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.
Article Comments
(9 comments)
The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. PalmInfocenter is not responsible for them in any way.
Please Login or register here to add your comments.
Comments Closed
This article is no longer accepting new comments.
RE: They've got bigger problems than that!
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!
RE: They've got bigger problems than that!
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!
Palm IIIc digitizer problems - possible fix
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
A HARD-RESET fixed the IIIc digitizer problems for me and a friend of mine.
Palm Australia won't replace cracked IIIc's!
cheers!
J
Latest Comments
- I got one -Tuckermaclain
- RE: Don't we have this already? -Tuckermaclain
- RE: Palm brand will return in 2018, with devices built by TCL -richf
- RE: Palm brand will return in 2018, with devices built by TCL -dmitrygr
- Palm phone on HDblog -palmato
- Palm PVG100 -hgoldner
- RE: Like Deja Vu -PacManFoo
- Like Deja Vu -T_W
They've got bigger problems than that!
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).