PDA Reviews

Palm T|X Handheld PDA with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth

Palm had finally made up its mind to integrate WiFi in one of its handhelds, named Palm LifeDrive in May 2005 but the happiness of seeing wireless features was not long lived once we found that the cost of Palm LifeDrive cannot be digested. And then latter, the same year, it released the Palm T|X PDA with both WiFi and Bluetooth and this device had proved that, if a device has premium features, it is not necessary that it has to have a premium price tag. Along with the wireless features, it has a long list of other features that makes it a good competition to its rivals like Dell Axim X51 and HP iPaq rx1950.

After Palm reacquired the rights to the ‘Palm’ brand name, The TX and Palm Z22 Handheld PDA are the first new models they introduced. In that way, Palm then dropped the ‘Tungsten’ sub brand name, highlighting the strong Palm name brand.

PDA design:

The design of the Palm T|X Handheld PDA is very similar to that of its predecessor Palm Tungsten E5 except for the colour theme used. On a fast look at the device, you will tend to think that the device is black, but it is not so, the PDA is having a midnight colour scheme. This Palm handheld feels very sleek and compact, having its dimensions as, 4.7″ x 3.0″ x 0.6″ (H x W x D) and weighs just 5.2 ounces. It is just slightly larger and taller than the Tungsten E2. It is both shorter and thinner than the LifeDrive.  Though it is not as solid as Palms some of the previous models, it is having a reasonable built quality.

Display:

Palm T|X PDA is having an amazing display which is a 4-inch Transflective TFT display of resolution 320 x 240 pixels and supports more than 65,000 colours. The text and pictures displayed are very sharp and clear. You can also have fun with the display by customising the PDA with a lot of colour themes. You can do a lot of operations such as switching between portrait and landscape modes, switch on the FM radio, and bring up the virtual keyboard in just a tap of a button with the help of the toolbar that lies in the bottom area of the display. The 4″ rectangular display takes the majority of the front area of Palm TX. The sides of the PDA are smooth and the edges are well rounded.

Buttons and ports:

The main control panel lies just below the display which provides you with shortcut keys for Home, Favourites, Calendar, Contacts and Internet. The square like, main navigational pad is available in the center. The power button and the stylus holder sits on the top. Overall, the layout is spacious and logical. On the side of connectivity, a memory card expansion slot and a standard 3.5mm headphone jack are available on top of the device. SD expansion slot, which unfortunately lacks a dust cover. A port for the AC adaptor and USB ports can be found in the sides, but since they are placed very close to each other, you fill find it difficult to make use of both the ports at the same time. In case you want to reset you Palm T/X, you will find a button at the rear of the device that you will have to press with the help of any sharp device.

Processor and memory:

Palm T|X Pocket PDA is having a good deal of features. It is very easy to configure and setup the device. The device runs in the 312MHz Bulverde Intel processor. The processor is fast and you will not be able to see much of lagging in any of the areas. The operating system used is Palm OS 5.4. This PDA is having a non-volatile flash memory of 128MB out of which you will be able to use 100MB. This amount of memory will be more than enough for jotting down the details of ample number of contacts, but if you are planning to have any multimedia files like MP3 music and images, you will certainly need more memory, which you can expand with the help of the memory expansion slot. The memory expansion slot of Palm T|X can accept a memory card of 2GB capacity. And since the memory is non volatile, you will not be having any fear of loosing any information at any cost.

Wi-Fi:

Though Palm had introduced the WiFi late, it has done its job efficiently. It make connections with the web swiftly and the process is not complicated at all. All that it needs is a couple of clicks and your job will be done. It automatically starts up the connection and shuts it down automatically too, thus saving on battery life, while the Blazer browser does a fine job of reformatting websites to fit the screen. Web pages with simple text and images will get loaded in a matter of seconds but the ones with heavy graphics might take a while though. It is annoying to have to view cached pages by default and can get confusing when browsing and surfing the Internet. Although you can change the configuration, somehow it seems to revert to the default, maybe that happens after synchronising again and again. The second wireless option, that is, the Bluetooth connections are as efficient as that of the Wi-Fi connection. All the manipulations such as connecting, pairing, sending and receiving files, all can be done without any trouble.

Features related to Wi-Fi:

The advantages of having the WiFi does not stop with this, a free service called the Avvenu gives you remote access to your computer at work or home and allows you to share content with others and upload data. Though the service is free, you will have to download the Avvenu agent into your computer and then set password for the sake of security. You can also enter encryption settings in order to have enhanced security. For having more fun, you can also subscribe to MobiTV, which is not free though and watch live television on your handheld. This service allows you to have up to 10 channels that runs at 24fps.

Features:

The other features that are included in the Palm T|X PDA Handheld are, DataViz’s Documents To Go 7 and VersaMail 3.1 for professionals who can work on the go. The Documents To Go application allows you to view and edit Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Desktop Synchronising that includes updating software and files using your PC to load and update files are residing in the PDA and has no problems. Graffiti 2 writing software is included to input data into the handheld and writing down using the stylus is fast and accurate for hand writing recognition.

The VersaMail 3.1 has support for eight email accounts such as, POP, IMAP, APOP, or ESMTP and hence delivers emails to you. Since VersaMail works with Exchange ActiveSync, you will be able to connect directly to your company’s exchange server.

Some of the other essential miscellaneous applications included are, Quick Tour, Calc with Advanced mode, Calendar, Card Info, Contacts, Dailer, Expense, Favorites, HotSync, Media, Memos, Note Pad, pTunes, SMS, Solitare, Tasks, Blazer web browser and World Clock.

Multimedia:

For the sake of multimedia entertainment, Plam T|X Wireless PDA has Pocket Tunes, with wich you will be able to listen to your favourite tunes and podcasts. The formats supported by Pocket Tunes include MP3, WMA which requires the deluxe edition, PCM WAV and Ogg Vorbis. Ogg Vorbis is an open-source codec, that means, no one has to pay licensing fees when it is used, unlike codecs such as MP3, WMA, or AAC. Many focus groups claim that music files compressed by the Ogg Vorbis codec sound better than those created with commercial codecs. This kind of format has the extension OCG. You will also be allowed you create and edit play lists, shuffle your play list and even customise the theme, skin and look of your player. You can create slide shows of your photos and give a musical background to it. The video and music playback are clean and smooth. The sound quality and the volume levels were very impressive too.

Audio:

A mono speaker is available in the rear of the device which is just adequate for the purpose of gaming and alarms. MP3s can also be played via this speaker, but we feel that, if you could invest on a headphone, that will do a good job providing you a better experience. As in the case of the T5, the TX also does not have vibration support or even LEDs for indications and the worst part is that, it still uses the old fashioned pilot 1000 alarm sounds for calendar. The absence of microphone is disappointing too.

Battery:

The battery used in the device is not user replaceable which is disappointing, but it is the long life lithium ion. On heavy usage the battery might last you for five hours else, it might give you up to ten hours. The device has a lot of battery and power saving features incorporated in it. For instance, if not used for 3 minutes, the TX goes into hibernation, hence power saving.

Package:

The package of the device includes a flip cover that attaches itself to the left side of the device and protects its screen and facia from any accidental scratches. But we would suggest you to get a complete protection, may be a full size case. Apart from the flip cover, the other contents of the package include an USB cable, an AC adaptor, a user guide and an installation CD. The CD is a very useful one as it is bundled with a number of software and some interactive tutorials. You also have a number of optional accessories on offer that includes Bluetooth GPS navigational system and Palm’s universal wireless keyboard.

Verdict:

The integrated WiFi, Bluetooth, the large and bright display and good battery life: all these features makes it hard for us to not recommend the Palm T|X PDA. And the most important of all, it offers wireless solutions at an affordable price. But, if you are a casual user and if you are not in any real need of WiFi, then you can choose Palm’s Tungsten E2.

Check other PALM PDAs, reviews, specification details in our website.



Palm T|X Handheld PDA – Technical Specifications, Features

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