T3 and the Zodiac

E

Eusebius

New member
I am in the market to upgrade my Sony Clie to something with more internal RAM, OS5 and a 320x480 screen.

I use my Clie for work, and will continue to do so, but at home I play games. I have 35 of them. My new PDA will be my at home "Game-Man".

I've been following this forum for over a month, since the T3 seems to have everything I need. Since I already have the Clie, I am not in a rush and have been waiting for a good sale.

BUT
Recently reinbeau and TweetyT3 mentioned the Zodiac, which I didn't know existed. After researching I found these differences.

The T3 is discounted, the Zodiac is not and is single source.
I would be buying a Power-To-Go at the same time, based on what I have read here. That adds $41 to the discounted T3 price, making it very close to the Zodiac price.

Zodiac has 128 MB vs 64 MB
Zodiac has 200 MHz vs 400 MHz
(There are claims that it runs as fast as the 300-400 MHz competition, but conserves battery life)
This might have something to do with the graphic accelerator with 8MB onboard VRAM.

Has 2 batteries for 6+ hours, no need for Power-To-Go
Analog control, Yamaha sound chip, plays console type games too
Both SD and SDIO slots
Casing is metal and comes with a deluxe storage case

Zodiac does not come with a cradle, that is availabe for $20.

I am now leaning towards the Zodiac instead on the T3, but if there was ever a place to have someone change my mind, this would be it.

Thanks in advance,
Herb
 
I sincerely wish that there was some retail store that featured the Zodiac. Had I been given the opportunity to try one, I might have chosen that over the T3. I was uncomfortable buying something site unseen.

However, knowing what I have experienced myself with the T3 and read here in the forum, I think that I might be persuaded to go the other way.

The larger Zodiac with the 2 card ports sounds like a great unit to me. The one thing that disturbes me is dealing totally on mail order. It was bad enough when I had to mail my T3 back to palm and wait for it to come back.

Good luck with your choice.
 
TweetyT3,

Thank you very much for the response.
Both units, 32MB and 128MB have the dual SD slots.
They only differ in memory size and case color. (slate gray and charcoal gray.)

I don't mind buying on the internet, in fact I make more purchases
this way lately, than in retail stores. The Zodiac, like the T3 can have a problem,
but Tapwave is turning them around quickly with new replacement units.
I found this out on the forum below.

I have a feeling that when they hit CompUSA, they will most likely be the same price,
$300 and $400. But people will be able to do touchy, feely and,
of course, store returns if need be.
Besides CompUSA, there is some talk of Amazon in the future too.
Once again, I would think that the Amazon and Tapwave prices would be the same.

There is a very active message board on the Zodiac here:
http://www.emuboards.com/invision/index.php?c=6
One owner of both the T3 and a Zodiac is claiming he finds no difference in speed.
Kind of remarkable since it is 400MHz vs 200MHz.

The PDA street Zodiac forum here, does not have much activity.

Did your workmate, reinbeau, buy the Zodiac? If so, what was the reaction in
comparison to your T3?

Herb
 
My workmate Reinbeau has a Garmin IQue which she absolutely adores. She really uses the GPS a lot.

When I was looking to upgrade from my Sony Clie T65, I was contemplating between the T3 and Zodiac. I stuck with Palm because I liked the Palm products and I did not want to buy something that I could not check out first since it was so expensive. Now having dealt with Palm I am not so impressed with their service or or company philosophy.

It will be nice to be able to touch and play with the Zodiac when it hits the stores.

I don't think that I will be making any major PDA purchase in the near future. I hope to use the T3 as long as I can. I really do like it, I just hope that it can survive me.

Tweety
 
If you are going to use the Zodiac for games and such, I recommend that you wait a bit. The hardware in the Zodiac, specially that Radeon graphics chip with 8 MB Video RAM, is going to get outdated very soon. At least, this is from what I have heard.

Abid
 
I think I would go with the T4 when it comes out becuase i think it is going to have better specs then the the Zodic 2 or you could wait for the Zodic 3 ?? I don't know but I would what and get a T4.

TL
 
abid and tungstenlover, thank you for your comments.

The problem is that I want to purchase something in this time frame.
The products you suggest don't exist yet and those that always wait for what is next to come out, have nothing.

I ordered but have not received yet, the Zodiac 2. It is still a new product that hasn't quite made it to retail. Due next month at CompUSA. At least the model I ordered on the internet has reflashable RAM to update it. The retail models will have ROM.

I really enjoy playing those sometimes simplistic Palm OS games.
480x320 screen with stereo sound should enhance that. As I mentioned, I have 35 of them. But currently I'm missing out on the OS5 only versions. Yes the Zodiac can play some "console" type games and more will be coming out. That is a plus but they are not my main reason for getting the Zodiac. It could become sort of obsolete for gaming with all the portable consoles due out. But it is a full featured PDA too.

I will still, most likely buy a Sony PSP when they are released in 2005. It will be gaming only. Looks sharp with the 16:9 screen. Picture of it here:
http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/2004/news/05/11/psp/psp_screen001.jpg

The T3 is the best Palm I've seen. A great unit. After recently discovering the Zodiac, I'm figuring it will better suit my personal needs. Very tough choice though.

Herb
 
I received my Zodiac 2 just before the holiday weekend.
TweetyT3, the quality is outstanding with its black metal casing.
But I'm sure this is much larger and heavier than your T3, so your unit gets the plus there.

The buying experience from Tapware (only source) was terrible.
They were the first of 170 internet orders to have difficultly with my credit card.
(There was nothing wrong with it but they put me on hold and did not tell me)
They operate 48 hours behind the rest of the World, making problem resolution a confusing ordeal.

People hardly got to know me and now I'm out of here. I like this forum and will miss PalmTealLover.
Heading for the Zodiac forum, way above, to talk to the kiddies. Maybe I can find some warped adults like myself.

Nice meeting you all.
Addicted to Palm OS Games,
Herb
 
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