Comments on: Palm Will Replace All Defective IIIc

Palm Inc. admitted on Wednesday that many of its IIIc handhelds have a defect that causes cracks to form in the back of the casing. The company says it will replace all the devices that show the defect.

Palm Inc. said they became aware of the problem because of numerous posts to Palm-related message boards.

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They've got bigger problems than that!

PDA Boy @ 5/25/2000 10:10:53 AM #
Personally, I never experienced the case cracks with the several Palm IIIc devices I went through, although I did many times with the HandSpring Visor. But the problems I had with the three IIIc units I went through were far more serious. The touch sensitive screens are totally f*cked up! I demonstrated this to the good folks at Staples (where I purchased them). I'm not sure if it's the screen or the digitizer software, but clicking items on the screen yeilded sporadic results!! For example, when I attempt to click on an item in my Memo list, it selects the item directly above or below the one I was aiming for! It doesn't end there I'm aftraid. The other flaw is trying to click on a button, you have to literally grind your stylish into the display to simply click an *ok* or *cancel* button, or else nothing happens. I returned three IIIc's to Staples, and they all had the same flaw. Finally, I gave up!

I've owned several Palm devices over the past year and a half, and never had any problems at all. They were excellent quality handhelds. But the Palm IIIc is a total piece of sh*t!

If you want a color Palm device, wait for the Sony PDA, or maybe see if Handspring has something cooked up. If you want color now, I highly recommend you go with a Pocket PC instead. They function well, have excellent features, and are a better overall value than the $450 paperweight made by Palm (IIIc).

RE: They've got bigger problems than that!
Harry Miktariab @ 5/25/2000 11:33:14 AM #
You must have had a bad run...I have the IIIC and do not have these problems.
Every once in awhile I get the wrong item when choosing a menu item...but I think in my case it
is caused by my missing the mark. Any other users having this problem?

P.S. So far, no cracks...one week and counting...

RE: They've got bigger problems than that!
I.M. Anonymous @ 5/25/2000 12:09:11 PM #
Have you tried calibrating your 'digitizer' in the prefrences section?
RE: They've got bigger problems than that!
Tiago Henriques @ 5/25/2000 12:29:54 PM #
I had the exact same problem with my Palm IIIc.

It is NOT a calibration problem, nor is it caused by misconfigurations/software/hacks. A complete reset would not solve this problem. I had to replace my unit before handwriting recognition became usable.

A good way to check what is happening is to install a card game like Klondike, and then dragging a card. If you drag a card and then hold the stylus completely still, in my 2 first IIIc units I could see the card constantly jumping around, although the stylus didn't budge!

My 3rd unit still shows some fluctuation of the card, but at least I can use handwriting again, which proved impossible with my first 2 units. Even using the screen keyboard proved difficult, because you usually had to tap the buttons a few times before it was recognized.

Clearly, it seems like the stylus position tracking is faulty in all units, although some units seem to suffer more from it than others. Whether this is a hardware or software problem, it is definitely there. I was very disappointed at first - this is an expensive unit, and worst of all, I had sold my Palm III, so it meant I was more or less Palm-less for almost 2 months - but now that I have a usable unit I'm a bit more satisfied. The screen really is great (though not in outdoors). I just don't understand how Palm made such a blunder, with the competition finally catching up. OK, PalmOS is great to use, simple to learn, and let's you do simple tasks simply. But the hardware can't compare to the hardware on the new CE devices. I think that possibly my new palm device after this one will be CE machine.

By the way, this is my 3rd Palm model. I started with US Robotics Palm Pilot Professional, so these are not the whinings of clueless newbie.

RE: They've got bigger problems than that!
George @ 5/25/2000 1:37:26 PM #
Well, I've had my IIIc since mid March. No cracking of any part of the unit. No digitizer problems. Buttons work fine. Contrast, brightness and color are all fine. It's my first color Palm and the second Palm unit I have purchased (I had the Palm Pilot 5000 since early 97, it's still trucking along as well.) In fact, the only problems I have had have been with some poorly written or incompatible software (Launcher III is NOT os 3.5 compatible-big shame, I still use it on my 5k) Guess I am lucky. My biggest complaint thus far: the damned built in software. Palm should have done better: the only enhancement to take advantage of color is the stupid red line indicating overlapping events in the scheduler. More colors would have been nice.

Palm IIIc digitizer problems - possible fix

Bill@DogSpots.com @ 5/25/2000 7:16:57 PM #
When I first got my IIIc several weeks ago, it would hardly recognize any grafitti and would frequently select the wrong item when I tried to tap on the screen. I realized that the problem was with the digitizer when I tried a grafitti echo program. The echo showed that when I was drawing a straight line, the palm would see a totally crooked line. Just putting the stylus down and not moving it would generate all kinds of movement. Calibrating the digitizer would not fix the problem.

I called the Palm store (http://palmorder.modusmedia.com/" CLASS=NEWS>http://palmorder.modusmedia.com/) and told them. They offered to send me a new one right away. My new one arrived the next day and did not have the problem at all. The new one has been perfect since then.

Before I boxed up the old unit, I did a soft reset to clear out my programs and data. Out of curiosity, I tried the digitizer again and the problems had gone away. I didn't get to try it for more than a few minutes because I had to send the unit back to Palm. I was very surprised that the soft-reset seemed to fix the problem.

A friend of mine also purchased a new IIIc and his had the same digitizer problem. I told him to try the soft-reset and it did indeed fix his problem. However, after a week or so, the problem came back. Another soft-reset fixed it, but he decided to take his back to where he purchased it and exchange it for a new one. His new one did not have the problem and has been fine since then.

I wonder if a soft-reset would fix the problem for other people and how long it would last.

RE: Palm IIIc digitizer problems - possible fix
Bill@DogSpots.com @ 5/25/2000 7:30:52 PM #
Silly me! I mean a HARD RESET, not soft reset in my previous comment.

A HARD-RESET fixed the IIIc digitizer problems for me and a friend of mine.

Palm Australia won't replace cracked IIIc's!

J E @ 5/25/2000 11:29:58 PM #
Please, if any Palm rep from the USA reads this PLEASE tell Palm Australia to offer replacments. I've had nothing buy agro with the tech guys here and they refuse to help and offer a replacment like Palm in the USA does. Even after I show them the web sites reporting that Palm is giving replacments. (bloomberg etc etc)

cheers!

J

No defects yet..

Mac @ 5/26/2000 2:13:48 PM #
I have a German IIIc now for 3 weeks, no defects yet! Anyone had problems with german IIIc devices?

-- Mac

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