First PDA Tungsten T ? What do you think?

[LouPager]

I'm shopping for my first PDA. My interests are the calendar, notes, and GPS. I'm a HS teacher and a pilot. Iwas looking at the Tungsten T. I also see a Tungsten W coming out in spring 2003. There are so many manufactures, models and MS VS Palm. Does anyone know of a good buyers guide? If you were new again what would you do? Thanks:confused:

[PDAClassifieds]

The Palm OS is a good choice. The Tungsten is however a pretty pricey unit - but an excellent choice as well. The choice of a PDA is personal - your favorite or perfect one will not be the same as anyone else's for a number of reasons. You might, for instance, want to consider an older unit (m505 or 515) because they make a "snap on" type GPS system - something that a pilot might find indispensible. Althought, I am sure one is coming (eventually) for the TT.

Best advise is buy from somewhere like Best Buy, Office Depot etc where you have a 14 or 30 day return policy. Buy it and try it.

Finally - for excellent information and reviews on all types of gadgets including Palm OS hardware, software and accessories - the best place to go (IMO) is The Gadgetter - www.the-gadgeteer.com . VERY good site to learn about a lot of things gadgetty.

Good luck.

[LouPager]

Thank you for the reply,

I keep going back to the Tungsten T and seem to like the features and the design.

Palm is coming out next year (Spring 2003) with the Tungsten W and I do like the little keyboard. I really don't need the built in phone. I'm also reading about Palm O/S 6 in the summer of 2003.

I found pda buyerguide to have a lot of great information. I am a Windows person and use and teach Office XP at school. However, I'm not sold on the overhead Windows requires in this format.

http://www.pdabuyersguide.com/ is the site for great info between Palm and Windows as well as the different manufactures on both platforms.

http://www.davespda.com/hardware/pda/palm/palm2.htm?tungsten-w has info on the TW and the TT

http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/27855.html has information on the O/S 6

http://store.palm.com/product/index.jsp?productId=1213046&cp=1195699 has information on a bluetooth GPS for the TT, however its over $330.00

Perhaps what ever I do I should wait till after xmas and see if the pricing comes down.

Thanks again for your thoughtful reply.

Lou

[Stardust]

Keep in mind that the lithium batteries of color PDAs last only two years from date of manufacture. Unfortunately, PDA manufacturers have not addressed the issue of battery replacement. Those who use monochrome PDAs that run on non-rechargeable batteries have a good thing going for them.

[pdcparamedic]

Are you saying that after two years (more or less) our Tungstens are garbage? That can't be, there must be a replacement battery available. I certainly would not have thought they were "disposable" pda's at $500.

pdc

[Stardust]

Well, I suggest you ask Palm, Sony or Handspring for the lowdown on battery lifespan.

[markthegenius]

This will be my 3rd palm pilot once I get it for Christmas...and i just got a few questions on my mind.

1. does the Tungsten come with the hotsync cradle/cable so i can download my favorite games/software off of my computer?i need to know this.

2.Can the Tungsten play video clips and music?

3.what accsessories should I buy for this?

[sleuth255]

1. TT comes with a USB cradle that's the same as the M500 series was.

2. You bet it can. I'm wowing 'em with the Two Towers trailer these days. MP3 support is EOY with OGG support available today in beta

3. Get the biggest SD card you can afford to store all your video and audio clips along with your favorite pictures. Don't use SanDisk cards; try Panasonic or Lexarmedia instead. SanDisk is cheaper but you get what you pay for it appears in the form of sloooowww access...

[PDAClassifieds]

I have never had a PDA of any type for 2 years so a 2 year life span doesn't worry me. Heck - look at 2 yr old Palms / Sonys now - is there any we would WANT to still be using? You are talking about the IIIc, Palm V type versions. I know - many still are using them and I don't want to start a discussion about who can or can't afford to upgrade - but seriously - a 2 year lifespan doesn't sound TOO horrible. At $400 a unit - that comes out to a daily cost of ownership of 55 cents - not too bad in my opinion.

Additionally - I guarantee that a 3rd party will come up with a battery replacement option. Heck, when the m100s were first released - it took about 2 weeks for someone to start offering an 8 meg upgrade - and that was for a $100 handheld.

[LouPager]

The cost per day is low with the TT. Less than a bottle of water.

Has anyone used the Palm for showing video clips and/or PowerPoint presentations to customers on a Palm.

Do you think the TT will be a good unit for this?

The conversations about the Tungsten are everywhere. This seems like one of thoughs devices I will be saying, "How did I work with out one"

[jotjot]

I have a Visor Pro and until recently a visor phone. I am ditching the phone due to the bad reception and more importantly the repeated sending back for the headphone jack not working. Without the headphone working there is no use in having everything in one package! The blue tooth to a GPRS tiny phone is a good replacement. I too like the form of the TT. And with Newpen I won't have to open the slide. The power of checking my e-mail and get web info on the fly was nice with the Visor Pro VP combination. Anyone with expericence with the TT, especially with a blue tooth GSM GPRS bluetooth phone would be appreciated. Especially the Sony Ericsson T68i. My concerns are the following:

How is the phone to TT and vis versa?

How is the web browser?

Can JAVA run on Palm OS5 or in the future OS6?

With the huge increase of websites requiring JAVA is there a compatable browser the can handle JAVA not to mention SSL etc. etc.? I would prefer not being dependent on a proxy to reconfigure the pages.

I really want to convert. I just want to look before I leap!

[markthegenius]

would this be good? http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?product_code=293186

i did see a 512mb card that i would love to get my hands on but i doubt my parents would be willing to spend that much on a memory card.....the thing was like $500

[sleuth255]

Yeah, that's about the going rate for the good ones. SanDisk is less but you get what you pay for, believe me.

[sleuth255]

1289MB??? sorry... it was just a typo, I meant 128MB in the previous title... didn't mean to be getting anyone's hopes up!:D

[djmangen]

Originally posted by LouPager
Has anyone used the Palm for showing video clips and/or PowerPoint presentations to customers on a Palm.


I use the M515 as a driver for a display projector to show Powerpoint presentations to clients; they have thought that it was kind of neat to be able to avoid lugging around a laptop for the presentation--but you still need the projector.

I can't imagine a client wanting to look at the tiny screen of a Palm for a major presentation, and I wouldn't want to risk the client relationship unless they specifically asked to see it (and I had a backup so that we could get our work accomplished when they realized how inadequate it was for that task).

[sleuth255]

...until I converted the Two Towers trailer. You should see what people do when I show it to them. At first they look at me like its some sort of joke (to show a tiny movie), but then they really start looking at it and their eyes get wide. Its really quite amazing how well your mind can translate the images if the resolution is good enough.

I myself was surprized. I originally scoffed at viewing movies on handhelds because all I ever saw was one playing on an iPAQ. The improved resolution of the TT makes all the difference believe me. The iPAQ was pixelated and difficult to watch whereas the Kinoma conversion viewed at 320X320 is quite simply picture quality.

NX users would have an even better experience here.

[djmangen]

Were these people "normal" clients. or were they other techie geeks? Pardon my bluntness, but unless you know that they are sufficiently "geeky" I think it would be very unwise to subject them to the tiny screen after they have gotten used to a big projector image.

My perspective is, however, colored by the fact that I'll do anything to keep my clients happy, and imposing my geekiness on them is something that I won't do in the interests of filthy euchre.

[Stardust]

Originally posted by PDAClassifieds
I have never had a PDA of any type for 2 years so a 2 year life span doesn't worry me. Heck - look at 2 yr old Palms / Sonys now - is there any we would WANT to still be using? You are talking about the IIIc, Palm V type versions. I know - many still are using them and I don't want to start a discussion about who can or can't afford to upgrade - but seriously - a 2 year lifespan doesn't sound TOO horrible. At $400 a unit - that comes out to a daily cost of ownership of 55 cents - not too bad in my opinion.

Additionally - I guarantee that a 3rd party will come up with a battery replacement option. Heck, when the m100s were first released - it took about 2 weeks for someone to start offering an 8 meg upgrade - and that was for a $100 handheld.


Maybe so. But what about those who live outside the US, have to pay more for their PDA's or simply can't afford to upgrade every two years?

I bet a lot of people who are snapping up the Tungsten or the NX series have not carefully considered the issue of battery replacement. Perhaps if the Palm community at large would discuss this issue more and voice their concern, PDA manufacturers would begin to address the problem.

[LouPager]

Great, I do have a good projector and will try this when I get my TT. The more reviews I read it seems to be the way to go. Actually, Palm will most likely have the upgraded TT at some point. I just don't want to wait for a long time. Thanks for the reply.

Lou

[sleuth255]

Originally posted by djmangen
Were these people "normal" clients. or were they other techie geeks?

Well, I was referring to one of the SVP's of the company I work for. I was doing a demo of the T/T's features. He was tasked with upgrading the CEO's PDA.

In another instance, I was doing some field work with a client of mine and we were discussing "computerizing" the child care dept. of an Athletic Club. We had all the child supervisors together for a brainstorming session. One of them was very "anti computer", she kept saying that writing everything on paper was just fine and that we didn't need to modernize because PC's weren't any better.

I whipped out my TT and played a clip of my little 3 month old for her and her heart just melted. We were able to make good headway with the session after that!

Seriously, I consider the TT's video capability just that: personal one on one work to emphasize a point or to add value to a presentation. Something to enhance the discussion when that big power point presentation concludes and you're chatting informally with members your audience afterwards. It really adds impact, believe me!

[djmangen]

Originally posted by sleuth255


Well, I was referring to one of the SVP's of the company I work for. I was doing a demo of the T/T's features. He was tasked with upgrading the CEO's PDA.


Under the situations you describe I can see how it would work -- you were dealing with circumstances where the capability of the tool makes a big difference in their acceptance of the tool.

Assume, however, that you were making a presentation documenting cross-selling efforts of financial services products to SVPs of marketing and sales. Would you want them clustered around a PDA?

[sleuth255]

Save it to emphasize something later. Say when you're out for dinner afterwards. Perhaps a short clip demonstrating a feature of that new browser based teller software that's being rolled out in the midwest region. I've found it useful in that arena, especially where the conversation has already focused on some technology aspect of a product or service or the product itself is technologically advanced as in my example.

You have to choose your receipient carefully though. Some folks at the top of the corporate ladder are quite taken back by anything they are not familiar with. Especially if it has anything to do with advanced technology.

I've actually gotten the most out of clips of my daughter in the above situations. Everyone likes to trade pics of their kids, and using this platform to show movie clips and slideshows of mine lends credence to me as a technologist and subsequently to the TT as a valid technology platform. After they have all passed around my daughter's clip, they tend to be more receptive to a clip that supports the business goal I'm pursuing.

[OldBlue]

sleuth255

I'm in complete agreement with you. On my TT, I have video clips of my company's services, numerous photo albums, spreadsheets and charts/graphs, PowerPoint presentations, databases, and documents. The TT is great tool for one-on-one presentations. (I HAVE done one-on-three in a pinch.) Kinoma Producer effortlessly converts video with sound taken with my Olympus digital camera for playback on my TT. Although I bought my TT for personal use, it has been a great tool for sales and marketing.

OldBlue