Worth upgrading to E2?

[Kaye S]

:rolleyes: Hi all, I am thinking of upgrading my Tungsten E to to an E2. I was surprised to see on the specs that the built-in memory is the same. Does this mean it's no faster? Can anyone suggest for me what the advantages would be in such an upgrade?

[johnling]

My E2 is reliable and stable. It has handled everything I have thrown at it. I use WiFi a lot and set the cashe to 8 meg and Blazer works great. The E2 handles video and music fine. I have a 1 gig SD card and 512. Vegas slots hits a point where it slows down but, I exit and come back in and it's fine. I got a TX about 2 weeks ago. Vegas slots acts the same. The built in WiFi is faster on the TX. If not for the screen size difference I wouldn't know if I were on the TX or E2. If you plan on using WiFi get a TX. With the E2 you have to spend 100 bucks for the WiFi card and you have to remove your SD card to use it. As for screen size difference. In Docs to Go and while browsing or viewing photos or videos you use the full screen, everything else brings up the digitizer screen and it's only 320x320 anyway. The TX is slightly faster than the E2. If you only want to use it as an organizer and to play some games the E2 will be great. If you think you'll use WiFi go with the TX. By the time you buy an E2 for 199.00 then 99.00 for the WiFi card you have spent the 299.00 that a TX will cost you. PLus, at Office Depot and CompUSA you get a free wireless keyboard with the TX. I have both, use both a lot but for the best bang for the buck get the TX. If you have to wait a few more weeks for the cash do it. The TX is a good machine too.

JL

[Kaye S]

Thanks for that. I don't really know much about WiFi. :confused:
I am living in Hong Kong at the moment and "go home" to Sydney, Australia, a couple of times a year. It's in Sydney that I'd really like to be able to access the internet and email etc, but I don't think we have too many WiFi hot spots (is that the term?) in Sydney. Does anyone know the WiFi situation in Sydney or Hong Kong?
Also, does anyone know if I could use a TX or E2 with a recent model Nokia phone that DOESN'T have bluetooth? I only upgraded the phone a couple of months ago and didn't understand that bluetooth could come in handy when I'm travelling and don't have my own landline. :(

[Telyx]

If the Nokia phone has an infrared port, you could use that. You'll have to keep the IR ports of the PDA and phone pointed at each other, but it's better than nothing.

[Kaye S]

Really? The infrared will work with an E2? I have an Tungsten E now, I guess it wouldn't work with that?
How does it actually happen (sorry to be so ignorant)? Do I have to dial up an ISP or what?
My phone is a Nokia 6020 and it does have infrared. My 6020 guidebook says I "can access the Internet when my phone is connected to a compatible PC via an IR connection or a data cable connection."
Would it be better to get a data cable to reduce likelihood of dropout?

[Telyx]

It should work fine with the TE or TE2 (or any other IR-capable Palm going back to the m100 or even the Visor Deluxe).

You do have to dial up to an ISP. I've been using Earthlink for a while; here are my settings.

In Preferences, pick Connection from the drop-down list. You should be able to choose "Infrared to GSM Phone." (I'm assuming your phone provider uses GSM, which seems to be the standard everywhere but the US.) Then tap Edit... and then Details. The init string I've used successfully with a few Nokia phones is AT&FX4. (In my Zodiac, the default init string is a long bunch of characters, but AT&FX4 works fine.) Tap Done as necessary to get back to the first Connection screen.

Now pick Network from the drop-down. Here, you'll enter the name of your ISP; it might be in the drop-down if you tap the triangle to the left of the word "Service." Enter your user name and password, and for Connection, choose Infrared to GSM Phone. Enter the phone number of your ISP (a local dial-up number). Then tap Details, and make sure Connection type is PPP, and Query DNS and IP Address: Automatic are both checked. I don't know if it makes a difference what "Idle timeout" is set to; mine is set to Never. (You shouldn't need a script--but you never know. If you do, someone else will have to help you there.) Tap OK. You should now be back to the main Network screen.

Now, enable the Infrared port in your phone. Check your guidebook for how to do that.

Aim the two devices' infrared ports at each other, then tap Connect and see what happens. You should see a "window" that says "Dialing (name of service, or phone number)" followed by "Signing on." If you don't get any error messages at that point, you should be connected.

Now, to actually DO anything, you'll need a web browser and/or an e-mail app. I used WebPro with my TE and now Novarra's nweb with my Zodiac. You shouldn't need to do any extra configuration for the browser, but if you're going to send and/or receive e-mail with VersaMail (or another e-mail app), you'll need to go into its settings and set it up to communicate with your ISP's mail servers.

Once you have that set up, you can connect from within the e-mail app or the web browser instead of going to Prefs/Network all the time.

As far as "cable vs. IR" goes, a cable would be easier to work with (you don't have to keep the devices aimed at each other), but it costs and it's something else to carry around. I've found infrared to be pretty reliable, but if you don't have a table handy, holding both devices in one hand (so you can use the stylus with the other) can be a pain.

[Kaye S]

Thank you so much for your clear and detailed reply. Now I can't wait 'til I next "go home" so I can try it! You've been very helpful.
Now I'm wondering even more if it's worth my while upgrading. Anyone have any thoughts on that?

[Telyx]

If your TE is still working well, you might as well wait and see if the price of the TE2 (and other Palms) goes down. If your battery isn't holding a charge that well anymore or if there's something else wrong, though, the TE2 might be a good answer. (Keep in mind that some of your apps might have to be updated because the TE2 has non-volatile memory and some apps don't seem to like it.)

I have a 2-year-old Tungsten E that still works well; it's my backup PDA at this point because I found a Tapwave Zodiac 1 for $199 earlier this year, and it has a 200 MHz processor, 320x320 screen, dual SD slots, and a better battery than the TE. The Zodiac has its quirks, though, and Tapwave is no longer in business anyway.