Comments on: Review: palmOne SD WiFi Card

Now the question is will it work with future Zires or Tungstens?

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PalmOne Tungsten T3/256Mb Panasonic SD; HP h4150/512Mb Sandisk Ultra-II, Sony Ericsson T630
Next: PalmOne Treo 610/HP hx4700

Ok, so it's officially released. Where is it on palmOne's site? It's not in the store and its not listed in their accessories page.

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Technology Editor at www.dailygadget.com

Bingo. August. My January prediction for this release date falls in line.

I'll jump for this because I've got a T3.5 with a 5 hour battery. In fact, this is one of the reasons why I did the conversion.

Next: It would be nice to see a case with a modified slot that can hold this card appear too sometime soon.

Head on over to the Brighthand Tungsten forums to read the, oh, 30 page thread on this miraculous feat! If we prod sleuth nicey, he may post an "at your own risk" how-to guide with pics. I did the process myself on my T3 (without actually installing the battery!) just to see how difficult it was (at least the disassembly and reassembly parts). It wasn't bad at all if you are patient and have good lighting and nimble fingers.

Why should a review be crap if it does not mention something that does not exists?

InfoSync has a review up too and they did not mention anything about 128Mb onboard memory.

http://www.infosyncworld.com/reviews/n/5234.html

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PalmOne Tungsten T3/256Mb Panasonic SD; HP h4150/512Mb Sandisk Ultra-II, Sony Ericsson T630
Next: PalmOne Treo 610/HP hx4700

Jonathan,

Well considering other sites DO mention the memory, and it's a fair question to rule in or out, that's why I said it was crap. SD devices CAN support up to 7 devices.. but no-one has released anything with more than 1!

Bummer about the memory... another expensive, half-arsed wireless solution hits the market... :-(

JLM.

I agree. I wish they had WPA, especially since this thing is new. I finally picked up a wireless card for my NX80 on Sunday (clearance of $28 at Circuit City) and had to relax the security on my router to use it. I am still looking for more useful applications for this, so far I'm just using Netfront, the built in email, and AIM 2.1 (whichever the old free version was.) I really hope that the release of this card will cause more network applications to be written.

I guess what I really can't wait for is the next generation of Palms!

palmato> Not closely related to the above, but I just wish to note that apparently WPA (PSK or Radius) is not supported. Unlike the Sandisk card fot the Zire71 and the latest PPC offerings (both internal and cards).

Yep, that is a baddy. But what are the chances that this can be remedied with a software update at a later stage?

Atul Chitnis
http://atulchitnis.net

> Just a question - is the WPA support hardware or software related.

Most likely this is just a driver issue. However since I don't know what chipset is being used, I can't be 100% sure.
The real caveat however might be the commitment of Palm1 in making software updates available. Or will they release a different updated card ?

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Tired of PPC? Get a TT!

So have you tried to run the SanDisk 256 MB memory card + WIFI with the driver included with the PalmOne WIFI card?

Porsche 911 - 315 horsepower, Flat 6 - $70,000

Corvette - 400 horsepower, V8 - $44,000

What was Porsche thinking? Overpriced and underpowered!

I have the socket SD WiFi card for pocket pc's, it is supposed to be the same as the SanDisk, and the Zire72 does not recognize the card at all with the palmOne drivers installed. I'd expect the exact same to happen with any other non-palmOne SD WiFi card.

-Ryan

I rather have the Porsche 911. Pure German genius of a car. And awesome to drive too.

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PalmOne Tungsten T3/256Mb Panasonic SD; HP h4150/512Mb Sandisk Ultra-II, Sony Ericsson T630
Next: PalmOne Treo 610/HP hx4700

The high-end Axim X30 has a kick-ass processor, a 624MHz Intel with WMMX. Sorry, but T3 CPU is not even in the same league.

Now, T3 perhaps seems just as fast as X30 for everyday tasks, but that's entirely because of the OS, and despite the slower CPU.

Right. As opposed to Palm Vs. PocketPC innovative tech comes out first for the Mac. WiFi, BT, USB, Firewire and the iPod all were available for consumers or gained general acceptance in the Mac first.

An Apple vs. PC war on PIC? Fun! :)

About viruses: hey, can you only come up with a 1999-dated (pre-OS X) web page wich lists a grand total of 22 viruses which could be cured with the Disinfectant freeware antivirus?? That really sounds like "virus-free" to me!

Meanwhile, how many viruses/worms for Windoze popped up last month? How many of them required multi-megabyte OS patches and caused major head aches? Can you say "Sasser"?

And we'll leave the exploits (about 2 on the Mac vs. the infinite on Windows) for another day... :)

About multitasking: this could be a matter of personal appreciation, but I still have to see my ancient 6 years old, 400MHz iMac to get as slowed down as my year-old, 2.4GHz P4 XP when launching multiple apps and working with background services. Strangely the XP machine reports processor usage always near 0%... even while choking to draw windows and with fans maxed out. Funny.

About "memory leaks" and "built up with gunk": I guess the original poster referred to the infamous DLL hell, which pre-XP granted an about yearly total OS and apps reinstall, and now just causes strange symptoms from time to time. It's funny how in my machine the auto-recovery feature has this (understandable, I might add) tendency to uninstall Windows Media... perhaps the poor thing is going self-conscious? ;)

Winter,

What I was trying to point out to tthiel was that he shouldn't make such generic statements.

"The Mac..." is too generic. That includes all Macs (past and present). WARNUNG: I'm going to say some racist things here but I am just trying to prove a point about generic statements.

"White men can't jump."
"Black people can dance."
"Jews are cheap."

I'm sure you can think of others. Are all generic statements and you can prove them to be incorrect. Which I did for the Mac statement.

OSX is a very good OS. And IMHO, Windows XP is good too. It is better than the older Windows versions. Is OS X better than Win XP? It could be. But, overall, it is just an OS, with some flaws. It does crash, and it does slow down over time.

Viruses? Well, we can go through the "more bang for the buck" theory. But I won't. Don't think that because you have OS X, you will never get a virus. People who say, "It's based on UNIX. It's secure" is just plain arrogant (or it could be ignorant ;-)). It is just a matter of time that someone will find a security flaw in OS X and take advantage of it. It may take a while. That's what the Linux (a UNIX-based OS) fans thought, and recently someone exposed a security flaw in that OS.

If this had come out two years ago in the T|T days, I'd have been all over it. Heck, even a year or six months ago (at this price!) I'd have probably bought one. But now with even Verizon starting to get on the BT bandwagon (Moto V710) people like me who have a T3 & Verizon suddenly have another option and will likely take a pass on this SDIO Wi-Fi card. I know all of the GSM folks who have easy access to a variety of BT cell phones will definitely steer clear of this one as well.

For the record, PalmOne shoulda released this thing at least a 1/2 year ago or should have it now for about $75 MSRP if they couldn't include RAM on the card.

Oh, while we're on the topic...when are we going to see OS5 drivers for the Palm Bluetooth card? Will we EVER see them? My guess is that we won't!

I agree, I'm planning to upgrade soon (to either a T3 or a Zodiac2), and I'm about to get the V710 from Verizon. At this point, I really don't see a need to have wi-fi. Maybe when the price comes down & they work out some more bugs....

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Palm IIIx for 5 years & LOVING IT!

Granted, it's been a while since I had my old Handera 330 (long since gone) hooked up with my CF WiFi card, so thing might have changed. But I still have to wonder what the big deal is.

WiFi on a PDA just doesn't impress me. I work in an MIS shop and even those people that have PDAs with WiFi admit to rarely using it. The webbrowsers always have some limitation (rendering or jscript or java). E-mail is pretty basic. Even in NYC, free hotspots are not THAT common and why pay for it when you can get a data plan with a cellphone provider?

I just don't see the utility in it. For what? E-Mail? That requires Wi-Fi? Get a Treo 600 on Verizon or any other carrier and you've got the whole package right there and with a LOT better chance of getting a signal (well, at least if you're on Verizon...)

Different strokes for different folks. But ask people who have WiFi on a PDA how much they use it and I would be surprised if you heard "every day" even 25% of the time. Ask people how much they use data on a smartphone and I would be surprised if the percentage of people who responded "every day" was anything less than 50%.

I think people like it becuase it exists. Not because it fills a defined need.

I agree with one of the previous posted. Bluetooth with a cellphone has much greater utility.

Um, yes I use WiFi on my Tungsten C every day, and it may well be close to %50 percent.

I would *not* use data 50% of the time on a smartphone, nor do I see that in the Treo's around me. It's used as a phone and unconnected more often. But then I also don't pay for WiFi network access. Home, Office, and trusted networks inbetween carry the day. For everything else a *small* GPRS dataplan covers the rest (IR to IR given that it's a bluetoothless Tungsten C - but BT linked when my PowerBook is around and WiFi isn't).

Several PocketPC vendors have PDAs with integrated BT and WiFi.

(I know, you mean Palm handhelds.. :))

The TH55 is a joke, IMO. Nice features, but extremely awkward design (scroll wheel on top-rear?!?!?).

What really peeks my interest is the TJ37. Yes...I know...it's just an old school square 320x320 screen. But retailers are blowing out their inventories of Clies and you can pick one up for under $250. Not sure whether I'll purchase one or wait for the mythical Tungsten T4, but if you want a really nice little WiFi enabled PalmOS device, it's a great value.

Clies are quickly becoming a bargain hunter's paradise. Get them while supplies last. :-(

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Contributing Editor, http://digitalmediathoughts.com
Editor, http://Pocketfactory.com

I got the impression from the reviews that this is very likely the SanDisk card in disguise -- the little green LED being identical. So it is another rebrand, it seems, but with their own drivers.

It is an official product as the press release has gone out. I suspect the palmOne store database has not been updated yet, hopefully before the end of the day it will be listed.

The palmone part number is: P10952U if you want to call and try again perhaps

Already did!

Yes! We heard about both of those prehistoric units! I don't care for both of them. I suggest you to use a PPC with newest 624 MHz, and try the surf the net and chat on messenger and do ton of other stuff you can do on a mobile computer. See the difference. Listen, accept it or not, we all use or used Windows sometime in our lives. Why reinvent the tire. PPC is exactly what Windows on your everyday PC is.
After using my Dell x30 I feel like I was wasting my money and time since 1996 on Palm's glorified organizers. I accumulated the amount I buried in Palm since 1996 so far it’s over $7000. I suggest all of those Palm users to do the same and see how much money they spent on this company so far. For what???
I think Palm should take a look around and see that they are no longer the one and only in this market. Monopoly is not the game any more. Thanks to PPC competition sets the bar way high for all those companies trying to treat their customer like a sheep and giving a little bit at a time. So answer to your genius sophisticated question is: I am aware of both of those units and I don't care for them...

First of all I don't appreciate the language you are using here: "why the f**k are you hanging around on a Palm Site?”
Why is this bothering you so much? Is Palm signing your paychecks or something?
As an avid Palm owner and user I have every right to visit this site. I am simply protesting the fact that Palm is not giving us the products we deserve after all these years. It's already too late.
I like Axim 30 624MHz more than any current Palm devices. If this is bothering you so much, I suggest you to take the horse glasses off and look around you because competition already left Palm in dust...Thanx to corporate suckers like you…

THIS IS FOR ADMIN (RYAN): Let's keep this site professional. I don't think this guy deserves to be here posting profanity. Such as following: "why the f**k are you hanging around on a Palm Site?” Thank you and keep up the good work!

Excuse me! It is called the Tungsten-C and is beating the pants off any PPC WiFi device in sales.

thanks! saw that post after I posted. Funny I have never heard of it referred to as that before

"Who in their right mind would accept this solution when you can obtain a Dell (or similar brand PPC)) for 320.00 USD with Wi-fi and Bluetooth included."

If Wi-fi access were the only reason to use a PDA, then that would be the logical choice. Of course, there are other factors like ease of use, programs, and maybe even a prior investment in Palm hardware.

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Pilot Professional> Palm IIIx> Palm m505> Sony Clie SJ-10> Palm Zire 71> Tapwave Zodiac 2

Whoa, pinging an almost year old thread...

If my Tungsten C support WPA, it's extrememly well hidden. Care to point?
Perhaps you're thinking of the LifeDrive, which is the first PalmOne PDA with built-in WiFi to support WPA.

Excepts from PalmOne's site:

"Launch the Wi-Fi Setup application on your device. During setup, it will display available networks. If your Wi-Fi network does not appear in the list, select Other... and manually enter the SSID and WEP (all devices) or WPA Personal* (LifeDrive Only) key (if needed)."

If you've got in on your Tungsten C, how about shootin' a brother a ROM image...

Yeah, I'm at a loss on this as well. I really hope PalmOne did not invest ANY of its manpower or resources on this card, and that it was done by some third party. My next PDA will have WiFi and Bluetooth built in, not some fragile card sticking out of it (been there, done that, and it is a pain in the rear). I'd really like for it to be running Palm OS 6, but their chances are running out quickly.

I'd say so, yes. The rumored specs of the Treo 610/660 or Ace (whatever it's called) closely mimic those of the Zire 72. I'd bet that will be PalmOne's M.O. going forward---introduce a mid-range handheld and 6 months to a year later have a Treo with identical or similar specs come out.

Keeps the R&D to a minimum and they can stock up on componentry as well. If a certain set of specs might make for a less-than-stunning PDA, then it can just be squeezed into a smartphone and be seen as cutting-edge.

I'd still like to see a cheaper Treo with a d-pad and hard buttons & a jog wheel that omits the touchscreen entirely, however.

Well, SanDisk gave me an R/A to have my wifi card replaced, but it sounds like it will be the same. I'm eriously thinking like other members of this forum are saying, to jump ship over to a PPC.... at least you will know where are the bugs are, and the browser would probably act more like my desktop browser.... just so happens tho, I am able to write Graffiti 1 very fast... 2?.. not so much......

Actually I would like "something" bigger than a PDA but smaller than a tablet... a 4x5 or 5x7 screen would be ideal for me.....

I doubut that you will get 2hrs with it as I can barley muster 2hrs continous out of my Z71 and SanDisk card, and that has a lower frequency processor and less screen to power than the T3. Really, a wifi card should be looked at as a sometimes wireless solution. Put the card in for 20min max of email, surfing, and maybe downloading a program. If you need more than that, you would be better off getting a device with wifi built in as they have the power capicity for longer usage patterns. If you want to stay on the PalmOS side, then you will want to use the Clie TH55 as that one gets 7-8hrs of wifi in some uses. The other would be a Tungsten C. From the PocketPC side, check out the Dells as they offer wifi and removable batteries to keep you connected longer. I do not card for the OS, but many of the programs are nice. Hope that helps some.

antoinerjwright.com

Come to think of it, I've been looking for cases to store my 4 SD cards, but no luck.