Palm TX Handheld
by Palm
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Palm TX Handheld
Customer Review: Great features for the price
Summary: 5 Stars
I think that the Palm TX represents one of the best values in today's world of consumer electronics. It is powerful, fast, has a generous amount of built in storage ( with a SD/ SDIO slot for more ), infrared, and has both Bluetooth and WiFi technologies.
This is the 6th Palm device that I have owned and it is by far the best. Aside from performing it's basic PIM / HotSync tasks flawlessly with my iBook, the screen is large enough that I can actually read documents and play games without going blind. Although I own an iPod Video, the TX is much better for sharing photographs.
I am also impressed by the quality and usefulness of the basic software package. You can easily surf the web check email ( even .Mac accounts! ) open a variety of documents, view photos, play mp3's, and watch film clips without needing any third party applications. I am particularly pleased by the ease of setup for using the Bluetooth and WiFi functions. The WiFi is completely intuitive, with extremely clear instructions. Whether connecting to your home wireless network or a T Mobile Hot Spot you're up and running in seconds. But what really amazes me was how simple it is to pair my TX with my Motorola V330. I have the T Mobile Unlimited Internet plan and have used my phone with my iBook to get online when I am on the road in places where there is no other internet access available. That combination has functioned very , very well, but it involves numerous steps that must be followed EXACTLY. However, I found that the nice folks at Palm have already anticipated situations such as this and the setup for the TX is virtually automatic. I can honestly say that I was stunned by the simplicity of the process.
I also purchased the Palm Universal Wireless Keyboard ( once again a snap to utilize ) and found that I could use it to write emails while connected to the internet either by Bluetooth or WiFi. In spite of my large, clumsy fingers, I find the keyboard to be highly easy to use. I also purchased the extended warranty, and, as I have found to be the case in the past, the tech support is absolutely first rate!
Finally, I must concur with the other reviewers who have written about the occasional performance glitches. Frankly, I have never owned a Palm that didn't have it's little " moments ", but Palm is Mac friendly and I think that the TX delivers so much for the money that I have no problem overlooking the rare hiccup.
The TX is well designed, extremely versatile and reasonably priced. If you're in the market for a PDA ( listen up fellow Mac users ) you should give this product a close look.
Customer Review: Gotta Love this thing. Couldn't manage without it
Summary: 5 Stars
I used a a few different Clie (the Sony version of PALM) and always really liked them.
But the PALM T|X I think is better.
Of course, the use of calender and address book is intuitive and the
WI-FI works great (which I found out during my break on Jury Duty (yeah! they have WI-FI in court here now!)
I love looking for new (and usually free) applications to play around with (Tip Calculator, Unit Conversion, Knot Tying displays). My favorite game is Bike or Die. It is great to relieve boredom and not an easy game.
I also find no end to creative uses. I'm a photographer and sometimes shoot archival photos for theater. So, I film the show, vidcap images I want into a memory card & transfer them to my PALM. Then I can go to the photo shoot, show them the pictures on my PALM and say "Get in this scene." It cuts 75% of prep time off each photo.
I would also recommend getting the top flip Rhino Skin. I was running with my PALM in my coat pocket and it fell out onto the sidewalk the first week I had it. Even the sound of the PALM hitting the ground sounded like it wasn't going to be hurt. Sure enough, it was fine.
That's more than I can say for my poor repeatedly cracked cell phone.
So, anyone who doubts switching from Clie (I don't even think they're around anymore), have no fear. Switch over. A Palm store even switched all my info over for free.
Oh yeah! The screen switching to horizontal makes reading documents in the T|X a lot more pleasant. And thank you for making a left handed option!
I do have a few issues.
When I first bought the PALM, it had this application called Addit.
Every time you HOTSYNC, it would give you the days news from Reuters.
Not only was this great when I didn't want to carry a magazine, it also motivated me to HotSync every day.
But Reuters stopped doing it a couple months after I bought the PALM. Now I usually don't Hot Sync more than once a month.
I also don't think the plastic screen covering that comes with the PALM works too well. Often, trying to make a "T" turns into an "l" and a space. But I worked on another persons T|X and it was WAY easier. So I think I need another protective cover.
I suppose I shouldn't expect it, but the videos have tended to run slow if they are too big (and I'm talking YouTube quality). I actually haven't tried to play video on it for awhile, so I might not know what I'm talking about.
Over all. Great Product.
Customer Review: Best of the Palm Series!
Summary: 5 Stars
I've been a Palm user since 1997. I never thought I would upgrade from my trusty and reliable Tungsten T3 until I got the TX. It works great. It's got plenty of speed, more than enough for what I need it for, and plays videos smoothly using the TCPMP freeware player.
The Pros:
- lots of memory (100MB available to user)
- memory is non-volitile flash memory, so when the battery runs down, you don't lose anything (I had to charge my T3 daily because of this)
- bright screen
- wifi
- bluetooth
- Docs to Go v7
The Cons:
- it comes with a plastic digitizer, which if you don't use screen protectors, will wear out very very quickly. Once my warranty with Palm expires, I'm going to replace it with a glass digitizer. (This IS the solution to digitizer drift for the TX)
- the hotsync and charger cables are completely separate (unlike the old Tungsten TE which had a split cable for syncing and charging via usb, but you can find a combo charger/sync cable easily)
Soft Resets: Okay, I've only had this happen once since I've had the unit. The reason was because I had a piece of 3rd party software that was totally incompatible with the new Palm OS and NVFS. Once I got rid of that one piece of 3rd party software, no more crashes. (Mind you, I have 127 software programs installed on my TX or memory card and they all work well without crashing the unit.) If your TX soft resets on you, it's guaranteed that it's some piece of software that is incompatible. Most likely, it's the one piece of software you were using just before the crash.
Final Thoughts: I still like my T3, but my TX can do much much more and I can go hours on a single charge. The most I've had it on constantly was 4 hrs 2 min. I could have gone much longer, perhaps up to 5 hours. Your mileage will vary based on what you're doing. Docs To Go plus mp3 playing will get you 4 to 5 hours. You can watch 2.5 - 3 hrs of video on a single charge.
If you need the speed and power of a unit like this, plus wifi, it's highly recommended. The Palm OS may be old, but it's way more stable than Windows PCs.
I actually choose to bring this with me on trips (along with my folding IR keyboard) because it's move convenient than bringing my laptop. I can read eBooks, watch videos, listen to mp3s, edit Word/Excel/PowerPoint documents, and use the wifi feature to download, read, and respond to email. It doesn't get any better than this!
Customer Review: Still a worthy opponent to Pocket PC
Summary: 5 Stars
I had a Palm 3, then a Palm V, and stopped using palms when I moved over to a Dell Axim with Microsoft Pocket PC which at that time was version 3.
I always missed my former palms when I worked in Information Technology. With the MS Platform, I found myself beginning to carry a notebook around because the handwriting technology of the Pocket PC was not on par with the Palm and it seemed more of a toy than anything you would really use. I began seeing how the PDA market was gradually moving into Mobile Phones and I began to move away from PDA's all together since many features were being carried over onto mobile phone technology. Then I seen that the mini keyboards of some of the better PDA's suddenly were gone, now part of the same mobile phone technology and the dreaded monthly charges.
I decided to move ahead with buying a Palm TX even though it needed a mini keyboard onboard. (I wish they would put one of these back into a PDA. It makes note taking much easier, but yes, I know there is a note function that allows for freehand writing, so that works for now, but sometimes you need to punch in characters for quick transfer to other formats). I also wanted Wi-Fi, since there are so many hot-spots and many areas have un-secured hotspots, so connecting to the net is no longer any issues. Versa Mail connects fine to Pop3 and Exchange Mail connections. Battery charges seem to be better than I recall with my Palm from four years ago. The universal Keyboard sold seperately, which I found a good deal on Ebay, is nice and works well with the IR, so I can take this to the StarBucks, Library, Airport and actually do some work and leave the laptop behind.
Once again, I still believe the TX needs an onboard keyboard, perhaps a slide out version under the unit rather than compromising the amount of LCD space which I believe is very generous. I am pleased with the TX and allready in the process of obtaining the Hot Sync cradle and an aluminum metal case, which is absolutely needed. The leather top cover will not protect this effectively if you plan to put the unit in your pocket with keys and coin change rubbing all over it.
Standard PDA's are still worth having, but I feel that many of the manufactures are starting to thin out the features due to mobile phones. I still think there is a market of people who dont want recurrent fees with the integrated features a mobile phones now has, which originated from PDA's. I'm glad they still exist for now.
Customer Review: PERFECT AFTER YEARS OF DAILY USAGE
Summary: 5 Stars
BUY THIS, THE ONLY REGRET YOU WILL HAVE IS THAT YOU DIDN'T GET ONE SOONER.
I am a hospital pharmacist and received a palm tx two or three yeas ago (It seems like I have had it forever, so it may be 3 years), and this thing is great. It turns on instantly, and I use two different drug information software applications, one updated wirelessly at home, the other is synced with my laptop, and it is easy to do. I look up drug information all the time, and it is easy to carry in my pocket, and quicker than going online at a hospital computer. The Note Pad function is easy and quick, I write myself notes all the time, and have many, many saved with information that I refer to time and time again. The pTunes that is provided works with the microsoft media player on my laptop, and I load on songs all the time. I play the guitar and have the songs that I like to learn on it. This will also plug into any of the ipod speaker systems with an auxillary cable so you can play over speakers, or plug into computer speakers to play. The speaker in the palm tx is fine for me to listen to myself. I have a 1 GB sd card plugged into it, and direct one of my drug info programs and the pTunes songs to it. This is fast, and has more than enough room for anything you want. Photos, I can load on many, many, and run a slide show, or pull em up one at a time, or whatever. A very sharp, clear picture. This reminds me of birthdays, and other important dates. I can do wireless internet surfing also. Sometimes quicker to turn on the palm tx and look something up on the internet at home, than waiting for a PC to boot up. I have never used a case, and this thing gets lots of hard usage from me. I carry it around every day in my pants pocket, have never changed the screen protector from when I started using it, and it still looks and works perfect like a champ. The battery life is great, I have never had it run low on me, and I don't plug it in all the time to keep it charged up. I tell you, this is reliable, gives you the information you want, plays music, holds your photos, write your notes on it, has the time, do wireless internet surfing, you name it, and it does it QUICK AND EVERY TIME WITHOUT FAIL. Get this and you will use it every day, all day, and love it. Prices are a lot lower than what my wife paid for mine, so what a great value you are getting. BUY THIS, THE ONLY REGRET YOU WILL HAVE IS THAT YOU DIDN'T GET ONE SOONER.