Dust Dust And More Dust

[Monon333]

Ok it is official, The new Tungsten does have a Dust issue..... I checked with three stores here in Indiana and Tungsten are being returned because of dust under the screens................. I'm returning my Tungsten tonight, I hopeing to get one that doesn't have dust. I just seems to me that PDA makers have to know that this is a deal killer, why is it so hard to keep the dust out.......................

[OldBlue]

We must have different Tungstens. I have had mine since the day after they came out, use it many times per day, keep it primarily in my pants pocket (which should be a fairly linty and dusty environment) and I cannot see any dust under my screen. I DO have dust and lint on the outer surface, but that is simply wiped away. ... I'm sorry to hear you are having problems with yours. Should your replacement Tungsten also start accumulating dust, perhaps you should go with a different PDA?

OldBlue

[Monon333]

It's not just me, other disscussion groups are talking about the same dust issue, my new palm seems dust free so far, it could be a bad first run or something.........Best Buys switched it out without any hassle, they have had two other returned TT do to Dust.

Are you using any type of additional screen protection ?

Don't get me wrong There are some issues I have with the Tungsten, but it is only a week old, new software that will take advantage of the TT's new processor will make all the little complaints worth it. But if someone doesn't point out the short comings, they will not get fixed..........

All in all it is a whole new day for Palm :)

[plyte]

:) They come from China or Hungary or .... What does it say on the back of the unit? I guess: if one has dust, the next ones on a production line will have the same dust. cause the person who should watch the palms passing by was in the wash room at that time. And that lasts quite a few minutes.

plyte

[OldBlue]

Monon333,

I did not mean to imply that it was just you having a problem with screen dust. I apologize if it sounded that way and I do appreciate your posts that point out potential problems. I have read in the past about screen dust with the m505, although I did not see any such posts regarding the m515, which surprised me, since they both have the same form factor and same openings. I've been reading the boards here, on PIC, on Brighthand, on PDABuzz, and several others. I must have missed the posts about TT screen dust. ... BestBuy has a great return policy. I hope that your new Tungsten remains dust-free. ... I do not do anything out of the ordinary with my Palms. I do make sure that the card slot is always filled with an SD card or the blank that came with the Tungsten. I use a light coat of car polish on the screen and I cover the graffiti are with a strip of 3/4 inch Scotch Type 811 Removeable tape. It give the graffiti area a "paper" feel and protects it from scratches. I change it weekly, which takes all of about 30 seconds. (I doubt that the polish and the tape have anything to do with preventing dust form entering the TT case.) Again, the pockets in my pants seem to be perfect breeding grounds for dust and lint, but I have not yet seen any dust appear on the inside surface of my TT screen nor has it happened in 1.5 years of carrying around my m505. Maybe I'm just lucky? (knock on wood!)

OldBlue

[AZSideroad]

I have been considering upgrading to a Palm OS5 device to have the "latest and greatest", but when hearing about the problems with dust under the screen under the Tungsten T my heart dropped. I was hoping that because it was using a reflective (iPaq 3600, 3800 series, Clie N700, N600 series all had one AND dust problems) the screen was sealed, and would not have problems. The other Palm OS 5 device, the NX70V, is $100 more expensive and a LOT bigger. I wanted to get away from the "bigger is better" Sony philosphy, but their screens are the nicest I've ever seen on a PDA. I use my NR70V as my photo album, and I wanted to use the TT for that as well.

I will hopefully get one this weekend and give it a shot to see if I like it or not. If it has dust under the screen, I'll probably stay with my existing NR70V until I absolutely have to upgrade. For example, to a Palm OS X device ;-).

[OldBlue]

AZSideroad

While some people have posted about dust under their screen, many others have posted that they have NOT had any dust problems. I fall into the latter group. I also carried an m505 (mostly in my pants pockets) for over 1.5 years without any dust problems. I hope you have a much luck with your TT being dustless as I have had. It's a great PDA and the best Palm yet!

OldBlue

[mevande]

Sorry about your dust issue. Seems to have been a problem with some of the 505/515's. I made the switch to Sony 2 years ago and 3 Clie's later.. no dust problem! Why 3 Clies? Gave one to my wife. Had a Clie 615 (loved it) , but sold it on ebay. Had to have the NXR70:). It is the ultimate PDA! Good luck with your dust issues. I was hoping the Tungsten would be free of such things and hence would provice more competition.

[palmwatcher]

I think some of you jinxed me. The only PDA I've every had any dust trouble with was an old HP Jornada (don't remind me). I REALLY LIKE the new Tungsten: form factor, screen, speed...everything. BUT...my first had a couple of dead pixels right in the middle of the screen. Darn! Well I'll get another. This was probably a fluke. No. 2 had a couple of dust specs and the floating digitizer problem. All right, third time's the charm. I got it today. Charged it up. Synced. Finally got down to examining the screen...G@$ D!#@ it, there must be 10-12 pieces of dust scattered around the middle of the screen! Hard to ignore! :mad: :mad: @$!%#!$@#!$ (and other appropriate expressions)

So, should I try again or just go with an NX?

[Monon333]

Go with the NX, you won't be sorry, I comes with all the things palm want's you to wait for....MP3...Movie Converter...No Dust

[OldBlue]

palmwatcher

In your situation, 3 times in a row is too much. Maybe going with a different PDA is the right move for you. It will save you a lot of anxiety and grief.

My experience with Palm has been different than yours. My m505 did not have any screen dust problems for the 1.5 years that I used it. My Tungsten is almost 2 weeks old, has been carried in my pants pocket daily, and is showing no dust. (Although I DID find a dead pixel when I displayed a totally black screen in SplashPhoto. That pixel is not noticeable when running my applications, so I will not be returning my TT for a replacement. All in all, I'm extremely happy with my Tungsten.

I wish you luck with whichever PDA you choose.

OldBlue

[little-man]

palmwatcher
I think that for you the NX70v would be the right way to go. no dust, built in camera, built in MP3, bigger screen... the list goes on and on. If you don't want to spend the extra $100 for the camera, just wait for the NX60. it won't be long. same price as the TT, yet SO much better. I really don't see its size to be a problem, but more of an asset. bigger screen, and easier to hold. SONY ALL THE WAY BABY!!!!!

[palmwatcher]

Okay, I'll admit to being a little stubborn at times. I had about decided to get an NX. I even played with one for a while. But today I had to make a trip out-of-state to Atlanta. I decided to follow advice from one forum that suggested I was fishing in the same pool and maybe should either wait a couple of months (practically impossible for true Technophiles) or go to another distribution point. I did and get another TT (#4). I even managed to get a car charger that would work.

I got home, synced up (nothing exploded) and examined this one and guess what......

NO DUST!:D :D :D
I'm still cautiously optimistic but, if this holds, I'll be one happy camper. Thanks for all the help, assistance, advice, etc from fellow-palm users.

[OldBlue]

Hi, palmwatcher

Congratulations on your dustless Tungsten T! I've got my fingers crossed for you and hope it stays dust-free for you. I've been having a great time with mine, both at work and at play. It really is an excellent PDA!

OldBlue

[hayaku]

I got my TT yesterday and so far I see 1 little speck of dust lower left of the screen. Not in the actually screen area but on the black border so it glows a bit. I'll also be watching the dust very closely to see if it accumulates and if it does I'll be the first in line to return it. I've been thru the Ipaq dust issue and I sure don't want to deal with that again.

PDAs are supposed to make your life easier, not give you headaches.

[Clie-Taurus]

Actually, I've had (I have?) the luxury of trying out both devices. The Tungsten T and the Sony Clie NX70V both have their own unique sets of pros and cons, their yins and yangs, the good the bad and the really ugly for both devices.

I first tried out the Palm Tungsten T, to see if they had the "stuff" to pull me away from their licensees Handspring and Sony. All of my previous Palm OS devices were Handspring and Sony models. What attracted me to the Palm was it's small size, fast processor, great screen, and better battery life.

I used the Palm Tungsten T for about four days and was generally pleased. The small size was something I took for granted from using the BFP (Big F***ing PDA) Sony Clie NR70V. It also had a decent screen, and the sliding design was ingenious. With the right programs, one would never have to open the TT and could have the smallest most powerful PDA! I then decided I wanted to have MP3 playback and the other features the TT lacked and took it back. That and I really liked the 320*480 screen of the Sony NR70V I had at the time. The extra lines of resolution were really nice and greatly missed from the Sony. I also had a speck of dust on the TT, and a dead pixel.

I then decided I'd try the NX70V, to "graduate" from my NR70V. I picked it up, and after the first charge and I turned on the screen my job dropped. Sony has actually improved the transflective display on the NX70V! The whites are nice, bright and clear, and the blacks are black. It clearly has the best screen of any PDA on the market in my opinion. The MP3 playback is great and the improved audio player that supports playlists is beautiful! The digital camera has been improved, but the pictures still don't rival that of a decent digital camera. Also, battery life isn't as good as the old NR series. With my old NR70V, I could go about two days with 30 minutes to an hour each day and be down to maybe 90/85%. With the NX70V, at the same brightness setting (20), It dips down to almost 70%. Please note my PDA useage is not normal.

As for the benefits of each for size, the TT is awesome. For the screen and resolution, the Sony NX70V wins hands down. Battery life easily goes to the TT. When I used it for the four days with a full charge (on the cradle for four+ hours the first time), I kept it at low backlight setting and the meter maybe went down to 80% with the same useage I gave the NX70V. For those who want the biggest, baddest and meanest PDA, I'd say chose the NX70V. For those who want the possible future David of the PDA world, I'd say for with the Tungsten T.

[Stardust]

The dust-under-the-screen issue seems to have turned into a game of Russian roullette. One chap gets the dust and returns the unit without fanfare. Another sees no dust and shouts "Hurrah!" This is insane. People who sell out $499 for the latest toy deserve a kinder fate.

[Clie-Taurus]

Yes, for me it is starting to look like a game of Russian Roulette where all of the chambers are loaded. I picked up one TT from Best Buy and it had a few pieces of dust there weren't very noticeable. Now, with the unit I exchanged it for there appears to be even more dust under the screen.

I really like the Tungsten T series a lot more than the big bulky Sony models. Depending on how bad the dust issue is after a full first charge of the device, and testing it using LCDAnalyzer, I may just get a refund and get a Sony Clie NX60. No, I don't want the NX70V model because I had it for a while and for security reasons no digital imaging devices are allowed in the building.

I wish Palm had paid more attention the first time through and used transflective displays. I'm sure many would agree they would be willing to sacrifice lowlight visibility (with no backlight) for a screen that would have less of a chance for dust getting in.

[Clie-Taurus]

Actually, I just had a thought to remove/move the dust that is caught under the screen. What about using something like a cloth or some other item with a very strong static-electric cling on the screen to see if the dust moves? Unless the screen is a vacuum sealed environment, the specks of dust should be able to be moved, right? I'm not going to open the device, because that just increases the chance of dust getting under the screen.

What is everyone's ideas or feelings on this static-electric cling idea?

[Stardust]

The screen of a PDA should be airtight like the glass cover of a wristwatch or the lens assembly of a camera, dust being anathema to sensitive electronic parts. The dust could have got under the Tungsten screen while the unit was being assembled or after it rolled out the assembly line. In either case, there's clearly been a slippage in quality control at the plant level.

One solution perhaps would be to take the thing apart and blow away the dust with a camera lens blower. But I wonder how many people would dare tinker this way with a $500 gadget.

Come to think of it: if the Tungsten were a food product, would the FDA order its recall from supermarket shelves?

[maxinrome]

Hi everybody,

this message just to tell you I sent back my tungsten for dust under the screen.
What really makes me nervous is that I paid 37€ for shipping expenses.
And let's say Tungsten costs 618€ in Italy and it's not peanuts.
Now, waiting for the new unit.

Palm what are you doing ? Ever heard about "quality control" ?

Max - Rome - Italy