PalmOne Tungsten T3 Handheld

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Product Details

Product Manual [5.61mb PDF]

• Item Weight: 3 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B0000DBJJT
• Item model number: T3
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (102 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #6,476 in Electronics (See Bestsellers in Electronics)

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  Electronics > Computers & Accessories > PDAs, Handhelds & Accessories > PDAs & Handhelds

• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes
• Date first available at Amazon.com: September 29, 2003

Product Description

Amazon.com Review

Kicking the technology advances up another notch, the Palm Tungsten T3 delivers a professional, sleek alternative to bulkier Pocket PCs that's chock-full of productivity enhancing and information sharing applications. Improvements over the T2 include a full-screen mode when the bottom casing is slid open, a bevy of enhanced display options, compatibility with Java applets, larger internal memory, and an easier to access status bar.

First, just the technical facts:

• Palm OS 5.2.1
• 32-bit, 400 MHz Intel XScale processor
• 64 MB internal RAM, with 52 MB usable for applications and file storage (an improvement over the T2's 29 MB usable RAM)
• Bluetooth wireless connectivity
• Secure Digital memory card expansion slot
• 4.3 (closed) x 3.0 x 0.66 inches, 5.5 ounces

The T3's Stretch Display

Overall, the Tungsten T3 isn't that much smaller than the Zire 71, but it does feel nicely compact in the hand and its larger navigation button is easier to manipulate with just your thumb. However, the "wow factor" comes into full force when you slide down the bottom of the T3's case to reveal the full screen mode. And it gets even better. The standard "silkscreened" Graffiti input area (so-called because its icons and borders are printed onto the screen's glass) is now replaced by a digital version, which can be hidden to reveal an even larger screen. We found this useful when writing long notes in Memos and viewing an expanded daily calendar view. You don't actually need the Graffiti writing area to input data into notes or Calendar items. With the Full-Screen Writing preference turned on, you can write Graffiti characters anywhere on the screen (you'll even see an outline traced on the screen as you write). But the crowning display enhancement is the ability to rotate the screen to landscape view, which was especially handy when viewing downloaded movie trailers (using the included Kinoma video player). If you're left-handed, you can change the orientation in landscape view so that the status bar and Graffiti input area are more accessible to your own orientation.

The T3 includes the familiar suite of Palm applications (Calendar, Contacts, Memos, and Tasks) as well as a number of third-party software title (ranging from Acrobat Reader to RealOne Player for listening to digital audio). Calendar has been given an Outlook-friendly makeover, adding an Agenda view that consolidates all of today's appointments, tasks, and new e-mails. With full-screen mode on, Calendar's month view now displays smaller calendars for the previous and next months.

Bluetooth wireless functionality is built in, and the Tungsten T3 still includes the BlueBoard and BlueChat for sharing information with other Tungsten users. For Web communication, Palm includes VersaMail and WebBrowser Pro, both of which can be used along with a Bluetooth phone. Additionally, VersaMail can access a corporate e-mail account, including Microsoft Exchange and Lotus Domino servers.

Java has also now entered the Palm OS arena, expanding the application development opportunities. The T3 comes with a few sample applets (including a periodic table that would be handy at our local pub's trivia night), but we'll have to wait for more development before Java becomes a full Palm OS tool.

Our only complaint, design-wise, is the placement of the Voice Memo button, which as been placed toward the top of the left side of the case, below the on/off button on the top panel. When turning on the device, our left hand's thumb continually triggered the Voice Memo app when attempting to turn on the T3. Note that you can also turn the T3 on by pressing one of the application buttons surrounding the Navigator, or by sliding the bottom case open. Overall, the Tungsten T3 is a Palm powerhouse, blending its traditional information management strength with new multimedia and connectivity functionality (both wired and wireless). It's about as perfect a personal productivity agent for professional settings as it gets. --Agen G.N. Schmitz

Pros:

• Crisp, bright color screen
• Fast processor, ample internal memory, and expansion slot to boot
• Digital Graffiti input area can be hidden for full screen display
• Screen can be rotated to landscape view
• Access to corporate e-mail and Bluetooth wireless connectivity

Con:

• Voice Memo button gets in the way of turning on and off

Product Description

The Tungsten T3 handheld comes packed with power and boasts Palm's new breakthrough Stretch Display.Slide open to reveal the 320x480 display with 50% more viewing area (than other Palm handhelds) and twice the resolution of Pocket PC 2003 handhelds. Keep it compact for easy, one-handed access to information. It instantly rotates from portrait to landscape, and a new status bar provides one-tap access to battery and memory levels, Bluetooth status and more from a single location.With an ultra-fast 400MHz Intel XScale processor and 64MB of internal memory, it handles Word, Excel and PowerPoint-compatible files, wireless applications and multimedia tasks with lightning speed and room to spare. Its new and improved organization stores more of your important information and provides better synchronization with Outlook. The ultra-capable Tungsten T3 handheld also features MP3 and video playback software, built-in Bluetooth, voice-recording, the latest Palm OS and more.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

125 of 129 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Best Palm handheld to date!!!, March 20, 2004

By	"lionloks" (los angeles, ca. United States) - See all my reviews

I purchased my Palm Tungsten T3 last week after doing much research on line, reading many, many reviews and listening to both the pros and cons about this work of art, I decided it was time to make a purchase. The first one came the day after I ordered it by Fedex (I was shocked), as I was waiting with much anticipation for its delivery. This is my fourth Palm (3xe, M505, Tungsten T) so I am quite familiar with the setup process. However, after my first hotsync I couldnot get any applications to open. I was receiving a launch error sign. I sent it back after several hard resets proved unsuccessful. My second T3 arrived last week and I have had absolutely no problems. I very much enjoy using this machine and have become quite attached to it. I have outfitted it with several cases and am just learning everything it will do. Of course the brilliant display screen and stretch ability are as advertised. I really don't mind the short battery life as a trade off, I just purchased a "power to go" battery pack which helps tremendously with that issue. I am however waiting before I purchase any third party applications, as I want to learn the native apps. first. There have been some significant changes added to the Address Book, now known as "Contacts" and the Date Book know called "Calendar". I can landscape and view the entire year or a single month, I love it! The software bundle that comes with it is more than impressive (good work Palm Source!), Docs to Go (for creating word and excel documents), Kinoma (video viewing), Realone Player for listening to Mp3 audio in fantastic stereo with a good pair of earbuds, Palmreader (like putting a book in your pocket) and Photos. These are my favorite apps. So for me, the trade offs are more than worth it. I don't really need WiFi, and Bluetooth I hardly ever use, but its good to have if you need it. I would say if you are considering this PDA, think about what your willing to trade off and then make your decision. Pam hasn't got it perfect yet, but they are getting closer with the T3. Good work PalmOne, keep listening to your customers. And lastly, Customer Service outsourcing to the Phillippines is not working. You are losing customers. Get back your customer service that was originally your strongest selling point. Bring the jobs back to the U.S.A.
Peace!!!

161 of 170 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars HUGE screen, bluetooth, but no built-in Wi-Fi, October 5, 2003

By	jemaerca (River Forest, IL, United States) - See all my reviews

one of palm's newest PDAs is the tungsten T3. palm has given the T3 a huge, hi-res screen and the ability to switch from portrait to landscape orientation.

pros:
- bright, transflective TFT 320x480 display is stunning and easy to read even in daylight.
- uses the same sliding design as previous palm PDAs but in this model, instead of exposing a graffiti area, the case opens up to show more screen.
- and to take advantage of that bigger screen, you can tap one button and the display switches from traditional portrait orientation to landscape. very cool.
- built-in bluetooth.
- 400MHz processor.
- 64MB of RAM, 52MB of which is available to the user
- MP3 and multimedia support.
- pocketable at 4.3 (closed) x 3.0 x 0.66" weighing in at 5.5oz.
- strong software bundle - now includes the new Contacts and Calendar applications (with Contacts, you can finally store multiple addresses for each contact)
- uses the same cradle as the T2.
- expansion slot supports SD, SDIO, MMC.

cons:
- no built-in Wi-Fi (although you can use the expansion slot for an add-in).
- battery not replaceable.

this is a solid PDA. i'd trade the bluetooth functionality with Wi-Fi though. as mentioned above, you can use the expansion slot to install a Wi-Fi add-in so there's a work-around for this limitation. if you MUST have built-in Wi-Fi, consider the tungsten C. going the other way, if you can live with a more traditional sized screen and bluetooth is not essential, consider the tungsten E and save some money.

i hope this helps you in your buying decision. peace.

77 of 79 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simply the Cadillac of handheld devices -- for now anyway..., February 10, 2004

By	Jeff Edwards "RadioJeff" (Twin Falls, Idaho) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

Gee I thought the T2 was cool, the T3 takes what made the original Tungsten and the follow-up T2 great and simply improved upon all of that in a really HUGE way. It isn't without some flaws, however and I'll address those here as well. First off the PROS:

The Screen! As I write this you simply cannot buy a better handheld device (Pocket PC or otherwise) that gives you a better screen. PERIOD. You just won't believe how the screen looks in the extended position, especially when looking at downloaded pictures. Outstanding. You can view them upright or simply at the touch of the stylus you can turn the screen sideways and voila! the picture rotates into a panoramic view. Bravo to Palm for instituting this program!

The Voice Memo feature is unbelievably useful. I tend to do a LOT of thinking and planning while driving around and my biggest problem is that when something truly great suddenly pops into my head, I just cannot stop and write it down while in traffic -- however with the convenience of the voice memo on my T3 I can record my thoughts on-the-go with one-handed operation. Easier than answering my cell phone, too. I was incredibly surprised to see just how ground breaking this feature was for me personally. Sure, the quality isn't all that fantastic, but for the purpose it serves, it does GREAT.

Memory: A whopping 64mb! 'Course you can only use around 59 of that, but still, finally a Palm device that can compete with a Pocket PC for memory storage! I remember thinking I'll NEVER need more than 8mb on my handheld -- well I currently have well over 32 used at the moment and I have plenty more I am planning to install.

Expansion: I guess there are two kinds of people who fall into this category, you either like and appreciate what expansion can do or you hate it. Personally I really LOVE this particular ability of most the Palm's I have owned. I have loaded the RealOne player onto my card and use it to play mp3 files, which can be seamlessly copied from my cd collection within minutes. The connection, thanks to the lightning fast processor makes access to my expansion card almost immediate.

Some have noticed that the T3 is slightly taller than the T2 and at first I thought that might be a problem, but the advantages of what the T3 can do far outweigh ANY kinds of problems the extra size may cause. At first I was NOT happy with the new navigational button at the bottom center of all the Tungsten models -- at FIRST. I was SO familiar with my older Palm models that I was very skeptical that it was an actual improvement, and more a cosmetic upgrade to make the device more streamlined. Well, yes it IS a nice looking addition, but after some initial getting used to, I can whole-heartedly endorse this improvement 100%.

The free software that came with my T3 was absolutely invaluable. I have used the Adobe Reader almost instantly when I finished downloading it to my desktop. Documents to Go is also a MUST in today's business world. I never would have thought that I would or even COULD use any of these, and yet as the world has technologically progressed right on by me, I have had to adapt -- or be left behind. The T3 has allowed me to keep right up with everyone else in this techno-savvy world.

The Bluetooth connectivity may be a major plus down the road, but my particular area hasn't been blessed with a lot of Bluetooth compatibility -- for the moment. However down the road I can definitely see myself making my next mobile phone purchase based upon the carrier's Bluetooth ability. I know many who are die-hard Wi-Fi users (and you can buy a Tungsten that will work specifically for that, too) and still others who will never stray from their trusty down-right ancient-looking Blackberry's out there, but for me, I'll be perfectly satisfied with what mine already has. This IS one thing you ought to look into before you make a purchase just to be sure.

Now for the CON'S: it has been noted that the battery life isn't exactly stellar -- and this pretty much sums it up in nutshell. Even my (much) older m130 had at least twice the battery life. Sure, this screen is quite a bit bigger and subsequently sucks more life from your batteries than usual, and this is something you need to consider when weighing in on battery strength, but even so, it seemed to disappear much quicker than I expected. One way to help minimize this I have found, is to lower the backlight to the lowest setting. You'd be surprised how much extra life you can squeeze just by doing this one thing, and it doesn't harm the clarity of the screen by doing so by much, if at all.

Other than this one single problem, I can see my T3 being (at the moment anyway) the absolute best Palm OS item on the market today -- and since I have become so familiar with Palm vs. the Pocket PC, and after sitting down with a PC for a few hours attempting to figure it out, I can state emphatically that the Palm platform is MUCH simpler and user friendly -- at least it was for ME. There are just as many out there who believe the opposite, which is just fine. A large part of purchasing this kind of item is personal preference, and I hope that I have been able to say my peace in enough detail to help others in making their PDA decision. Good luck and remember: the MOST important thing to consider when buying one is the MORE you know, the BETTER. Examine them side-by-side and if you cannot get any practical hands-on use out of one, maybe you ought to look elsewhere to buy your next product.