Palm Tungsten T5 PalmOne PDA (1035NA)

One year ago I purchased 2 Palm Tungston T5s because my husband and I had run our present Palms into the ground after many good years. It was time to update. It took two months for the on/off button on mine to break. Tech support said I could send it in to be fixed (almost $100) or use the bottom buttons to turn it on and let it time out to turn it off. I am still using the bottom buttons. My husband was in the process of getting a new lap top so did not install his Palm for several months. His on/off button broke in two weeks! The screen broke in another month. No warrenty left. Ordered new Palm but because other Palm was installed on new computer something is not allowing new Palm to take over. Still working on a solution. A smart phone is not the answer but Palm will have to come up with more reliable products or we will have to start over with some new system. After 12 years that is a shame.

I have had several Palms for several years and think the T-5 is/was the best of the bunch. I have several hundred dollars worth of Bible software for the Palm so I wanted to keep that format as long as I could. 7 + years and the first T-5 quit. New battery did not help. (Yes, the battery can be changed if you know how to solder) Purchased a used Dell Axim and had my software converted to Win Mobil. I found the Dell almost unusable. Not too much positive to say about the Dell.I was thrilled when I saw these listed at Amazon when I started looking for a Palm of any kind. Half the price I paid for the first T-5 and I hope I get 7 years out of this one. I love the Palm platform and thought I lost it forever. I can think of nothing negative about the T-5 except that Palm no longer is in business and I think they had the best setup of all of them. Shipping was fast and everything went smooth with the transaction.Palm T-5 and Amazon are the greatest.

I'm not the kind of person to buy PDAs every time there's an upgrade. I upgraded from the m130 and I think this is a good upgrade from what I had before.There are a lot of reviews here from folks that have the T3. If you have the T3, you may want to stick with it. I personally have not handled it so I can't write about it.However, most of what is written is probably a bit biased from that point of view. If you are like me and looking for a boost from the old and busted, this provides the next-generation boost that you are looking for.There are some frills that I don't use, like the headphone jack, but i'm sure I'll use it from time-to-time. The internal speaker is a bit cheesy in my opinion.The T5 looks very sleek and is very thin, roughly the size of 3 quarters stacked up. The large display and the ability to use the graffiti area as an extention of the screen is great! I find myself using it quite often, especially when I'm working with the datebook or reading an ebook.However, the metalic case you purchase with this (currently free with Mail in Rebate) is very bulky adds SIGNIFICANT weight to the PDA. I find it hard to carry in my pocket. The case can house two SD cards but cannot hold the WiFi card. I ended up make-shifting a holder with an index card and taping it inside the case. The case holds the PDA via the case cover slide. You use the case in lieu of the included cover. I highly recommend not using the cover unless you are carrying this around in a fairly safe place.Some old school graffiti users should know that the T5 uses graffiti 2, slightly different than the graffiti 1. It will take some time to get used to but the advantage is you can enter information much quicker than before.As of this review, pilot-link for linux has not added T5 support. I'm finding myself booting to Windows just to sync. If you are a hardcore linux user and don't have access to Windows, I'm afraid to say that you will not be able to sync your data. However, you can install programs via the internal USB drive. I've found that if you copy the program into the Applications directory, and then copy it onto the PalmCard, I can install any program.The internal flash drive is probably only usable as additional storage on the PDA. It's too much to carry around the cable AND the palm everywhere I go. I have a USB pen drive that does the same thing and does not require a battery. I've installed mp3s, application data, etc on the internal flash drive and is completely accessable to apps installed on the PalmCard. The PDA recignizes this internal drive as another SD card.The one disappointing thing with the OS itself is that it's not as careful with files as it used to be with it's predecesors. What I mean is that I'm finding myself having to clean out old files after an uninstall or a firmware upgrade that I wouldn't have to do before because there was a lot less space. It seems that Palm has taken advantage of the cushier space and have become sloppy with file management. I would like to see Palm be able to clean up after upgrades and not leave stale databases on my PalmCard.I hope this review helps you in your purchase.

I have owned a T5 for 7 or 8 months and am sorry to report that it has been a tremendous disappointment in every respect, except for battery life. A confirmed Palm user for many years, I have found data entry to be so difficult that I now actually prefer paper and pencil for both appointments and addresses! Where writing with a stylus on my Palm device used always to be easy, I have found it utterly frustrating on this device. Letter confusion, the inability of the machine to register capitals, numbers and punctuation marks properly has turned the whole process into a nightmare. Since like (I suspect) many business users I rely on my Palm mostly for appointments and addresses, this has made me want to throw the thing across the room on numerous occasions. It seems to me that Palm reached its apogee with the Palm Vx and it has been downhill ever since, at least for someone like myself who wants a practical, easy to use device that won't waste my time. I would advise anyone in my position to steer very clear of this product.

Compared to the T3, this "upgrade" lacks:* metal casing* voice recorder* silent alarm* slider* cradle (extra $39.95)In addition, the new T5 does not come with Wi-Fi (an overdue spec for the T series).The updated OS 5.4 hardly justifies the upgrade (T3 comes with OS 5.2), as is the case with the flash memory spec (a keyring flash unit has twice the capacity and doesn't require you to haul around the USB cable).Most everyone agrees that this unit is really a TE2, and not an upgrade for the T3.At $399, this is the most overrated and overpriced Palm PDS in the market.