PalmOne Tungsten T3
Written: Dec 31 '03
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Small size, hige screen, great functionality, more memory
Cons: Battery life
The Bottom Line: Mobile warriors get your credit cards warmed up and put on your running shoes as this is THE unit for you
|
|
|
| ntech's Full Review: Palm Tungsten™ T3 Handheld |
They say it was a hoax. They said it was a myth. Well hey! With the change of Palm's handheld corporate image to PalmOne; they have released three new Palm units to cater for the high, middle and budget market. You will soon see the Zire21 (budget), Tungsten E (middle-range) and of course, the most anticipated unit of all, the Tungsten T3. Let's have a closer look at this unit.
What's in the box ?
I manage to pick up a review unit (many thanks to MyGadgets) way before the great launch event happening on the 7th October 2003. I must say, the moment I looked at the T3, I was amazed at the screen. Looks like PalmOne finally got the hint that people like looking at bigger screens with higher resolution.
Let's have a look at the goodies that comes with the Tungsten T3:
- Tungsten T3 unit
- Cradle
- Stylus
- Charge adapter
- Leather (although it looks really cheap) flip cover
- Software and drivers (it comes with 2 CD ... one for the PC and the other for Macs)
- All the usual paperwork
I really didn't notice it at first but the T3 unit is actually slightly larger than the previous predecessor the T2 and the TT. I only realise this when I placed the T3 next to my iPAQ 2210 and the Zire 71. Notice that PalmOne still maintained their box design for the Tungsten T3.
The design
What else can I say? It looks and feel like the Tungsten T (only slightly larger). The other case is made from brushed aluminum which is almost the same color as the Tungsten T2. Holding the unit in the hand was very comfortable although like with the previous two Tungsten Ts, it will get VERY cold once you leave it in an air-cond room. Careful not to get yourself frostbites :).
Looking at the top of the unit, you will find the stylus silo (with the stylus of course), the IrDA hidden behind the black plastic cover, the SD slot (now comes with protective cover to prevent dust and what-nots from getting into your precious Tungsten) and of course the new power button. I find the power button more difficult to press now (no tactile feel --- you don't even know if you pressed the button or not).
On the left side of the unit (looking from the front), you will find the larger record button, the microphone and the stereo headphone jack. Nothing much worth mentioning about here except that Palm finally made the record button larger so it won't hurt the fingers of the users. Of course, right at the bottom of the unit is the usual Palm Universal Connector socket. It's the standard socket with all new PalmOne hardware so all your accessories will still work.
To the back of the unit is the reset button which you can poke without a reset pin (or carrying a paperclip around with you like with those poor Zire 71 users --- yes, we know who you are) which is only revealed when you expand the slider.
Now to the grand finale, the front of the unit. Here you will find the fantastically clear and crisp screen, the speaker (right next to the plastic embossed Palm logo), the charge/alarm LED indicator and the newly design application buttons and D-pad navigation. You may need some time to get used to the new orientation of the D-pad and application buttons.
What's on the inside?
The Tungsten T3 runs on an Intel PXA255 400 MHz with Palm OS 5.2.1 preinstalled. The unit comes with 64 MB RAM (for which only 52 MB is available to the user). Hey! you might ask. Isn't that the same processor being used by the iPAQ h2210. You are dead right. The new processor makes the Tungsten T3 blazing fast at launching applications and there is more memory on-board than you can shake your stylus at. Oh yea, you can finally play your MP3s in the background without any more lags.
Data input
Data entry on the Tungsten T3 can be done in a few methods (all method requires you to open the slider):
- Graffiti 2 (Jot style of entry)
- Keyboard (on-screen keyboard)
- Entry via Outlook/Palm Desktop
Of course, you are not limited to the above-mentioned entry types. There are many 3rd party software in the market which you can install. You don't even need to install Graffiti Anywhere for those of you who are afraid that you might wear out the slider if you keep opening and closing it to access your virtual graffiti pad. You can activate the ability to entry graffiti anywhere from the new taskbar on bottom (or the side) of the T3 depending on which mode you are using the T3 in.
The Tungsten T3 comes with native support to use the screen in portrait or landscape mode (as long as the application is written to support it). You just tap the orientation button on the new taskbar and the screen will rotate accordingly. With the slider open, you also have the option to show or hide the virtual graffiti area (once again, as long as the application can support it). If the application was not written to support the landscape or virtual graffiti, the buttons will be disabled on the taskbar.
The screen
The screen is a TFT colour display with backlight having a whooping 320x480 dots resolution (65,536 colours) with the slider open and 320x320 with the slider close. The colour and clarity of the screen is fantastic (which is comparable to the Zire 71 screen). Having the backlight on at 25% is enough for you to get around and yes the screen is still very usable under direct sunlight.
Connectivity
The Tungsten T3 comes with the ability to connect using IrDA, Bluetooth and of course the Palm Universal Connector. There hasn't really been much improvement in these areas. Setup for mobile warriors to connect to their mobile phones and GPRS/WAP services is easier now with the help of Phone Link (although I don't understand why Malaysia is not in that list). There is also a bug whereby I was trying to add a new bluetooth device to the TT3 in landscape mode with the slider close and it prompt for the passkey. The system simply won't allow me to display the graffiti area and since I didn't activate the Graffiti Anywhere option, there was no way to input the passkey. This is highly possible due to the lack of true multi-tasking ability in Palm OS 5. Not really a big issue, but it is still really irritating.
Palm Desktop now comes integrated with the ability to connect to your Microsoft Outlook (do note that you still need to install the conduit first from the installation CD) however it won't work with Outlook 2003 out of the box. You need to head over to PalmOne's support website to download the patch to get it working with Mircosoft Office Systems 2003. You will find the patch here: http://www.palmone.com/us/support/downloads/outlookupdate2k3.html. I would also suggest you go over and check out all the latest downloads available to patch up your Tungsten T3.
Battery
OK. The big question ... with bigger screen and faster processor, what is the impact on the Tungsten T3 900 mAh Lithium Ion battery? Well ... not really that bad if you know how to control your usage, don't play so much games, don't switch on the Bluetooth for too long. If you're going to use the T3 as a daily organizer and to read your e-books or AvantGo for a few hours (let's say 1-2 hours). You should go on fine without needing to charge the unit. Anyway, you usually leave the unit charging on your cradle most of the time anyway so the battery life really isn't a big issue. By the way, did I also mention that your cradle will charge your unit even without the power adapter connected? Yup. That's the only thing new about the T3 cradle.
Applications
On the Palm itself, it comes with the following software:
Core Functions
• Calendar
• Contacts
• Tasks
• Memos
• Note Pad
• Voice Memo
• Calculator
• Expense
Productivity
• DataViz® Documents To Go Professional Edition v6.0, support for Word and Excel files, PowerPoint compatible files.
Communications
• VersaMail™ 2.6
• PhoneLink
• Dialer
• SMS
Multimedia
• Palm Photos
• RealOne Mobile Player
• Kinoma™ Player
While on the installation CD itself, you will find:
Installation Software
• Palm Desktop 4.1, including Voice Memo, Note Pad and Palm Photos extensions.
• PIM Outlook Conduits
• Phone Link Updater
• Palm Quick Install
• DataViz® Documents To Go Desktop Components
Bonus Software
• Adobe® Reader®
• Palm Reader
• powerOne™ Calculator
• BlueBoard
• BlueChat
• Java
• Palm Web Pro
• RealOne Desktop
• Kinoma™ Producer
• Solitare
Overall
Mobile warriors get your credit cards warmed up and put on your running shoes. This is the unit not to be missed. Great for Office Mobility with Documents to Go Professional and great for mobile entertainment (don't get carried away or you'll run out of battery). This definitely not a unit to be missed.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 350
Recommended for: Business Executives - Powerful and Professional
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
ntech
|
|
Member: Soo Kah Kiong
Location: Petaling Jaya, Selangor Darul Ehsan
Reviews written: 11
Trusted by: 4 members
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.