Comments on: Rumor: More Evidence for the Tungsten X and Zire 22

And I'm still not convinced that the mini-usb isn't the way to go for the connector. I wouldn't be suprized if they end up changing the connector in a year or 2 because it can't do Audio and Video. Oh and by the way has anywone see any hardware for the special capbilites that the new connect is suppose to suport?

The price does sound pretty reasonable for the first time in a long time.

I expect it to sell for >$300 (but then its worth it).

http://www.infosyncworld.com/news/n/6165.html

Surur

I've long lusted after any number of WM devices. But every single one of them is missing one critical feature: the Palm OS. Now if they could just add that....

The TX looks like my next device, even with the "missing features." No camera is expected in the Tungsten line. But no VR is a bummer. No charging light and vibrating alarm is maddening! Even my cheapy cell phone has vibrating alarm and a charging light.

I'm still waiting for the mythical "color HandEra."

This website is in German...duh. Babelfish isn't working with it.

"Down at nexave.de someone who claims to have a T(X+) in his hands, started a thread and is answering questions. Since Friday."

This website is in German...duh. Babelfish isn't working with it.

For your delectation.

http://tinyurl.com/c293s

Surur

NC311........ 110mm x 70mm x 13.7mm
Tungsten T5 121mm x 78mm x 15.0mm
Palm M505...114mm x 77mm x 12.7mm
http://euro.palmone.com/uk/en/products/palmm505/palmm505datasheet_en.pdf

With only a 1 mm difference, the real difference is only 8%, vs your numbers, which place it at 27% thicker. Ironically I was able to confirm the numbers from the Palm site only because I can open downloaded PDF's directly on my pocketpc, which you would not be able to on Palm handhelds (besides stolen software of course).

Surur

Man, I was just thinking nearly the same thing. This thing would have been a yawner last year when the T5 disaster was released. Twizza's right about connected devices, but boy Palm must have relegated about 3 fresh out of college engineers to refresh the T|E again and not do anything crazy.

I can understand sticking with a successful form factor, but dropping IMPORTANT features that have already been developed and tested boggles my mind. I'm not even talking WiFi g or OLED here. Just vibralarms and charging/alarm LEDs and the VR. Unbelievable to me and this aint no RAZR thin form factor that has kept them from benig able to pack these in.

Don't get me wrong WiFi + BT is better late (real late) than never on a decent sized Palm, and I'm grateful. But the incompetence of throwing away these features tells me that Palm has given up on the PDA and is doin little more than miling what they veiw as the last remaining dollars out before their done away with.

I hope that my T3 will hold out until 2014. This is sad, unless a worthy flagship is in the wings? Just saddened for another season.

See http://www.palminfocenter.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=28737&sid=cc3a1df72c14fa100549a90aa1f401e2

Pat Horne; www.churchoflivingfaith.com

Give them a break - I was tired of upgrading twice a year anyhow, and with the snail's pace of marginally upgraded handhelds it means the 3-year old PDAs aren't at all obsolete.

Palm - if it works, it'll work (for now) ©.

I am sure you could do an SDIO mic or USB interface mic via the Athena connector but what'd be the point in a kludge like that?

Remember, as Kirvin says, VR isn't that important on a new Palm device as most new cell phones & some MP3 players have that feature built in!

I still cannot fathom how they saw fit to put a voice recorder in the Zire 72 but not in any Tungsten released in the past two years.

"Audio
The Zire 72 has a rear mounted speaker in the metal mesh below the camera lens. The speaker is quite loud and mp3's and voice memos sound very clear, though most will opt for using headphones (not included) for listening to music. For listening to music files, the Zire 72 ships with the RealOne player. The microphone is also hidden behind the rear grill, which is used for the voice and movie recorder."

With 128MB memory or more,
I'd even put up with needing bigger pants pockets!

Chris

Tungsten C, Palm IIIxe, Wizard OZ-9520

"Quando Omni Flunkus Moritati"

Dollar general store toys have most of this stuff and they are huge benefits on a PDA, but nope. My old Nokia sludge-phone had vibralarms and my kids battery toys have LED ... I'm bewildered.

Sorry. ... then I see the X51v is announced. Uggggggggh.

Pat Horne; www.churchoflivingfaith.com

I would also like a little better video recording for my daughter's singing recitals, so I don't have to buy and carry another camera to replace the one my other kid took when she got married and went to grad school.

I just don't think Palm is going to produce that. It would only make too much sense. They are too busy dropping features they already had up and working as LiveFaith noted above. It is maddening. Sony finally makes the perfect PDA, the TH55. All Palm needed to do was make a PDA just like it and keep the volume up and production going until they could sell them for $99 and make money on every replacement, upgrader, or accessory for it. But, no. They keep this silly one step forward and two step back dance going.

I am not going to dance with this TX. I'll set this round out until they update the Zire 72, mine breaks, or they offer them for the $118 I paid for my Zire 71 on closeout.

That said, the T5 is a servicable midrange handheld but still not a proper flagship device. I'm somewhat more enthusiastic about the T7, almost entirely because of its improved wireless functions (BT 1.2, wi-fi) and its good battery life. The T5's battery life is quite good when brightness & BT are turned down/off but it quickly drops when you do 10 mins of BT per day and/or have the brightness slider set halfway.

My T5, despite the latest patch, is still not as swift as my T3 or my T|C were. I'd say that the 416mhz CPU is basically going to waste due to NVFS inefficiencies and/or the limitations of FrankenGarnet. That extra 100mhz is likely just burning up battery runtime as well. I'd expect the T7's CPU to be tuned for efficiency and, hopefully, include some OS tweaks for speedier response.

If I had to recommend a course of action, I'd say to wait a few weeks longer and see:
A. The T7's launch price (hopefully $300ish)
B. How initial reports are to the T7's speed, stability, and battery life are

If it's not overwhelmingly positive, you'll still be able to pick up plenty of new T5s at good clearance prices. $300 makes a LOT more sense for a handheld with those specs than the $400 I was expecting. I'd take battery life & stability over slightly slower CPU performance anyday.

I'd trust PIC & BargainPDA user reviews more so than ANY other site--this includes Brighthand, 1src and certain sites with plenty of hopped-up 12 year olds writing about how their dad's PDA sucks (Amazon, Cnet, Epinions etc) or how cute their cats are. Don't make the mistake of letting the PALMyannas on other mobile sites mislead you!

I wouldn't count on a return of the vibrating alarm however. I think that might have been part of the reason for the flaky digitizers on the T|Tx series.

I am calling the TX the T7 as I assume that's what it'll be upon launch. Palm's likely saving a real T|X for something that breaks the mold and/or uses a different casing than the tired old T|E design.