks.

[xXCuriousnessXx]

I have a T5, and am wondering the same thing about the battery life. I leave my SD card in all the time, and so far the battery life seems to be just as good as the day that I bought it.

[Academy& Clockworthy]

1. At $266 and upgrading from a V, you got a fantastic deal and congratulations.
2. I'm considering getting one - and I don't "upgrade" lightly. The TX seems impressive.
3. My only concerns about the 1GB SD would be "that's a lot of information to lose if it goes south." I have a 256MB I haven't filled - and I believe I'd go with 2x512 rather than an "ultimate behemoth." I'm soured by TWO bad SanDisk experiences - if Panasonic made one I'd trust it more.
4. Last, and Specific to your #2 concern: Battery life should NOT be affected at all. The TX has a slightly slower clock speed - if you keep Bluetooth/WiFi off, and use "half brightness" -- you'll see FAR more battery extension than whether a card is installed. Battery life hasn't really been "weighed in yet," and I'm guessing may be less than your V - but should do you in good stead.

One important consideration is that with the T3 you had a choice of "extended" or "closed." When "closed," you weren't using as much battery/LIGHT power to illuminate the bottom half. With the TX and its "permanent landscape," you do not have that option - but I think it's a small price to pay. IMHO, I would venture a GUESS that permanently being "open" is the reason people sometimes complained about the T5's battery life - it's not that it's shorter - it just has more to light up! Benefits are - you see more while it's on. Personally I'd LOVE that. Perhaps a car charger just in case -- enjoy it and all the best with it! I may be joining you soon!

The case thing sounds like a nightmare & I have nothing to offer there - sorry.

[boybaguio]

Well, I hope I don't end up here like I did with the 1G xD card in my Olympus camera. I was using 128's, bought a 1G just for the heck of it (2000+ 1600x1200 photos!), but it turns out the way the camera's "OS" reads the xD card on turn-on causes about a 10 sec delay between turn-on and ready to shoot when a 1G is plugged in. That time delay drives me nuts and has cost me some nice photos, so I've gone back to the 128's, won't hold as much but which allow the camera to go to "ready" mode almost instantly upon turn-on.

Your mention of data loss brings another question to mind... Does anyone make OS 5.4 backup software which allows one to completely back up a 1G SD card to another 1G SD card, or do you just have to do a giant hot sync if you blow a card?

[btony09]

Easiest method is get a card reader, drag the whole thing over to the PC, and burn a CD.

While opinions vary on "defragging" an SD Card (I do) - Jim Cooke's advice on bring to desktop and re-copy back to card makes a lot of sense. Everything on SD Cards is "contiguous" when you view in a defrag analyzer (Windows stock one should "see" the external card). That's rather cool - it allows you to burn a CD of the Card's contents, then drag back on and have no fragmented or non-contiguous files. The risk of defragging an SD Card on a PC is that you'll change the formatting such that Palm no longer can open it or even format it. I have no problem - but perhaps that's 'cause my hard drive is FAT32, and I believe SD Cards are FAT16. With a T5's NTFS I have no clue, nor do I think it's possible for any handheld to retain that much information while allowing you to back up a 1GB to another. PC is your only way, I believe.

The argument was made some months back that SD Cards don't have any problem finding information so don't need "defragging;" your Olympus argument confirms to me that if something has to "look" more than it should, that costs time. Loading takes time - and so does looking for information if it's all over the card - especially with 1GB.

I like your "128" rule - maybe go up to 256, and with one in the camera and 3 spares you've still got a GB - but if you lost one down a gutter you've got 768MB left - safe!

[Dee Zon of Yowsie]

The "official" Palm aluminum hard case for the T5/TX is the only one I know of that folds completely to the back, and it has a couple of slots for SD cards. The downside is that it has no openings for I/O ports or to access the stylus easily. $39.99 USD from Palm or cheaper through 3rd party sales.

[Ema Mac]

Palm Hard Case for T5/TX:

Computers4SURE:
http://www.computers4sure.com/produc...Palm+Hard+Case

Tech Depot:
http://www.techdepot.com/pro/product...Palm+Hard+Case

Amazon.com:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...=UTF8&v=glance

eBay example:
http://cgi.ebay.com/PalmOne-3175WW-P...QQcmdZViewItem


Ragarding SD cards...they shouldn't require any power when just plugged in, just when reading and especially writing. Also, digital cameras keep track of number of shots available on removable media, so when you first turn the camera on, it has to scan the card for used/available space. The larger the card, the longer the scan time. The only reason to use the larger card in your palm would be to store music files. Otherwise, like said before, you are just tempting fate to lose that much more data.

[MAD_!]

Thanks for all the good info from everybody. I received this thing finally yesterday after a minor skirmish with UPS. Maybe it's because I've lived with a monochrome low-res PDA all these years, but this TX seems slicker than duck snot to me. I absolutely love the display, it's so sharp and bright I'm running it at about 10% brightness for normal room light. WiFi worked perfectly first time, and setup was child's play. The unit is heavy and solid feeling in the hand, yet is very slim and comfortable to use. The only thing I was really unimpressed with was Palm's "Addit" software, which to me is totally non-intuitive to set up and use, plus there ain't no way I'm plugging my Mastercard number into this thing.

I ended up going with a $29 Rhinoskin leather flip case as the best practical compromise between protection and convenience. If somebody would make a hard aluminum FLIP case with port openings for this PDA, whose lid would fold completely behind the unit during use, I'd be happy to fork over big bucks for it, but it appears all the case designers have never actually held and used a PDA. All they'd have to do is make an aluminum version of the Rhinoskin flip case, but nobody's listening, I suppose. Sigh.

I was a bit nervous at the amount of pressure required to plug in the sync cable, I was afraid I might break something getting it snapped into place. I suppose it will loosen up some with use, and at least it darned sure won't fall out accidentally.

I probably overkilled on the 1G SD card, but the economy of scale was a powerful lure. 1G=$55, 1/4 of that=$33. Other considerations aside, it didn't seem to make much sense not to get the 1G, which I guess I'll use for MP3's and photos (my photos are all 500-600K each). I'll eventually pick up a 256 for routine stuff, when I get over being ticked off at the industry's SD pricing strategy.

My only problem with this little beauty now is I've had it one day, loaded Bejeweled on it, and now I can't get the damned thing away from my wife so I can play with it. Oh well, Christmas is coming, and if we both have one we can play games head-to-head.

I haven't owned a lot of PDA's like many on this forum, but the TX appears to be a heck of a bargain for the money, and I'm a very happy camper with this one.