Customer Reviews

PalmOne Bluetooth SDIO Card, US

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

 

 

This is a very good addition to my Palm m505. A few other folks in my office have the same setup now and we use the Palms for chat in the office using the BlueChat app. We also picked up a Bluetooth printer (HP 995) and so now we have a way to easily print out notes taken on the Palm -- very cool!

We also purchased a Bluetooth access point from Pico Communications...Using the Bluetooth Access Point, we can connect our Palms to internet, surf the web, check email (I use Message Agent), and send and receive Instant messages (Yahoo Messenger). This is very cool as I can chat with anyone as long as I'm in range of the acess point which, in our office, is about 100 feet (the one access point covers the whole office -- it's a pretty small office).

I have not tried using it with Bluetooth Phones but hope to as soon as I can get an Ericsson T68 from Cingular.

I've read that Bluetooth power consumption is supposed to be very low and that has been the case in my experience. My cradle is at home (I sync over Bluetooth at the office) and I've been able to use the Palm all day at work with intermittent periods of connection to the network, frequent chat and syncing once or twice. I notice the backlight reduces battery life so if you want the best results, try to keep it off.

Unfortunately, this device will not work with the palmOne Treo 600, despite the Product Specification sheet for the Treo 600's specific claim that its SDIO port could be used to support a bluetooth card... This is apparently because of an incompatibility between the Palm OS5 operating system used on the Treo600 and the palmOne bluetooth card.

Beyond that, the form factor is "problematic" at best, as the "antenna" on the bluetooth card sticks out quite a bit from the edge of the phone.

Road warriors beware. Note that the card sticks out of the palm unit when inserted into the SD slot. Therefore if you place it in your pants pocket awkwardly and accidentally knock it against something, either the card will dislodger or break. Don't buy this if you are prone to dropping the unit as well.

Also note that very few cases for the Palm M515 have a cut out for easy access to the SD slot.

Wonder how long before it breaks? This card sticks out quite a bit (the part above the notches) when inserted into my m505 so I have to be careful when carrying the Palm in a bag, briefcase, backpack, etc. or remember to remove the card first. Other than the physical annoyance the software is not the simplest to set up and use, but then I've that to be the case with all Bluetooth devices.

For the most part, however, I have been able to set it up to communicate with my SonyEricsson T68i and my computer with the Tecom Bluetooth dongle.

As a heavy Palm user -- for calendar, memos, to-do lists, and word processing -- I found the Palm Bluetooth SD Card to be the perfect accessory. With it, I can print up to 30 feet away to my HP 995 Bluetooth printer.

By also adding Docs To Go (from Dataviz) and BtPrint (from ISComplete.com), I can also print MS Word documents, as well as items from the major Palm applications (calendar, memo, address book, to-do lists and e-mail).

(For additional printer flexibility, I can also switch to IR mode which will allow me to output to any infrared capable printer -- such as my HP DeskJet 350, 990, 995 or Photosmart 1315 printers -- up to just 12" away.)

With the above capabilities, I can now sit in my favorite chair, write or modify documents on my Palm, and then "beam" them across the room to my printer -- without ever having to leave my seat or go upstairs to sync with my desktop computer! Being able to print from my Palm (via Bluetooth) allows me to work more independently (since I'm not tied as much to my PC) -- and it allows me to output a copy of my documents so that I can check my work more readily (since reading a sheet of paper, obviously, is much easier to review than my Palm's small screen).

Here are some of my favorite things to print:

- MS Word documents (or drafts) that I've written or modified on my Palm.

- Other documents which I've saved in my Palm that are useful as references in meetings.

- E-mails, which I find to be very handy, especially when I work from home.

- Address book entries to share with others who don't have a Palm.

- A copy of my calendar for today, so that I can refer to it (and write notes on it) without having to look inside my Palm.

- Meeting notes that I've just written (using my Targus fold-up keyboard), which I can then file immediately.

- A copy of my to-do list which allows me to keep working while my Palm is syncing.

Being able to print from my Palm allows me to use it -- as if it were a mini-PC! (I wouldn't use my regular computer, for example, without being able to print from it. Why should working on my Palm be any different?)

With my Palm Bluetooth SD Card, I can now utilize my Palm to its fullest. I love it!

I didn't realize how far this would protrude from my m515. I think I'd prefer a tungsten at this point. The manufacturer (Toshiba) is supposed to start selling one that is substantially shorter, so it protrudes only half as much.

The software that came with it is quite bugtastic. I found myself resetting my poor palm many times a day when using bluetooth networking. This improved greatly when I downloaded palm's updated drivers and software. Now it's only as buggy as the applications I run (unfortunately that's still awfully buggy!).

When I first was introduced to bluetooth I found myself looking for bluetooth devices. The first one that came to mind was the Palm handheld. I decided to fork out the [money] and buy one of these cards for my Palm m505, and I don't regret it. The card is extremely small, and fits in my Palm carrying case.

The card works well with MacOS X and my D-Link Bluetooth USB Adaptor. I can sync my m505 wireless using this bluetooth card, and better yet, I can be 30 feet away from my computer, I can sit on the couch and sync my m505.

The card should also work with bluetooth compliant phones, this is another nice touch.

A simple and easy to use Palm accesory. Useful for people having other Bluetooth devices like GSM cell phone and laptop computers. I use it to sync, dial, SMS between my Palm M130 and Nokia 8910. Very small size (slightly bigger than a traditional expandable memory card), carries easily with the palm. Comes bundled with a CD that is easy to install. Five Stars.

I recently bought an Ericsson t39m and have combined it with the Palm m515. The combination works seemlessly. I can surf the web, send e-mail and do SMS with the phone hooked to my belt. This is an excellent addition for those who want truly mobile communication.

I use this card w/ my m505 to interact with my Sony Ericsson T68i. Works real well to provide GPRS data access to the Palm, also for SMS and phone dialing. I have also printed to a Bluetooth-enabled HP printer which was pretty cool. I plan to Bluetooth-ify my laptop and printer at home and have Bluetooth talking between Palm / Phone / Laptop / Computer - cool!