Tungsten T3 repair story

W

werdnasoccer

New member
Hi all,
Back in town after two years?
Have been using my TT3 day in and day out for the last two years. I?m a "road warrior" and all my schedules are there on ?Palm for ACT!? synced from my ACT! on the PC.

Recently my TT3 started to ?stutter? on syncing ? it went on and off and finally syncing died.
I doubled check it wasn?t a software issue. Even bought a new sync cable (A cradle isn?t available now ? HELP! I need a spare!) and tried syncing with it. It charged, but syncing ? nada! zilch. Neither on my PC nor on my laptop. I had two options : buying a new PDA ? they run cheap these days, or
sending it to repair for about the same price. ($170 for repair , $200 for a new Tungsten X.)

I chose repair (knowing that it would end up in a new/refurb TT3) because of the time involved in installing all the apps and configuring my new PDA the way I want it. As per PalmTealLover?s (one of my Palm gurus) recommendation eons ago, I had installed CardBackup which backups my entire TT3 on a card after every sync and every night. Moreover, as PTL does, I backup the card on my PC?s HD. Therefore, I had no problem getting back from PalmOne a stripped, cold turkey machine.
The funny thing, I even found that the slider screws were missing!

I sent my dear TT3 to PalmOne and was MISERABLE for an entire week. Running my schedule was
like hell. The laptop is no substitute! It?s heavy, and you can?t use it in a car. I messed up two contacts because I didn?t update the info on time. My new TT3 arrived today after a week, exactly as promised. I restored from the card and synced , with ?Desktop overwrites handheld.? Everything works as before, including all my prefs. The problem with Docs to Go is an old one.
Now I want to take care of that too.
I HATE PAPER!

Conclusion: Backup!

Now here?s a question. Suppose the thing dies on me again. If and when this happens, I want to buy
two identical PDAs. One would be a spare for a rainy day. Will I be able to restore the info from
the SD card of the TT3 into the new Palm, say Tungsten X?

PS
Paul - thanks again for all your valuable posts and sharing your vast knowledge.
 
Well, gosh. Let me tell you what my "vast knowledge" did for me today. I was backing out of the carport and creamed my driver's mirror on a pole. I restarted the car, hoping there was a magic "Jack Flash" for mirrors and all would be restored! Ha ha! No dice. I've been in a LOVELY mood all day, aniticipating the $160 mirror replacement in the morning. So much for vast knowledge! Your post did cheer me up though - thanks.

Anyway - not to digress . . . I'd personally go with 2 TX's. As for the info on the card, that's very very tricky. It very much depends on "what information." You're familiar with CardBackup, which purposely does NOT back up some shadow database information so as not to cause conflict. However, no one can guarantee that restored T3 files will just "mesh" with the TX. In fact, TealBackup has been rewritten & tweaked two or more times because of TX restoration issues.

Not being a TX owner yet (my T3 hasn't died yet) I can't really speak to its different "system." I'm also not sure if T3 common databases (address, calendar, tasks, memo) will "mesh" if restored. I also don't know how many T3 files you have which would either crash on attempted reinsertion, or if a68 files get hosed, or a myriad of other possible "hangups."

Best thing would be try to get HotSync working and let Palm Desktop carry the load for transferring the files - and for that you'll need the help of "Conduit King" Mooseman. He knows far more than me about "tweaking" a restore from Palm Desktop and getting around problems by renaming folders, exporting some data as CSV files, et cetera. I know that in the past, simply restoring data from say my old M505 to a T3 would have disastrous results; I don't know how much more stable (if at all stable) a T3 > TX SD Card restore would be. Of course, once you had one TX working fine, and assuming your username on both units is the same, then a card restore between TX's would be okay - once one of them is "up, running and okay."

Saved Preferences would probably be a particular potentially nasty issue. Perhaps someone here could give you a list of "don't restore" items, since CardBackup will allow partials. Or, you could try several files @ a time, in order of importance, until you saw a problem. I think I'd go with HotSync method and "desktop overwrites" just as you did recently. You might also think of getting a spare T3 so at least you've got 2 of the same "animal."
 
Don't Palm and drive at the same time!
LOL! But look who's talking. We really have to be careful with that s^%$. Not when you back up, park, or turn. 70 mph on the highway, traffic permitting, is fine... :D No! Don't! Just kidding.

Nevertheless, you gave me a great idea! I'm buying a second T3, just as a spare.
Now let's see who has'em. Couldn't get the cradle at PalmOne.

Oh, yeah. Upgraded my Docs to Go from Ver 6 to Ver 8.
(costs $30). Took care of the Word doc crashing Palm.
See thread at One Source.
 
Read the thread you mentioned. I can't understand why people get machines like LifeDrive. IMHO size matters. This is why I'm getting a 12" screen, 4 lbs laptop with WiFi and Wireless Broadband to supplement the size limitations of a PDA. How well can you read a web page or watch a video on your Palm? What about a spreadsheet? Well, it's a matter of personal preferences, needs and budget.
I?ll let you know about a TT3 source. I also need a case for my T3. There are so few accessories available in the brick and mortar stores.
 
EZ--I went from t3 to tx, not because I had any problems with t3 (I love it), but because I liked the concept of wifi. I have now gone from hauling my laptop with 12 inch screen and weighing 4 lbs, to something that fits in the palm of my hand. You are right--spreadsheets, forget it. But no matter where I am in any major and minor cities on the planet, I can snag a free signal, read my emails, get seat selections for the next flight, go to virtually any web site (although reading some of them can be challenging, but it can be done). For hardcore business applications, laptop might be necessary, but for knowledge and above average computer applications the tx can't be beat.
I am getting another tx as a spare. T3 and tx 3rd party apps are not very compatable. The one thing I miss on tx are the t3's buttons. T3 had 5 and tx has 3 when you don't count the web direct button. I now have to go to the applications page a lot more instead of just pushing a button
 
SMCUVS - how was the transition from T3 to TX? Did you have to wipe out all your T3 folder and the Palm software on your PC? Can you host two separate Palm systems on the same PC - one for T3 and one for TX?
If you had to start everything again from scratch, it must have been a great pain in the butt...
 
EZ--it was a real bit*h. The basic stuff datebook, contacts etc., no problem. The 3rd party apps BIG PROBLEM. Did hard resets on unit many times until I got it right. Not all t3 apps transfer over to tx. I had to sync the basic stuff and reinstall one by one the 3rd party apps to see which one will work and which ones corrupt. Mooseman is the expert on this. You do have to change on name on your desktop of the files that were in your t3. Again, defer to Mooseman for that info. I think you can have two systems on your pc, but the handhelds names must be different. Sorry I can't be much help here. I did have to install the tx disc several times before things would sync properly. For the last two months, so far so good
 
OK, I understand that the main reason you switched from
T3 to TX is the WiFi. I don't know if it was available when you switched, but one can get for $100 street (less in "bargains") an SD WiFi card and enable WiFi on the T3.
I think skipping the hastle you described is worth the dough.
 
EZ--good point re card. However here was my logic. Sooner or later the t3 slider was going to get slacker and slacker. Also, the t5/tx resolution is much better than the t3. It has more standard memory (I know that can be increased with a card, but how many cards do you want to haul around). Plus I got something 2 years newer that hopefully will be around 2 years longer. Don't get me wrong, I loved my t3. I did consider the card option, but opted for just one unit with everything built in and no need for a bunch of cards. Like I said the apps synching was a hassle, but now it is all dialed in the way I want it. You sound like you are more Palm literate than me, so maybe the transition would be a breeze for you. This forum helped me a great deal so I was lucky.
 
SMCUVS - one can never know enough about Palm.. ;)
A question about resolution and brightness:
Please elaborate about the diff between T3 and TX.
How's the outdoors light performance. I'm not happy with mine, but I think all PDAs share this problem.
 
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