Comments on: Tungsten W Nearing Availability With AT&T

James, I'm curious about your coment re:At&t.

I am a long time AT&T wireless cust. and just purch. Tung. T for the purpose of getting e-mail via bluetooth. After reviewing At&T GSM coverage I am having 2nd thoughts. Although I work in NYC I travel within the US frequently and I'm concerned I won't be able to make or recieve calls in many areas. I was just starting to think about T-mobile.

Any thoughts re: the 2 services would be appre. Thanks.

AT&T and T-Mobile are pretty close right now, but AT&T is expanding the GSM/GPRS coverage faster than T-Mobile. Not too surprising since AT&T has the capitol to do it. Oddly enough, in the Bay Area, Cingular seems to have the best coverage of all of them, but outside of that...

If you already have solid T-Mobile coverage in your area, then it's best to use them. The two networds are compatible, so you won't have to buy a new phone if you decide to switch to a different GSM/GPRS provider later on.

Jim

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James Sorenson

Cingular sucks.

--Devan-- | Email me:
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Current PDA: Sony CLIÉ PEG-SJ30

Verizon still doesn't offer a bluetooth phone.

Who cares what kind of coverage they offer... Its GSM. I have owned several GSM phones and none of them worked inside or near any kind of concrete or stucko buildings (which means they work poorly in cities - the same cities where my friends CDMA phone worked fine). According to AT&T, this is a "limitation" of GSM networks.

"Verizon still doesn't offer a bluetooth phone."

Granted Verizon is behind everyone else in bringing out cool phones in general and BT phones in particular (especially egregious being their decision to bring out the T606 without BT).

That being said, some people still use the Timeport 270c with the bluetooth battery adaptor on Verizon. A much less well known ooption is the SE T68i, which can be purchased as a Verizon replacement phone (see http://www.ustronics.com/bsonert6verr.html) and used with the DBA-10 bluetooth add-on module.

No, they are not cool, and yes Verizon is to be despised for their recent dearth of cool phones, but it is possible to use a Tungsten T with with a Verizon bluetooth enabled phone.

Thanks, Robrecht

Hey,
I understand that GSM is a fairly new technology in the US. Over here in OZ, its been around since 1999.
GSM Coverage in the beginning really sucked (I cant say it any more succinctly).

However there is hope. The companies over here, particularly OPTUS finally do have an excellent GSM Coverage. It took some time, but its happened.

The range for a GSM base station (in my understanding) does not stretch anywhere near as far as the AMPS (older system)/CDMA antennas. This means that each company has to deploy a stack more antennas to have coverage up to scratch with CDMA.

Someone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but the old AMPS base stations covered something like 20kms (and I think CDMA is similar), whereas GSM base stations only cover a fraction of the area.
So this means that more base stations need to cover the same area.

Mark

Speaking of "Too Much"...that's my screen name.

Now, $549 for a hi res wireless with fastest radio on market and longest battery...Nice deal.

PDA Serfing. Does that make your PDA a 'slave' to the master web server?

FBN

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Ceci n'est pas une signature.

The headset is the jabra Bluetooth headset. The thing plugged into the Tungsten W is the Bluetooth adaptor for the Jabra headset. it allows you to use the headset with any phone with a 2.5mm jack.

I would buy it, BUT, who wants to lug round an extra 'plug' accessory to use the phone!!! OK, go ahead and buy it and after the 'honeymoon' is over and you are back to the routines of everyday living, you too will wish the unit had a built-in mic!

I like Palm, but its hardware keeps missing the boat while its competition is sailing down the river winning the race.

TSC

Btw, a company has designed a flip cover with an integrated mic/speaker. It just replaces the one you see in the article picture, and it just has a little lead that goes into the headphone jack.

Thomas

Check out the Palm Tungsten|T review at www.comp-talk.co.uk

There are pictures of the Speaker/Mic Flip cover at the LAPUG website (http://www.naxera.com.lapug/previous.html). The "T" in the middle of the case will answer the phone when you press on it.

-

"If it weren't for electricity we'd all be watching television by candlelight." - George Gobol.

AMEN!! On top of that, us Verizon users still need even a semi-elegant solution to connect our PDAs to our phones, since they seem absolutely deadset on *not* supporting Bluetooth or even Infrared.

To top matters off and make me a very unhappy camper, I finally ponied up the major $$$ necessary to buy an overpriced cable (Palm UC to Mot. v60) from the Supplynet. I had to have some sort of wireless connectivity when on the road and WAP on my cell phone wasn't cutting it. Of course, the cable barely makes contact with the UC on my T|T and the slightest nudge/breeze makes it fall out and drop the connection. Sigh....

Somehow I feel majorly ripped off...almost enough to dig the ol' m505 out again and keep using it. What's the point of adhering to a "Universal Connector" standard if it actual physical connection is _barely_ supported the latest and greatest pice of Palm hardware?

RE: Accessories in the picture
TooMuch @ 2/19/2003 8:23:08 PM

There is NO SUCH ANIMAL for travelers...nor will there be until we have a unified digital nationwide network. In fact, there is no bluetooth phone that is also multiband (gsm, gprs, tdma).

Hmm... Here in Oz, the Nokia 6310i aint a smartphone, no colour screen, however its GSM, has gprs and uses 900/1800/1900Mhz Frequencies.

Thats probably as close as you're likely to get
Mark

Elferoz,
You mentioned a new phone from Handspring. Can you provide any details or time frame? I am just about to purchase the Treo 270 but may wait if something new and better comes along.
Thanks.

Be sure to buy extra batteries for the Treo with a 3 hour battery (W has 10 hour battery).

"no other phone ... will last you more than 4 hours espacially the Palm T."

This is why I would much rather have a bluetooth enabled phone and a bluetooth enabled PDA than a convergence device at this point. If replacable batteries start becoming available, I'll reconsider. But for now, if you use your cell phone a lot, the battery technology is just not there yet.

Thanks, Robrecht

Since Sony doesn't make any PalmOS device with voice capabilities, I fail to see how you can consider this "not keeping up with Sony". Handspring, maybe (but this looks to be way better than the Treo 270 for data applications).

I thought they just wanted it to look similar to the TT?

Thanks, Robrecht

ICQ? Cool!
I wonder how much data is transferred when ICQ is just idling. We have to pay by the KB in GPRS, so it could add up if I leave it on for instant messaging.

Jim

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James Sorenson

ICQ -using a Tungsten T) consumes about 50kB (I can see this through the datacounter on my T68i) within a 30 minute session in which a continuous exchange of messages takes place.
It is my favorite passtime on the train (in The Netherlands). And at $1.50 per MB without _any_ additional data subscription. My phone subscription is $7.50/month. I think it is a bargain.

I'm a little surprised that they didn't use the 66MHZ processor as well. I mean, it WILL need to draw twice as many pixels and manage a wireless connection.

Sadly, the few that had a early-release model had mixed results when using overclock hacks. Generally, the over-clocking would work as long as you weren't connected wirelessly. Overclocking would always cause it to hang up the connection.

Oh well. If I were playing that many action games, then I would have preferred a Tungsten T with a BT phone anyway. I just want the email and web-surfer with a hi-res color screen. Hopefully, I won't notice much sluggishness in those apps. However, there was mention that 160x160 color games that were "stretched" to 320x320 were slightly sluggish. Hi-res games ran fluently. Looks like they should have used Sony's idea of having a separate processor for the video. Oh well.

Jim

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James Sorenson

160x160 -> 320x320 is FOUR TIMES as much, but honestly, it should be fine in all respects.
(320x320 == (160x2)x(160x2) == (2x2)x(160x160) == 4x(160x160))

I don't think you understand the gravity of the situation. We're in space.

What Palm applications do people not find fast enough with 33MHz? I'm interested. I have a N760 Clie which I think has a 33MHz dragonball, and everything is just fine on it. Except maybe for 3D textured mappped games, and let's look at the prime function of the device when we're judging that... My 33MHz Clie also plays MP3's beautifully (I know it has a separate DSP, an elegant solution to the MP3 problem I always thought).

-James.

The display is almost as bright as the Tungsten T. The W screen is made of a different material. It is not quite as bright, but more durable...which makes sense for a wireless unit.

I got my above display info from a Palm employee who handled the W over last weekend.

I just got a Treo 300. I was debating on whether or not to wait for the next new devices but I finally gave in and bought one (two, actually - one for my wife). I got a great deal (final cost under $250 a piece), and I'm still month-to-month on Sprint (debating on whether or not to lock in for a year and save $10/month). The Tungsten W disappoints me for several reasons:
1) It's GSM. Coverage is spotty in my area and they don't offer an affordable unlimited data plan (unless that will be part of the "big" announcement).
2) OS4 when OS5 has been out for a while now.
3) Poor phone-integration. If this came with Bluetooth, I could justify spending another $60 on a BT headset, but I can't stand having a cable dangling from my ear. If the case that's been talked about here that integrates a mic and a speaker works well, maybe I could overlook this.

Bottom line is that the Treo came out a LONG time ago and yet Palm learned very few lessons from it. Manufacturers should be picking over the competitions' products, separating the good from the bad, and integrating the good features into their new products. I don't see evidence here that Palm learned much from the good features of the Treo.

I'm hoping that Handspring has secretly been working on the next-gen Treo to be released soon. I'm hoping for OS5, 320x320, SDIO, Bluetooth, and a removable (and longer-lasting) battery. I'd also like to see them tweak the keyboard (e.g. - use a hard rubber instead of hard plastic and tilt the keys on the left half in the opposite direction like the Blackberry).

Scott

100kb each!?!? What kind of screwd up mp3's do you have?? You might have 30sec beeping sounds...

Sadly, expectations are usually ahead of the current technology. There will always be something better up ahead, so I usually try to survice with what I have until it simply can't do what I need. I am still surviving on a VisorPhone. I was waiting for a hi-res screen with built-in external memory. The Tungsten W finally brings this to the market. Since doing QuickOffice on a low-res grayscale screen is a pain, I'm going to upgrade.

However, do you NEED the faster processor? Do you NEED bluetooth? What else do you do you need? If nothing on the market satisfies you, and your current PDA is still getting the job done, then wait. For me, buying a Treo with a low-res screen and no memory expansion would have been money wasted.

Here is just a bit of personal advice:
The Tungsten W is a wireless data commincator FIRST, and a cell-phone SECOND. If you want something that has nationwide coverage and can be easily answered without dealing with an earpiece, then you probably won't like it. You'd be better off getting a separate phone.

However, if you are like me, and mostly use your cellular service to get email and news, then trying to juggle two devices and getting the BT or IR connection to work on the Tungsten T may also be a pain. The Tungsten W makes everything seamless for this.

I don't know much about the TG50, but if neither Tungsten fits your needs, then by all means wait!

Hope this helps.

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James Sorenson

One word... "SPEAKERPHONE"....

Isn't this exactly what the earphone is for? Plug it in and talk while looking at the Palm.

Speakerphone? Please...No. There is enough chatter going on without doubling the conversation noise.

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James Sorenson