Palm TX Dissection Photo Gallery

Pictures of the disassembled circuitry of the inside of the Palm TX handheld has been posted as part of the FCC approval process. Read on for the full TX guts image gallery.

Palm TX handheld

Palm TX handheld

Palm TX handheld

Palm TX handheld

Palm TX handheld

Palm TX handheld

Read the PalmInfocenter Palm TX review.

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Sharp screen?

The Turtle @ 10/19/2005 7:39:44 PM # Q
Is that the sharp screen? The same sharp screen that the dim blue T3's had?

Still waiting for Cobalt...Garnet 5.99999999999999999999999 will not cut it in 2006.
RE: Sharp screen?
Frenchie @ 10/19/2005 7:45:34 PM # Q
I'm assuming since it says "SHARP" in BIG CAPITOL LETTERS that it is made by sharp :-p

The world will end in 2006. Just as it was predicted in the bible along with the release of Microsoft Longhorn.... :p
RE: Sharp screen?
cypher76 @ 10/19/2005 8:22:23 PM # Q
It's not the exact same screen, there's zero screen whine in the TX that I have.
RE: Sharp screen?
LiveFaith @ 10/19/2005 8:27:11 PM # Q
After 2 years, Sharp may have improved somewhat. If it's = TE2, then it's noticeably better than LD, T5, T3 etc.

Pat Horne; www.churchoflivingfaith.com
RE: Sharp screen?
epp_b @ 10/19/2005 8:29:40 PM # Q
Hey, that's the third comment I've seen about the T|X *not* having a screen whine...looking good!

if (!$broke) {
DontFixIt()
}
RE: Sharp screen?
hkklife @ 10/19/2005 11:24:55 PM # Q
No whine here either. Looking good (other than the bungled CDMA Bluetooth!)

Pilot 1000-->Pilot 5000-->PalmPilot Pro-->IIIe-->Vx-->m505-->T|T-->T|T2-->T|C-->T|T3-->T|T5-->TX
OT: Jeff Kirvin meltdown (HAL 2000-style)
The_Voice_of_Reason @ 10/20/2005 10:45:39 PM # Q
After reading Surur's posts about Mr. Kirvin, I went over to 1src.com and witnessed Kirvin decompensating in a public forum. How tragic.

http://www.1src.com/forums/showthread.php?t=98779&page=4&pp=15

His behaviour is truly shocking (no doubt later he'll blame it on him being under "stress") and Kirvin has revealed himself to be a true nutcase. I doubt there will be ANY Palmapologists left that are willing to defend Kirvin's latest psychotic break...


TVoR

------------------------
Sony CLIE UX100: 128 MB real RAM, OLED screen. All the PDA anyone really ever wanted.
------------------------

The Palm eCONomy = Communism™

The Great Palm Swindle: http://www.palminfocenter.com/comment_view.asp?ID=7864#108038

NetFrontLinux - the next major cellphone OS?: http://www.palminfocenter.com/comment_view.asp?ID=8060#111823

O(n)T(opic) - RE: Sharp screen?
T. @ 10/21/2005 12:00:51 AM # Q
No whine on this TX either. And the screen is MUCH sharper than my T3. It is VERY noticeable when they are sitting side by side. It also washes out significantly less (but still to some degree) in the bright sunlight.

I thought it was identical to the LD and that they both had the same quality (color saturation, etc. or whatever the correct buzzwords are) as the TE2.

Jeff Kirvin (Dr Opinion) = p0wN3d!
The_Voice_of_Reason @ 10/21/2005 2:12:27 AM # Q








Chump got exactly what the deserved...

------------------------
Sony CLIE UX100: 128 MB real RAM, OLED screen. All the PDA anyone really ever wanted.
------------------------

The Palm eCONomy = Communism™

The Great Palm Swindle: http://www.palminfocenter.com/comment_view.asp?ID=7864#108038

NetFrontLinux - the next major cellphone OS?: http://www.palminfocenter.com/comment_view.asp?ID=8060#111823

RE: Sharp screen?
rsc1000 @ 10/21/2005 1:45:21 PM # Q
TVOR - you are a big a$$. Stay on topic troll.

Jeff Kirvin checks into Rehab facility. Film at 11.
The_Voice_of_Reason @ 10/21/2005 11:48:26 PM # Q




Kirvin/Dr Opinion just "lost it". Even his Kiddie fanclub members are slackjawed by his latest psychotic break.

One word: Haloperidol.

------------------------
Sony CLIE UX100: 128 MB real RAM, OLED screen. All the PDA anyone really ever wanted.
------------------------

The Palm eCONomy = Communism™

The Great Palm Swindle: http://www.palminfocenter.com/comment_view.asp?ID=7864#108038

NetFrontLinux - the next major cellphone OS?: http://www.palminfocenter.com/comment_view.asp?ID=8060#111823

Eulogy to Kirvin
sr4 @ 10/22/2005 1:43:27 PM # Q
Some-one said what I can not (being banned and all...)

Today, 12:14 PM #47
archangel
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: San Antonio
Posts: 627

I fall in to the catagory of people that really did not like the way Kirvin does podcasts. He contradicts himself week to week and acts like a child when people disagree with him. His rants went from cute in the beginning to stomach turning over the last few months. I for one am happy Alan is taking over.

I just had to take a break from the Kirvin butt kissing to tell the truth many people probably are thinking but wont post. A break even for a month will be great. I might actually get through a few podcasts now.
__________________
My Current Gadgets:
Tapwave Zodiac 2, Apple Ipod Photo 60GB, Nintendo DS, Nokia N-Gage QD


http://www.1src.com/forums/showpost.php?p=863013&postcount=47

Surur

RE: kirvin eulogy
medevilenemy @ 10/23/2005 1:46:47 PM # Q
zip it dude, that's enough.

RE: Sharp screen?
sr4 @ 10/23/2005 2:58:25 PM # Q
Midevil dude, who do you think you are, that you keep on thinking I would listen to you?

Surur

RE: Sharp screen?
rcartwright @ 10/23/2005 3:49:55 PM # Q
The screen on my TX is excellent with no whine. In fact the only whinning I have encounted lately is sewer and VoR going into misquote mode about Jeff Kirvin. In case you bothered to listen to the podcast he was taking a sabatical to write more. Now frankly I for one doubt he will be back at least for a while more than a month.

Most folks would consider being sick of slanderous attacks as a good reason to get out of something.

You two are pathetic.

"Many men stumble across the truth, but most manage to pick themselves up
and continue as if nothing had happened."
- Winston Churchill

RE: Sharp screen?
svrontis @ 10/23/2005 5:44:51 PM # Q
Worse than pathetic, Surur is boring and repetitve; whereas our little friend the The Vat of Refuse is always good for a laugh.

RE: Sharp screen?
sr4 @ 10/23/2005 6:59:46 PM # Q
I strive for facts, not entertainment.

Surur

Voice of dumbness is a nasty little person. :)
Dr Opinion @ 10/23/2005 10:15:14 PM # Q
> "...You are not logged in or you do not have permission to access this page. This could be due to one of several reasons:..."

Voice of Dumbness: the link you posted doesn't work. Not only are you a nasty little whiney person, but you're also incompetant. :)

I'd feel bad for poor Mr. Kirving if he really has lost his job. Not because I've ever listened to a podcast -- I've got better things to do with my time than listen to tech pundits on a frickin' *ipod*.

Rather, I'd feel bad because if he pisses you off, he's probably a pretty cool guy. :)



------
"People who like M$ products tend to be insecure crowd-following newbies lacking in experience and imagination."

RE: Sharp screen?
bradleyboy @ 10/23/2005 11:56:28 PM # Q
Voice of dumbness is a nasty little person. :)
Dr Opinion @ 10/23/2005 10:15:14 PM

> "...You are not logged in or you do not have permission to access this page. This could be due to one of several reasons:..."

Voice of Dumbness: the link you posted doesn't work. Not only are you a nasty little whiney person, but you're also incompetant. :)

Hey, Dr. Dumbass,

the link does work; you have to log in to view the forums, dip****. Oh, and by the way, when labelling someone as incompetent, it helps to spell "incompetent" correctly...

Kirvin is a creep, and the karmic circle closed right on his little head. I won't lose any sleep over it.

RE: Sharp screen?
Dr Opinion @ 10/24/2005 12:55:03 AM # Q
> "...the link does work; you have to log in to view the forums..."

Don't waste my time posting links to resources I'm going to have to *register* to look at. Cripes-on-a-bike! For the 99.999% of humanity that don't have a password for joe-random-palm-site the link doesn't work. Deal with it. :)

> "...it helps to spell "incompetent" correctly..."

Not important with Voice of Dumbness. :)

(1) He's pretty slow, and doesn't notice my horrific spelling and grammar,

(2) I'm sure as hell not going to waste another second of my life on him by going back and double checking. :)

------
"People who like M$ products tend to be insecure crowd-following newbies lacking in experience and imagination."

Jeff Kirvin = FIRED?
The_Voice_of_Reason @ 10/24/2005 1:54:14 AM # Q
Voice of dumbness is a nasty little person. :)
Dr Opinion @ 10/23/2005 10:15:14 PM

> "...You are not logged in or you do not have permission to access this page. This could be due to one of several reasons:..."

Voice of Dumbness: the link you posted doesn't work. Not only are you a nasty little whiney person, but you're also incompetant. :)

Hey, Dr. Dumbass,

the link does work; you have to log in to view the forums, dip****. Oh, and by the way, when labelling someone as incompetent, it helps to spell "incompetent" correctly...

Kirvin is a creep, and the karmic circle closed right on his little head. I won't lose any sleep over it.

Odds are Kirvin just got fired and is having difficulties dealing with it, ergo the oh-so-public psychotic break.

He should simply have gone quietly into the night. Instead, Kirvin's silly ego mandated that he grandstand for a few days, threatening that he would take his ball and go home. No doubt he was hoping to hear a few fanboys tell him how "wonderful" they think he is and then BEG him to stay. Now Dr Opinion/Jeff Kirvin shows up here and takes a few cowardly shots at me. How sad.

Get help, Jeff. Please. For your sake.

TVoR



------------------------
Sony CLIE UX100: 128 MB real RAM, OLED screen. All the PDA anyone really ever wanted.
------------------------

The Palm eCONomy = Communism™

The Great Palm Swindle: http://www.palminfocenter.com/comment_view.asp?ID=7864#108038

NetFrontLinux - the next major cellphone OS?: http://www.palminfocenter.com/comment_view.asp?ID=8060#111823

Reply to this comment

vibrating alarm?

joad @ 10/19/2005 9:49:59 PM # Q
So tell me again why they couldn't figure out how to put a vibrating alarm into this...? Gotta be saving a few cents, eh?


Shades of the choice of Piezo vs. normal speaker in the original Pilot still haunt Palm's specifications. Shouldn't a vibrating alarm just be a "given" in a $300 PDA nowadays?

WiFi, Bluetooth, nice big hi-res screen... but no vibrating alarm. Nice going again, Palm.

RE: vibrating alarm?
svrontis @ 10/19/2005 11:03:13 PM # Q
Yeah, and it doesn't come with a kitchen sink either - which is another thing I would never use.

RE: vibrating alarm?
AdamaDBrown @ 10/19/2005 11:46:12 PM # Q
svrontis, do you have to sneer at other people's requirements? Just because you wouldn't use it doesn't mean he wouldn't. Let the fellow talk about his vibrating alarm.

RE: vibrating alarm?
svrontis @ 10/19/2005 11:59:05 PM # Q
Not snearing. Just noting that everyone has different requirements.

RE: vibrating alarm?
bdholmes @ 10/20/2005 6:03:14 AM # Q
The missing vibrating alarm exemplifies everything that is wrong with Palm's philosophy over the past few years. Instead of continuing to make genuinely useful life tools, they have changed their raison d'etre to the creation of toys for PDA fanboys. They will defend the vibrating alarm omission by saying it will affect battery life. But if they are so concerned about battery life, why is it necessary to have a 312Mhz processor, big, bright 64bit colour screen, and wifi? Has PalmOS become so bloated over the past few years that CPU speed has had to increase 1500%+ over the 20Mhz processor that is more than sufficient on my Vx to keep up? Or is the truth that Palm just wants to appeal to the minority of enthusiasts that buy a PDA to play pretty games and watch movies? Yes there are some people that choose their PDA based on how dazzling the screen looks in the shop and the MHZ number, but I like to think Palm traditinally tried to appeal to the more discerning consumer who appreciate the elegant simplicity of the Palm interface, the long battery life, and the pocketable, take-everywhere size. Palm could have left (or at least not devoted themselves to) the market for video-pdas, instead it has chased HP and the rest of the Wince toy makers down the gadgets garden path, leaving the serious PDA user with six-year old equipment and themselves with reduced market-share and revenue.

RE: vibrating alarm?
interlard @ 10/20/2005 9:36:30 AM # Q
I think bdholmes makes an interesting point, here. Palm give us bells and whistles when what we really need are genuinely useful features.

The vibrating alarm seems much more useful. How many times do you take your Palm out of your pocked only to see that you missed a meeting?

Palm OS needs a 300+MHz processor because it's mostly emulating the code for the old 20MHz processor. But there's not much software to make use of the new ARM CPUs since we're still stuck on Garnet. It's just a useless "feature". If only Palm had let developers just re-compile the same programs to run on the new CPUs, we'd be making some use of all those MHz by now. The approach worked for Apple twice (68000 to PowerPC, now PowerPC to Intel).

BTW, in the UK, Alf Garnett was a 1970s sitcom character. A rude, racist, grouchy old man. In the watered-down US version he's called Archie Bunker. So just think of Palm OS Garnet as Palm OS Archie Bunker.

RE: vibrating alarm?
joad @ 10/20/2005 12:36:06 PM # Q
I think the others put more nicely what I'm trying to say. I am happy as pie to be able to play MP3's, movies, whatever on my PDA, IF I WANT (and often I do).

HOWEVER - 20 years ago I had a pager that came with a vibrating alarm (nice strong one!). Palm belatedly put one into the Palm V about 7 (?) years ago. That model had vibration but no mp3 functionality, but they still sold a few of them. They were pitched toward Enterprise and yuppies, and you can bet the vibrating alarms weren't put in there just for cheap jollies.

For people who actually use PDAs for business and/or have some respect for the people sitting next to them on the bus or in the theatre, a vibrating alarm is as essential to a PDA as a viewing screen. My point was - where is Palm's head when they create "PDAs" that can't properly function as a basic PDA, but seem to be targeted only to grab away business from SONY's PSP. Hint to Palm: ain't gonna happen.

If people want a PSP they can probably find SOME place that carries them. A PDA should be FIRST a PDA, THEN you can start adding candy to widen your audience. Start removing Vibrating Alarms, Hardware Buttons, Memory, etc. and REPLACE it with the whiz-bang stuff and you are lost...
Putting in WiFi/Bluetooth and removing vibrating alarms in a PDA is like filling up on dessert and then realizing you have no room for dinner. If vibrating alarms are "the kitchen sink" to you, then you probably should be buying a PSP instead of a PDA.

RE: vibrating alarm?
bdholmes @ 10/20/2005 1:15:03 PM # Q
I couldn't agree more. Palm has lost its core identity. The foundation of Palm's PDAs that should never have been compromised were size and battery life. The sooner it slims back down to Palm V form-factor, reintroduces the basics such as decent battery life measured in days rather than hours (some reviews say the Tx lasts just two hours with Wifi and backlight on full), a good but not power-scoffing screen with enough colours for contrast but not thousands that require hundreds of Mhz to display. It will sell, and not just to the business\serious PDA user, but average Joe who walks into a shop and handles the super-svelte Palm that is 50% thinner than the relative brick Wince device next to it.

Vibrating Alarm - $55 phone wins over $300 Tx
ChiA @ 10/20/2005 1:36:39 PM # Q
Svrontis, please explain to us all two things:

1 - How and why Palm was able to fit a vibrating alarm into the m505 four years ago but is unable to fit it into the physically larger Tx.

2 - How and why a basic, US$55 mobile phone comes with a vibrating alarm (a new Nokia 1100 contract free) yet the much larger and sophisticated $299 Tx is unable to offer such a feature.

Yes, you can set an alarm on the Nokia 1100 and it will vibrate at a given time or for a given reminder at a particular time - just like most PDAs with the exception of the Tx.

So again, why does a $55 phone have a vibrating alert for appointments but the $299 PDA doesn't?

"What counts is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight but the size of the fight in the dog" - Dwight D. Eisenhower

RE: vibrating alarm?
hkklife @ 10/20/2005 3:13:05 PM # Q
Why does my new $10 rechargable flashlight from Home Depot have a red LED that lights up when it's plugged in and charging? Oh, and it turns GREEN when the battery is full!

Also, someone gave me a novelty voice memo recording keychain as a gag gift last year. It couldn't have cost more than $10 from Wal-Mart etc. It held at least a few minutes' worth of scratchy audio memos that didn't sound too terribly much worse than my T3 used to.


Why does Palm continue to skimp on the crucial features mentioned above?

Answer: G*R*E*E*D & A*R*R*O*G*A*N*C*E
(with a dash of l*a*z*i*n*e*s*s* and c*h*e*a*p*n*e*s*s thrown in for good measure)

Pilot 1000-->Pilot 5000-->PalmPilot Pro-->IIIe-->Vx-->m505-->T|T-->T|T2-->T|C-->T|T3-->T|T5-->TX

RE: vibrating alarm?
cervezas @ 10/20/2005 3:14:30 PM # Q
So again, why does a $55 phone have a vibrating alert for appointments but the $299 PDA doesn't?

I think it's Zen thing: if you really needed to be vibrated the appointment probably wasn't worth going to anyway.

Ya know, if they hadn't got rid of the screen whine you guys all complained about you might feel the vibration from that when your TX came out of sleep mode for an alarm. Didn't think about that, did you?



David Beers
Pikesoft Mobile Computing
www.pikesoft.com
Software Everywhere blog
www.pikesoft.com/blog

RE: vibrating alarm?
hkklife @ 10/20/2005 3:17:57 PM # Q
IF Palm were to introduce a device "Palm V '06 Edition" with the specs of the TX but with:

-Improved CDMA Bluetooth DUN support (since many execs use Verizon & Sprint phones)
-Charging LED (Palm V & m500s had this)
-Slightly better battery life (a Palm V & m500 hallmark)
-A voice recorder (m500 series had this)
-Metal case (Palm V & m500 series had this)
They'd sell SCORES of units and have the first PDA since the N760C Sony with compelling specs in a decently slim formfactor.

Basically, the PDA equivalent of the RAZR. With build quality up to par, people would actually consider paying a PREMIUM for a device liks this--yes, even today with the subnotebook/smartphone/iPod competition. A solid basic design could last 2+ years with tweaks to case color and internal improvements to the screen, CPU, OS etc.

Pilot 1000-->Pilot 5000-->PalmPilot Pro-->IIIe-->Vx-->m505-->T|T-->T|T2-->T|C-->T|T3-->T|T5-->TX

RE: vibrating alarm?
cervezas @ 10/20/2005 5:07:35 PM # Q
IF Palm were to introduce a device "Palm V '06 Edition" with the specs of the TX but with:...

Wull heck, if you don't care about the color screen don't stop there... make it a Visor Edge with those specs! You could pop in a Sprint DigitalLink for those times when you aren't around a WiFi hotspot. Even place a call, in a pinch.

David Beers
Pikesoft Mobile Computing
www.pikesoft.com
Software Everywhere blog
www.pikesoft.com/blog

RE: vibrating alarm?
Rome @ 10/20/2005 7:23:48 PM # Q
Why does my $15K Chevy have many cup holders while my $70K Porsche have none?



RE: vibrating alarm?
hkklife @ 10/20/2005 7:32:38 PM # Q
Mock me all you want smart a$$...to date the Visor Edge is STILL the sleekest PDA ever released (aside from the hideously placed external stylus holder).

And the Palm is still THE paradigm of a sleek, thin, ultra-pocketable executive "status" PDA. Palm's slowly eroding marketshare is certainly somehow tied to their increasingly unstylish, bland, and chunky PDAs

The ONLY reason the RAZR has been the hottest cell phone for over a year now is because of its SIZE, looks, build quality and (to a far lesser degree) good RF performance.

Pilot 1000-->Pilot 5000-->PalmPilot Pro-->IIIe-->Vx-->m505-->T|T-->T|T2-->T|C-->T|T3-->T|T5-->TX

Porsches have cupholders so your argument's bull!
ChiA @ 10/20/2005 7:55:22 PM # Q
Rome said Why does my $15K Chevy have many cup holders while my $70K Porsche have none?

Thanks for proving yourself wrong and showing everyone here just how out of touch you are.

The Porsche 911 Turbo S Cabriolet costs £105K (that's about $185K ) and comes with "a retractable cup holder with space for two drinks containers" (Thank you, Porsche UK).

So again, why does a $55 phone have vibrating alarm whilst a $299 PDA doesn't? There's definitely space for it there when you look at the dissection.

To borrow your car theme, it's like getting reverse gear on the $15K Chevy Chase but no reverse gear on the $70K Porsche.

Sounds like you've been taken for a ride Rome if you dropped $70K on a Porsche yet didn't get the cupholder you were entitled to. Now that would make Porsche look mean!

That's how Palm looks when it asks $300 for a PDA but doesn't bother to put a vibrating alert into it.

"What counts is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight but the size of the fight in the dog" - Dwight D. Eisenhower

RE: vibrating alarm?
ChiA @ 10/20/2005 8:16:34 PM # Q
Cervezas said if you really needed to be vibrated the appointment probably wasn't worth going to anyway.

The thing is when you're at a board meeting/cinema/theatre/funeral/interview/studio not everyone around you wants or needs to hear those infamous Palm "bleeps" reminding you abouting needing to be somewhere else in a couple of hour's time.

If you need to switch off sound because you're in a sound sensitive area and your PDA doesn't have vibrating alert, then how do you know when to go to your meeting?

No doubt at this rate, David would endorse Palm getting rid of the Calendar/Date Book app altogether in order to improve the "Zen of Palm".

He'd argue: "You'd remember all the important appointments, all the other ones probably won't be worth going to anyway, so what's the point of having a Calendar app and button on the Palm?"

"What counts is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight but the size of the fight in the dog" - Dwight D. Eisenhower

RE: vibrating alarm?
Timothy Rapson @ 10/20/2005 8:20:46 PM # Q
I want a model with
Nice ARM processor
At least 32 MB RAM
SD expansion slot
MP3 and video player
HVGA
Plastic flip cover
jog dial
VGA or better camera
cradle
microphone
Nice software bundle
Compatible with FITALY
less than 5 inches tall, 3 inches wide and .6 inches thick
WiFi
BlueTooth
Could that be so hard?


m500 and Voice Recording
ChiA @ 10/20/2005 8:39:58 PM # Q
hkklife said A voice recorder (m500 series had this)

Well if it did then Palm must've forgotten to build it into my m505 when I bought it in 2001. To add insult to injury the Palm Desktop installer added the Voice Memo app onto my Desktop!

"What counts is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight but the size of the fight in the dog" - Dwight D. Eisenhower

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