Customer Reviews

PalmOne Tungsten E Handheld

5 star:		(123)
4 star:		(68)
3 star:		(38)
2 star:		(50)
1 star:		(95)

 

 

There are a lot of reviews accumulating for the Tungsten E, and I agree with most of them. Palm (or now PalmOne) seems to have picked the right spot in the market and hit it pretty well. The Tungsten E is not too expensive, has all the basic functions I wanted in a PDA, and not a lot of frills (except the MP3 player, which was actually what I was looking for when I decided to upgrade my old Vx).

This accounts for the favorable ratings in reviews based on its feature set. While my Tungsten E worked, it worked quite well. Even features I hadn't really been looking for (high resolution color screen, Excel and Word compatibility) were proving pretty useful. It had enough memory to easily accomodate a full collegiate dictionary (I used one from PocketLingo). IR beaming to my Win2K laptop became smoother, which is really handy for transferring individual files without HotSyncing. (It's possible with the Vx, but seems to require tricking the Palm into revealing its presence first.)

Reliability problems started appearing even before the end of the dismally short 90 day warranty.
*The unit would emit an audible whine sometimes while on. Other users have apparently had similar problems with this and other Tungsten models. It seems to be an issue with the display electronics. One side of the display would also sometimes flicker. In my case the problem wasn't severe, and I didn't do anything about it.
*The speaker quit working within about a week, and would come and go intermittently. This was a big problem since it meant alarms didn't sound. Since Amazon's 30 day return period was still in effect and I'd had previous experience with Palm's customer support, I exchanged it through Amazon (whose service was faultless). The problem returned with the exchanged unit after about another week. A little inspection reveals that the speaker is mounted on the back cover of the Palm, and has bare contacts that press against traces on the motherboard when the cover is closed. Apparently the minor stresses of carrying the Palm in my pocket were enough to result in poor electrical contact. Opening and closing the case would restore sound temporarily. Sometimes I could just press on back of the case where the speaker was located, but the problem always came back. I decided to fix this one myself, and soldered a proper electrical connection in place. This fixed the problem and the unit operated well for another 3 months. Draw your own conclusions as to the wisdom of this repair. It was made with usual attention to ESD and thermal sensitivity of the electronics.
*Yesterday the unit died in its sleep. It worked fine when I checked some information in an e-mail. A couple of hours later it wouldn't turn on, respond to any buttons, re-insertion of my SD card, or soft or hard resets. It is now a month out of warranty. PalmOne lists charges of around $125 for service and $40 for an advance replacement unit, which are out of the question given its original price.

Unfortunately Palm has an established history of poor hardware reliability and intolerable customer service. The Vx was teriffic in my experience, except for a faulty power button. Three years ago I returned my Vx under warranty because of the power button, and the new unit developed the same problem, exactly the same dismaying pattern as with the speaker on my Tungsten E.

Despite the many great features of their products, it seems they just can't get everything right at once. The problem is, from reading reviews of their competitors, the other options may not be any better. My wife has had a Tungsten E for about 3 months and hasn't had the speaker problem (though her screen does whine). An extended warranty is a good thing to consider with this PDA. As of this writing, the extended warranty link on the PalmOne support website is broken, so I give up.

As some of you might know, I always speak the truth, so here is my honest review of this Palm Tungsten E.

I purchased this item to replace my old Palm m515 (which had originally replaced my first palm, a Palm V). As you probably guessed, I have to have a small handheld. In my opinion, if it isn't small enough, you won't bring it with you and actually use the thing. I also have been a fond lover of this form factor (very thin and light with double-stylus holder, etc.

Well, they finally listened to us complaining of the previous left side "flap holder" and made the flap slide in from the bottom of the palm as apposed to the top. This was a large problem -- I've had my old palms slide out on me at random by holding it from the flap.

The good: This palm has an astounding display! It literally feels as though you have a small computer in your hand as other reviewers have mentioned. Quality all the way here. Large enough to be easily readable, and a brightness level adjustment that gets quite bright! The buttons on the bottom "mostly" have a positive feedback. I'll discuss the bottom lack of a universal connector last. This palm accepts SD cards and has a headphone jack on the top. Processor is incredible compared to my old m515 and especially the V. Power button is recessed so you can't "accidentally" turn it on as easily as past models.

Honestly, I must mention that I've tried to purchase quite a few MP3 players out there and they have all had quirky problems. I didn't even expect to use the mp3 capabilities of this PDA but look at that -- it works/sounds better than anything I've purchased for the same cost that was dedicated to MP3s!!! I am truly astounded by it.

The bad/interesting: As I mentioned above, the buttons mostly have tactile feedback, but that square ring of a button-pad in the center is a bit odd because pushing down requires quite a bit more force than up and does not result in a "click". Hrm...I guess it just sort of happened because of the small size of this unit (4.6 oz folks - yes you heard me right!).

Finally, that bottom connector issue that has quite an argument brewing. This is the only Tungsten lacking a universal connector on the bottom which means you can't use all those old accessories which utilized that port. Lets look at some other aspects here....It uses a standard USB cable which means you're not restricted to palm to purchase additional hotsync cables. Also, it has a small power cord which plugs in the other port on the bottom. This I think is wonderful because I can actually take the power cable/charger and charge it on vacation or wherever I am. No longer do I have to lug around the cradle in my suitcase!

Finally, the iffy: This palm looks like metal - but alas is made out of plastic. Rest assured it is extremely sturdy plastic -- no creaking or anything Handspring-like and the plastic is actually the color you see -- that silver color. So we shouldn't have to worry about any coating chipping off and revealing an ugly color underneath.

So far, I'm extremely pleased with this palm, and though it has these minute setbacks, I still think it is a wonderful unit especially for the price. I was able to keep my small form factor and get a wonderful display and an overall great feature set. Finally - I must mention that this comes with a LOT of software. Documents to go Ver 6 which allows you to read/write word, excel and powerpoint docs, an mp3 player by realone, photo viewer, and the list goes on and on. Add that to their new personal manager programs like Contact and Calendar and you have a winning combination! If you're on the borderline between this and the new T3 - well, I chose it because I'm not all that trusting of the slider mechanism. I like a palm that sits there with the least amount of moving parts/possible failure points. Hopefully this review helps out in your search for the perfect PDA.

T|E is an excellent device with minor problems. For the price its a bargain and will ensure Palm's market share stays high.

Pro's,
1. Its a Palm, with the latest version of Palm OS.
2. Looks good and feels solid in hand.
3. Superb screen and extremely clear.
4. mp3 playback is very good.
5. Uses standard mini USB jack, not propreitary Palm connector.
6. Fast performance. Don't compare raw MHz between PDA's, this one's faster than 400MHz PPC's.
7. About 28MB is available memory, which is a lot for a Palm.
8. Good software bundle and stable OS.
9. Speaker is - suprisingly - good at playing mp3's (64kpbs sounds great).
10. Flip lid and a screen protector are in the box. (I don't buy a PDA without flip)
11. Stylus is superb, thick/heavy/shinning metal.

Con's,
1. Down button is hard to press, ironically that's the most used button on T|E. The 5 way navigator is poorly designed and cheap plastic.
2. Size is bigger than some other handhelds like Clie SJ20.
3. Case is slippery and tough to keep clean.
4. Thread on included flip cover scratches T|E at the top easily.
5. Battery life is just like Pocket PC's, needs charging frequently.
6. Included charger is not a world charger and is bulky.
7. No bluetooth or Wifi but atleast it has SDIO slot (poor Clie fans have to put up with propreitary memory stink slot).
8. Weak alarm sounds (think this can be fixed?) and no vibrate only mode.
9. Packaging in plastic box is tough to open and not eco friendly.
10. Battery is not user replaceable. (dead Palm after 2 years?)

Most of the minor issues with T|E will go away if you spend double and get a T|T3. Overall this is a great Palm at affordable price. Thanks Palm!

At last, Palm gets it right -- A high quality, low price PDA with all the features you need, and none you don't. This is quite simply, a beautiful piece of engineering, and whether you are new to PDAs or upgrading, you will not be disappointed...
For a bargain price of 200 smackers, Palm provides the following key features:
1) A top-notch, large, hi-res screen (check it out in a store first). Many previous Palms have skimped on the screen -- a big no-no in my book. I'd much rather have a slower processor than an unreadable (m505) or too-small screen (Zire, m100). Pointing and clicking on a Palm is hard enough without having a small, dark screen to boot.
2) Generous 32 MB Ram. Finally, Palm stops skimping on this important area! It's not enough to make you ditch your iPod, but you can play a few tunes, look at a few pictures, transfer some files. This is a big improvement from the bad-old 8 MB days, which is Okay for contacts but worthless for anything else.
3) Rechargeable lithium polymer. Top notch. No skimping, no muss, no fuss.
4) Great design. Clean, simple, portable, shirt-pocketable. No keyboard, but I've never been a thumbpad fan.
5) MS Office functions included -- Word, Outlook, Powerpoint. Why you would use them, however, is a bit bizarre to me. Who wants to spend the time coding in a Powerpoint presentation with a stylus? Yet, if this is important to you, it's here. And having your email with you can be a plus...

As for what you won't get: There is no phone, no camera, no thumbpad, no Bluetooth, no WiFi. This is close to a pure PDA, though it can display pictures and double as a poor-man's MP3 player. That's what I was looking for.

Here's a basic product guide:
New Palm Zire -- Bargain basement model with 7.2 MB of Ram, upgraded from hobbled 2 MB original model. About 100 smackers. Often offered free as bundle deals with new computers. Good starter model for the price. Includes rechargeable battery. Memory can not be upgraded. Horribly skimpy black-on-grey screen.
Tungsten T2, etc.: Deluxe models that feature, in some cases, larger screens/Bluetooth wireless connectivity/thumbpads with dropdown graffiti screens. All unnecessary features in my book, especially given their much higher prices.
Clie models (SJ30, etc.) recently have owned the mid-range of the Palm product line, providing color screens, style and multimedia features for less than Palm. But no longer. The Clie models simply can not compete with this new Palm -- they feel and look clunky in comparison and generally feature smaller, dimmer screens. And the upper-echelon Clie models get very expensive.
Sony models also have a reputation for less-stellar customer service. (I've had excellent service from Palm.)
The Treo models from Handspring/Palm should be considered if you are a thumbpad fan, or if you want your PDA to also be your phone. But let's face it, how many people can afford spending four hundred smackers on a PDA?
BTW, when comparing, I've found you can generally ignore the speed of the processor. For most Palm functions, the reaction time is near instantaneous, or at most a second or two lag.
As for PocketPCs, some of them are now very attractively priced and are worth checking out. I've yet to use one extensively, so I'll stick to what I know -- Palms are simple, easy to use and almost guaranteed to improve your productivity. It's like having a backup for your brain. And who doesn't need that?
Enjoy!

I applaud Palm's decision to give us a low cost way into the Tungsten family. It's missing the universal connector but all of the Tungsten power is there, along with a really nice display.

I would highly recommend getting an SD card to make full use of this device. In fact the MP3 player requires it. Spend the extra $70. You can fit a fair amount of music, a ton of ebooks, and a bunch of apps on a 256MB card.

If you are concerned with a lack of Bluetooth or WiFi, keep in mind that Bluetooth SD adapters are on the market and 802.11B cards are coming soon.

(note: I've had mine for about a month now.)

Everyone is reading the below review (incl. my friends) and thinks this is in a plastic shell- so they are not buying it because of that. However, it is actually thin, buffed steel (hence the amazingly durable plastic comment.) Look at the edges, where the speakers open up, and where it folds over. Even take a knife and cut into it!

What I like:
-Traveling (and charging) with the standard miniusb cable.
-Great as an mp3 player (use aeroplayer)
-I downloaded updated high-res, color versions of my old software and it's wonderfully easy on my eyes.
-The photo album is great, I put 500+ pictures on their to show off :)
-Came with tons of useful software
-Fold-over flap is elegant and protects it well (esp. since I keep it in my back pocket, sit on it even- without problems.) That's the main reason I bought this instead of the other choices actually :p
-Has enough memory that I stored ALL of my apps, dictionaries, and databases on the internal memory.. even avantgo (which I adore.)

Negative reviews are not real popular, so I'm going to try to make this as helpful as I can.

My 5-star rating above is really a rating of the Tungsten E handheld itself. If I were to rate Palm product support, that would be a horse of another color.

I saw several reviews which complain about the lack of replacement parts for the Palm in general and the Tungsten E in specific since it's so new. One reviewer blasted the E because the charger was misplaced and they could not get a replacement from Palm; hence had an unusable Palm.

Concerned about this, as we all should be, I called Palm Sources today at 800-881-7256 and spoke with a fellow who seemed both honest and (I hope) helpful.

The bottom line is that Palm has done a very bad job on their web site and on their so-called Customer Care phone line in explaining to us what to do to replace these essential accessories. Let me tell you what I just learned regarding the Tungsten E's 4 supplied accessories.

1. Recharger - Radio Shack was recommended (frankly I would not know where else to go to buy such a part). I was told to buy a 12V 1 AMP charger and to look at any other specifications on the back of the charger. He was confident Radio Shack had it or could order it if not in stock. I asked "what if the user lost the charger and couldn't 'read the back'". He said he could find that out for me but didn't have the information available during my call. Since I didn't lose mine yet, I can tell you it says "INPUT:120VAC 60Hz 100mA OUTPUT:5.5VDC 500mA". Also, oddly enough, it supplies a Palm P/N 163-5877A-US. Go figure that one out since Palm doesn't seem to supply it as a part.

2. USB Hot-Synch Cable - Like the Recharger, he said this was industry standard (same one used on digital cameras) and sent me again to Radio Shack. Told me to buy a "USB to mini-USB non-conductive cable". Honestly, the Tungsten E has such a bizarre looking connection, and in the absence of a cradle, I didn't think anything "non-Palm" would fit. He assured me this would work. I asked why they have replacement parts for other Tungstens and his answer was "They use cradles and that's a Palm exclusive".

3. Leatherette hinged flip cover - Only available on new Tungsten Es. Not that too many people would want to replace this, he suggested online auctions, which makes sense since so few people would want to keep this and why not get a few dollars for it?

4. Palm Essentials CD - Better make a backup copy of this. 'Nuff said on this subject.

I placed myself at risk writing this information here without visiting Radio Shack first but if the Palm representative was totally misleading, then you'll "shoot the messenger" and heap "unhelpful" votes upon me. I feel it's worth the risk.

BTW, on a subject I did not bring up, he told me that Palm would be introducing a travel adapter for the Tungsten so you could charge it from your car's cigarette adapter. Between using your Palm in the car, in addition to your cell, you might want to check your auto insurance rates first.

Anyway, hope this is helpful to someone.

-- Sam

I have been a happy user of a Palm Vx for 3 years, but could not resist upgrading any longer. Let's see:
Screen: everybody says it's impressive, I won't argue. Let's just say that it can double as a weak flashlight.
Speed: plenty fast for most applications, the only problem is that quite often, when I tap on a vertical scroll bar, it scrolls twice.
Battery: I used to charge my Vx just once a week, but this baby (its screen, actually) needs to be fed about twice that often. I never play games, but would guess they're probably battery hogs. The charger is quite small, multi-voltage and multi-plug.
Memory: what can I say ? 32 MB is 4 times what I had, I don't see how I'm going to use it up.
Software: very good bundle, with Docs to Go and a good calculator.
MP3 player: I bought a 128 Mb Kingston SD card, and I find very handy to always have about 5 CDs on my Palm, at 64 Kbps encoding. Sound is plenty loud, but could be better musically, and you can hear a clic every 5 seconds or so when you'r listening at a very low volume. The included Real One player kind of sucks. Things improve if you shell out a few bucks (12.95) on Pocket Tunes. Just beware you will not be able to fully use its equalizer because of processor speed, only enough to get some bass and treble boost. If you set the player to turn off the screen after 30 seconds it won't drain much battery, I guess you can get about 7 hours of music per charge. Another caveat: the equalizer does not work on ogg files, and transferring them to the Palm is MUCH more slow than MP3s, somehow the Real Audio application that runs in your PC manages to transfer them fairly quickly, with the option to lower the Kbits to fit more songs.
Construction: looks very much like the Vx, same kind of cover (leather flip, which I like) just a tad heavier. The "down" button works fine but does not give you feedback. Goes easy on the eyes.
Cradle: some people complain about the lack of it, buy I don't really miss it. One less thing to lug around. Also, I like to keep my synch cable at the office, but the charger at home, in case my baby cries for food during the weekend. I seldom use the charger anyway, since the USB cable does a trickle charge.
Grafitti 2: I don't agree with those who bark at it.
Finally, the Tungsten E does not have the universal Palm connector, which means you won't be able to connect to some devices, unless you get a Bluetooth card, which I am not sure it works here.
Overall, I you are, like me, an old Vx user looking for some improvement, you won't be disappointed. Or so I hope.

After using a Handspring Visor for the Last 4-5 years I couldn't believe how much less my vision was straining to read the screen! The color display is brilliant compared to the old monchrome versions...well worth the $$$$ price tag.I originally paid $$$$$ for the B&W Visor when it 1st was introduced. I was worried about the Tungsten E's compatibility with Mac's OS X operating system but it has intergrated nicely!;The only criticism would be the Online manual which is hard to navigate through.

At last, Palm gets it right -- A high quality, low price PDA with all the features you need, and none you don't. This is quite simply, a beautiful piece of engineering, and whether you are new to PDAs or upgrading, you will not be disappointed...

For a bargain price of 200 smackers, Palm provides the following key features:
1) A top-notch, large, hi-res screen (check it out in a store first). Many previous Palms have skimped on the screen -- a big no-no in my book. I'd much rather have a slower processor than an unreadable (m505) or too-small screen (Zire, m100). Pointing and clicking on a Palm is hard enough without having a small, dark screen to boot.
2) Generous 32 MB Ram. Finally, Palm stops skimping on this important area! It's not enough to make you ditch your iPod, but you can play a few tunes, look at a few pictures, transfer some files. This is a big improvement from the bad-old 8 MB days, which is Okay for contacts but worthless for anything else.
3) Rechargeable lithium polymer. Top notch. No skimping, no muss, no fuss.
4) Great design. Clean, simple, portable, shirt-pocketable. No keyboard, but I've never been a thumbpad fan.
5) MS Office functions included -- Word, Outlook, Powerpoint. Why you would use them, however, is a bit bizarre to me. Who wants to spend the time coding in a Powerpoint presentation with a stylus? Yet, if this is important to you, it's here. And having your email with you can be a plus...

As for what you won't get: There is no phone, no camera, no thumbpad, no Bluetooth, no WiFi. This is close to a pure PDA, though it can display pictures and double as a poor-man's MP3 player. That's what I was looking for.

Here's a basic product guide:
New Palm Zire -- Bargain basement model with 7.2 MB of Ram, upgraded from hobbled 2 MB original model. About 100 smackers. Often offered free as bundle deals with new computers. Good starter model for the price. Includes rechargeable battery. Memory can not be upgraded. Horribly skimpy black-on-grey screen.
Tungsten T2, etc.: Deluxe models that feature, in some cases, larger screens/Bluetooth wireless connectivity/thumbpads with dropdown graffiti screens. All unnecessary features in my book, especially given their much higher prices.
Clie models (SJ30, etc.) recently have owned the mid-range of the Palm product line, providing color screens, style and multimedia features for less than Palm. But no longer. The Clie models simply can not compete with this new Palm -- they feel and look clunky in comparison and generally feature smaller, dimmer screens. And the upper-echelon Clie models get very expensive.
Sony models also have a reputation for less-stellar customer service. (I've had excellent service from Palm.)
The Treo models from Handspring/Palm should be considered if you are a thumbpad fan, or if you want your PDA to also be your phone. But let's face it, how many people can afford spending four hundred smackers on a PDA?
BTW, when comparing, I've found you can generally ignore the speed of the processor. For most Palm functions, the reaction time is near instantaneous, or at most a second or two lag.
As for PocketPCs, some of them are now very attractively priced and are worth checking out. I've yet to use one extensively, so I'll stick to what I know -- Palms are simple, easy to use and almost guaranteed to improve your productivity. It's like having a backup for your brain. And who doesn't need that?
Enjoy!