New PalmOne units "noisy"?

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Fartomaticatron

New member
OK, this is kind of a general post, but there is no "general Palm" section here, so I just posted in the most applicable forum I thought there was.

Anyway, I've been checking out a few PalmOne units at various electronic stores and notice that the more higher-end models (starting at the Zire 7x) emit a continual high-pitched electronic tone (call it a "squeal" if you will, I'm not sure how to describe it). It seems to get louder and more noticeable as you climb up the price scale: Zire 7x (quietest), to Tungsten E and T5, all the way to the LifeDrive (loudest). I don't think I noticed this on the Treo, but I'm not sure (not needing a phone unit, though). Note that all of the units I've tried are connected to a wired security device, but that doesn't explain why it only happens when the units are switched on nor does it the difference in volumes.

I currently have a Garmin iQue 3600 (got it as a gift) and am not really finding myself in need of a GPS, so I do have some interest in these PalmOne models (the Garmin emits absolutely no ambient noises whatsoever).

Has anyone else noticed this with any of these units?
 
I've had all of the units that you've stated and never noticed any noise. Zire 71, T, T3, both Treo's, T5 and LifeDrive.

But then my ears aren't what they used to be.
 
I can hear my wife's T2 buzzing from across the room. I can't stand it.

I read a post at Daily Palm where a guy is touting an over/under clocker that he claims can eliminate the buzz. I've never tried it but it might be worth a try if you get a PDA that has an annoying buzz.
 
There actually is a Palm Genearl section and I'll move this to that section so it gets more visibility.

I think your describing what has generally been called screen whine. This has existed, to a greater or lesser extent, since the Palm IIIc. There have been complaints about almost every Palm unit although the Tungsten line and some of the Zire's seem to be the worst. As Moose said, my ears aren't what they used to be but it seems that people with really good high frequency hearing can find this noise really annoying. FWIW, I've never heard this screen whine from any Clie model I've owned.
 
My hearing used to be pretty good. My experience:
PalmPilot (two) - slight whine from backlight*
Visor Deluxe - no whine from backlight*
Visor Prism - no whine**
Tapwave Zodiac2 (two) - no whine**
wife's Palm m500 - no whine from backlight*
wife's Tungsten E - no whine**

* backlight on only as required
** backlight on all the time when in use

I too have heard that over/underclocking will eliminate any whine you hear.
 
Thanks for the detailed info. I didn't think to switch off the backlight to check what exactly it was. I'll try that the next time I go into a store. Too bad, because these are some otherwise nice units.
 
Now I'm wondering if this is a hit-and-miss thing. I went back to the Palm store today and saw that there were two Tungsten E2 units. The first one I tried was easily the noisiest one in the store. The second E2 I tried was dead silent. Very strange...
 
I am 17 so have good high-range hearing: I can hear TV sets making this noise often. I own a T5 and it makes a really nasty squeal, but it is quite quiet so as long as you don't hold it too close to your ears it is not too annoying. I have also used a T3 that squealed but it was much worse than my T5.
 
I've owned my T5 and have noticed no squeal. My ears can hear much better than some people I know, it's my eyes that are having trouble.

My T5- in my situation is pretty quiet, even when I hold it up to my hear, I don't hear anything.
 
It must be random then. Of the two E2s I tried, only one of them was noisy - the other one was dead silent.

BTW, I don't really like the newest version of Palm OS (eg.: on the TE2 and TT5), those "home favorites" are annoying the UI seems buggy.
 
I've had a T2 and two T3's start out quiet then develop a buzzing sound. The T2 is still used by the kids to play games and it has gotten louder over the years. Other than that, it's been an incredibly reliable PDA. I've found the T3 to be more fragile.

Like Jim said, my Clie's have been dead quiet.
 
Yes, I've seen it on at least 20 store models at 10 different stores. I'm desparately wanting to upgrade my Palm, but I might have to go get a PocketPC instead.
 
I think data migration would be easy if you were synching (I've done this before going the OTHER direction). The big question I'd have would be how it would do some of the applications (the biggee for me being BalanceLog) that I can't get on PocketPC. Like if there's a PocketPC equivalent, you know.
 
I guess there are probably applications for that out there.


Yes, that too. There are definately a number of applications that I would need to find a viable replacement for if I were to switch to PPC.
 
So I tried a T|T5 at Staples today...not a peep out of the screen! The T5 I tried at an earlier date in a different store was very noisy. So...is this some inconsistency in the manufacturing or something that comes with age/usage?
 
I've owned a Pilot 1000, PalmPilot Pro, Palm V, m505, T3, and Treo 650. None have made any kind of background noise while on, screen lit or unlit.

(I hope background noise is not a new "feature" Palm is trying to incorporate into its units! ;) )

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