Palm 3199WW Cradle Kit for Tungsten E2/T5/TX and LifeDrive
by Palm
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List Price: Our Price: $9.00 You Save: $40.99 (82%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: CE See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Palm 3199WW Cradle Kit for Tungsten E2/T5/TX and LifeDrive
Customer Review: 5 stars for utility and 3 stars for value
Summary: 4 Stars
Palm has stopped including charging/synching cradles with its PDAs and Treos. Cradles have some utility, so Palm offers you this kit at an exaggerated price for recent-vintrage Tungsten PDAs. (Be sure to check whether the kit you'r ordering is compatible with the Palm model you have!)
You're buying both more and less than you think with the kit. You get a light cradle, smaller than a pack of cards and weighing about an ounce. You plug the square plug of the power adapter that came with your Palm Tungsten or other compatible Palm device into the cradle, and then you plug in the USB synchronization cable that came with it. When you're done you have what Palm should have given you in the box with the Tungsten.
To justify the price, you also get: A large power adapter that has interchangeable plugs compatitble with US & European wall outlets and a "real" USB cable that boths synchs and charges a Palm device. The "real" USB cable works for a wide range of recent Palm devices, including Treo 650 and newer smart phones. It's very useful for travel if you carry a laptop that has a USB port.
The cradle is worth about two bucks, but the rest of the package makes the price more or less reasonable, considering that accessories are always high profit items. Shame on Palm for not including the cradle in the box with all its products. But if you want a cradle you do get a couple of other potentially useful accessories to make you feel less ripped off. If you just want a combination USB synch and power cable, you can get that from aftermarket suppliers for a lot less than the cradle kit.
Customer Review: Too Much Stuff -- But It Works!
Summary: 4 Stars
My Palm device travels with me to work every day and I depend upon it for meeting reminders, to-do lists, etc. I like having it next to my PC's screen for instant access, standing upright so that I can easily see and use it. I upgraded from a Palm IIIxe to the Palm T|X and have no regrets. The one thing that was a little disappointing is the difficulty I had in finding a cradle at a reasonable price. Palm offers their T5/TX Cradle Kit and it works just fine but required some shopping to get the price down. The TX clips snugly on to the connector in the Palm cradle making it visible whilst I work at my computer. The Palm IIIxe was much easier to place in its cradle, but the connector was much wider and didn't carry power to charge internal batteries in the old Palm. The Cradle to PC connection is via USB allowing the usual easy one-button synch of Desktop with TX. In some reviews of this product there has been criticism that the cradle's internal LED is illuminated all of the time which some reviewers found annoying. The fact is that if you are connected via USB directly to your PC or via a powered USB hub, the Palm's battery will be charged and it is not necessary to use the cradle's power adapter. No power adapter -- no lighted cradle! Maybe not as cool to look at, but not annoying, either. The Cradle Kit comes with too many plug adapters for my needs (U.S. and U.S. travel only) and cost more than I would have liked. I'm pleased overall with the purchase.Customer Review: A must-have for Palm TX owners that is just shy of perfect
Summary: 4 Stars
Overall complete package. I definitely could have used this in Europe since I had no way of charging my Palm TX! I agree with other reviewers that they should not include all of the different plug adapters, but then again I don't think they contribute that much more to the overall cost.
What I liked: Finally a cradle that I now use at work, a multi-voltage charger and a European plug adapter (for the next time I go to Europe).
What I disliked: Palm has been cutting a little too much out of their product to lower costs. I am not a huge fan of the latest interface design, what with the fragile yet spring-loaded connector setup. I liked the way the old Palm III's used to simply slide right into the cradle. Now the "docking" process has essentially become a two-handed process and the cradle is not heavy enough to stay put when you remove the PDA.
Still, I would recommend this to everyone that bought the base Palm TX unit simply because a cradle and multi-voltage adapter should been included in the first place!
And for those of you concerned about the cradle being lit 24/7: I used the USB cable that came with the PDA and hooked that up to the cradle. It still recharges the PDA, but it does not power the lights in the cradle! Not sure whether this will work for everyone(i.e. laptop owners), but it has been working fine so far for me.
Customer Review: Good, Could Have Been Much Better
Summary: 4 Stars
I just purchased this cradle for my new Palm Tungsten E2. On the positive side, it is light, easy to assemble, and looks nice on the desktop. It is much more attractive than the sync and power cables being exposed in plain view. It also stays put on my desk, not slipping and sliding as other reviews have described. The price here on Amazon is superb in comparison to almost twice as money at most other places. On the negative side, it seems flimsy, and I fear breaking the prongs when connecting and disconnecting my Palm. A switch for the light would have also been a huge plus. As is, the light is always on, which can be annoying and even distracting.
I've used the older Palm cradles, and felt they were much better designed and much more durable. Although attractive and sleek, this cradle appears to have suffered from excessive cost cutting. It's good, but could have been much better.
Customer Review: Quick, convenient, but sticks a little
Summary: 4 Stars
I ordered this product for use with my Palm TX and I have been generally happy with it. The Palm fits securely in the cradle, which has a small foot print. The cradle also has a metal rod that wraps around the back to hold the plug firmly in the cradle and to prevent the cradle from falling over with the handheld in it. Smart design. The cradle also holds my Palm at a good angle for viewing at my desk.
The reason that it got 4 out of 5 stars is that the Palm fits so snuggly into the cradle that it is difficult to remove with just one hand. I frequently need to hold the cradle down withe one hand and then take the Palm out with the other, maintaining a specific angle. A bit cumbersome, but its a trade-off for the the Palm being secure in the cradle. Some might find it annoying.