Expected working life of a touchscreen?

B

BananaxD

New member
Hi,

Palm TX

I have the left down part of the screen defective. It reacts badly to the handwriting grafiti. Sometimes even it freezes the TX.
The middle ABC and the right 123 numerical still work good.
Of course the left down part is the one I use the most.
I use extensively my Palm with Grafiti, so it looks like the touchscreen has a limited life... My Palm TX was bought when it appeared on the market. So I guess 18 months or so.
I read somewhere that those touch screens have an expected life of 12 months, if used daily.
Anyone experiencing similar problems?

best

Daniel
 
I think most people experience a very limited life of the TX digitizer. It is just a sad fact of life that Palm used such an inadequate design. For this very reason, I will not buy another Palm PDA. I am hoping that Apple will come out with one!
 
Well, at the FNAC shop, where they sell almost all the PDA's/phones they told me that the Palm touchscreens are amongst the best. So it may be that it is just normal that a touchscreen has an expected life of 12 months....??
Any idea

Best

Daniel
 
I've got a T3 that I pulled out of the closet and put on the charger that is now 3.5 years old. It was used for a solid two years and there are no issues with it's digitizer.

But I think that there are too many variables to your question - it depends upon how you personally use it. I found that many people when tapping are too "hard" on the device. A soft touch will work. Exposure is another factor - it depends upon if the device is used extensively outdoors as well where it will get dirt, rain and temperature extremes.

So bottom line is your mileage will vary. Did you get a "lemon" out of the box -that is always possible. The life expectancy of most Palm's should be beyond 2 years and I know many people that have had 5 years of service.

The TX wasn't a widely purchased device relative to the T3 - primarily because of the move to Treo's - and it's only been out about 1.5 years and there hasn't been a ton of complaints but there have been enough to suspect that what Gregte stated might be true - that it was a poor design although it was pretty much a mirror of the T5 except with Wifi.

In my 10 years of using Palm branded devices - I've never had to return one for digitizer issues and only returned a Handspring Visor for an internal hardware issue. I can not complain about the Palm products.
 
I agree on the Palm products. The TX is just a GREAT device. But I have this trouble. I agree I tap hard, and I tap a lot. But before buying a third TX I just inquire over what's going on.
Daniel
 
Thanks Camsky,
I have downloaded PowerDigi and installed it. It seems to be very nice But it does not solve the problem. The problem must be hardware. The lower left part of the touchscreen keeps erratic reponse to the grafiti.

Best

Daniel
 
Are you using a screen protector? - if so pull it off and try it without for awhile. I've seen dust particles get wedged into the corners with screen protection and cause the symptoms you describe.....
 
I have removed the screen protector and carefully cleaned the sides. But the problem remains. It is truly a hardware defect. I acknowledge that I use the grafiti a lot, and that I like it!
This is my second TX. On the first one, the memory card was not functionning. Palm exchanged it with the one I have now.
But now I am out of guarantee. I'll have a look if they have an exchange policy for a reasonable price...
Daniel
 
I use grafitti a lot too and my T5 has similar problems - all my previous models had similar issues and I think it was overuse. I have semi addressed the problem by installing Message ease which uses the grafitti area for tap and drag rather than the more sensitive letter formations. Sometimes when it gets really flakey, I put rotate the screen so that the tapping is in a different place and that solves things in the shorter term. I think it is generally a hardware problem in which they havent accounted for heavy grafitti users. I also now try and use the IR keyboard more. This T5 is over 2 years old now though.
 
Thanks Action 49, that's it. The fact the the touchscreen reacts erratically to the areas where you grafiti the most is a proof that it is just a question of overuse. I have also started to use the other areas and discover those possibilities.
Finally we shall come to the initial premisse: a touchscreen has a limited life! And not that long...I guess that Palm nows the answer: 10 ktaps, 10Mtaps. Who knows?
Now we can maybe open new threads:
- has Palm the best touchscreens? I have heard that too and I believe it!
- Is there a life without grafiti? Not for me.
- Shall I buy a third TX?

Best

Daniel
 
I thought that I would be helpless without grafitti but I am enjoying Message ease now that I have got used to it. I think I am just as quick with it as I was with grafitti (and I was perhaps too quick with that) and certainly much quicker than with the built in keyboard.

My job has now changed and I will not have to do as much "out in the field" writing as previously so hoping that my T5 will last me a bit longer.
 
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