Customer Reviews

HQRP Replacement Internal Li-Poly PDA / Handheld Battery for Palm Tungsten E T5 TX PalmOne & 2x Screwdriver + Installation Manual + Screen Protector

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I installed this battery in my Tungsten E and fully charged it. It has not been performing as expected as it does not hold the charge. I frequently have to put it on the charger and on a few occasions lost all the information on the machine due to low power. I am retired and do not use the PDA as heavily as when I was at work yet the charge does not hold more than a day.

The leads are soldiered onto contacts upon a plastic strip. The leads, soldier and strip are thicker than the battery and protrude on the tape side (the battery is secured with double sided tape) preventing it from laying flat making the tape useless. And the Tungsten E has zero fault tolerance. I was able to close the case but now the buttons are not nearly so tight.

I had been using palm products since 1999. I had a Palm IIIX and later a Tungsten E model. When the battery was dead I decided to purchase a new one.

Since the newer devices seem to last more than a few days with a single charge, I expected the same from this product. It might not be the fault of the battery. Or it might be the fault of the Tungsten E device but the battery kept draining in a few days even if I did not constantly use the device.

As a result I gave up using my Tungsten a and that battery purchase was a dead investment for me.

I installed the battery on my Palm T|X. I can not be happier with the new battery. A full charge supported my continous video watching for hours, still plenty of juice left. I did not expect this battery to perform this well. Sure, a new battery on an iPod will do better, but I am not paying for that! The original Palm battery did not last much longer neither as I remember. I am appreciative, this battery saved my Palm from a trip to the recycling bin. I charge my devices everyday anyways, so it does not bother me to charge it often. People found his battery does not hold charge could be because they did not fully charge the battery. The battery indicator on Palm shows a full charge right after one unplugs the charger, even if the charging is not complete. So be patient do a thorough full 5 hour charge and the result will be better. The small screw drivers come with the battery is very thoughtful, I would never find such odd tool in my toolbox. The soldering work is quite simple. If one has a 40W solder gun, simple tipping on the end of the two wires will connect them to the board. Openning the back of the Palm is more challenging, hold the tabs back forcefully, felt like going to crack something. Not a big problem even if it does as there are four screws to hold the plate.

I looked at this kit and what others had to offer when I decided to bite the bullet and replace the battery in a Palm TX I'm still using (it has about 10 years of my travel history and makes a dandy travel alarm). I rejected this kit because while its battery may work for a Palm TX, the OEM battery is 1350mAh whereas the one in the kit is only 900mAh. Considering that it is non-trivial to change the battery I saw no point in skimping on it; i.e., this one is not a good choice. DirectFix and others sell batteries that match the OEM battery spec for between $10 and $20, which is well worth the few extra dollars given the effort required to make the replacement.

If you are willing to take this on it really isn't very hard, but be sure to check out a couple of the YouTube videos that take you through the process - it will likely save you some angst. Note that the various techs in the videos do different amounts of disassembly, but if you are careful, you shouldn't need to do any more than open the case, fold it out, remove the old battery, and solder in the new one (yes, it has two wires that need to be soldered to the main circuit board, exactly like the old battery).

For the TX you will need a Torx #5 screwdriver to remove the back cover - Home Depot sells a combo that has Torx 4, 5 and up for about $6 (Husky tools). The plastic case opening tool sold for all manner of devices like this one is quite helpful, although if you don't mind the minor scarring a screwdriver will produce in prying the case apart that will work, too. Since the old battery is glued to the inside of the case, it may take a bit of patience to work it loose ... I used a razor blade to break the glue membrane, speeding up the removal. Soldering in the new battery is easy if you have an appropriate iron - just be careful you don't short anything out in the process ... I shuddered in watching a YouTube video that illustrated the process when the tech came perilously close to shorting his replacement battery by holding the leads side by side while removing their protective end caps. Likewise, in removing the old battery be careful to only cut one wire at a time (else you short any charge left in it across your clipper blade) and be cautious in soldering not to make more than a single contact to anything. If you've done any soldering at all to a circuit board you should be able to handle this easily - it's only two easy to reach contact points. If you are a novice at soldering you may want to consider getting a more experienced friend to do the soldering.

This battery will not fit into my case - it's longer than the original and gets in the way of the screw holes, which really stunk since I had already unsoldered my old battery.

Everything needed (except a soldering iron) was in the package, including the weird little screwdrivers to open the unit and the instructions were very clear. I had the whole thing done in about 15 minutes and it works like a charm! I couldn't be happier.

I was very pleased with this replacement battery. The directions that came with it made it easy to do.

Due to the nature of this device you MUST soder the wires to the circut board. It is not a plug and play instilation!