Why a new Palm

M

MrBeastMan

New member
I'm a long time palm user and am now using a M-500 that in need of replacement. I'm trying to convince myself to stay with Palm OS. When I look at the specs of new machines Palm is certainly lagging behind. I'm comparing a T3 and an HP 4155. Other than the fact I know the Palm os and desktop the only advantage I see is that I don't support Bill Gates if I buy a Palm. Other wise the HP is smaller, thinner and lighter, it had both bluetooth and WiFi, It's battery lasts longer and it can be changed out (charger even has a place to charge a 2nd battery! Please tell me why I should buy another Palm??:rolleyes:
 
Software is one - if you like nothing but MS based software then this point is mute.

However, I've never found any of the software for scheduling and contacts that's quite as nice as some of that available for Palm OS devices.

Upgradeable - The CE platform is now on it's 4th or 5th upgrade - excuse me - replacement. And until this latest version - none of the "old" software would work on the newer platforms.

Screen Resolution - ever wonder why PPC devices talk about screen size in inches rather than pixels? PPC's are low resolution devices so at the end of the day your eyes might be impacted if you look at it a lot.

Speed, a PPC device running a 400mhz processor is still slower then a comparable Palm running at 200mhz.

Active Sync versus Hot Sync - I've got two employees that switched to PPC and then switched back because Active Sync didn't work correctly.

Look, I'm jaded because I've used just about every platform and keep coming back to Palm based devices because of familiarity as much as comfort.......but ask yourself why Palm has over 70% of the market share in spite of the Microsoft push towards PPC's.

I'd say, ease of use is a big reason.
 
I agree with Moose although the PPC is beginning to make it a harder choice now than it would have been a year ago. One of the things I really disliked about the PPC was the average size of programs. 500k was small and 2 and 3 mb programs aren't unusual. What seems like a lot of RAM compared to a Palm got eaten up fast. Even with faster processors, the PPC was still much slower doing simple tasks than the Palm.

If you use your Palm for scheduling and contacts a lot, there's still nothing on the PPC platform that can replace DateBk5 for me or Agendus for others. Pocket Fusion and Pocket Informant are making progress but they still have a ways to go to cath up with either Palm program.

If you can make your M500 limp along for a few more months, I'd wait until OS 6 is released and then make your choice. OS 6 will make up for many of the shortcomings of the current Palm OS like no multitasking without adding the amount of bloat you get in the PPC. After OS 6 software and hardware is available, I think the choice will be much clearer than it is today.
 
I have a couple of thoughts to add to the comparison of Pocket PC and Palm devices.

1. I used to own a Pocket PC and I found the battery drained faster than on my current T3. The Pocket PC programs require more from the processor. Also, the OS has multitasking. Often times, several programs run at the same time. When you tap on the X to close a program, it only minimizes it, so it continues to run in the background. This leads to a waste of ram and battery power. Also, that integrated wireless lan card you mentioned will drain your batteries quickly.

2. If you want to do anything with Word and Excel documents, you will be disappointed in the way Pocket Office works. Pocket Office is unable to handle tables and the font formating is lost. In addition, native file formats are not yet supported. palmOne's web site has a comparison on how Palm OS devices and Pocket PCs handle office documents.

3. It is easier to configure bluetooth on a Palm OS device. Once, in response to me telling them about using bluetooth on my T3 to connect to the internet, one of my friends with a Pocket PC questioned me by saying, "Does it actually work?" My friend had not been able to get bluetooth properly configured.

4. With a bluetooth phone and a T3, I am able to connect to the internet in most places. I don't need to be near an access point, nor do I have to sign up for access clearance. I do not need wireless lan access. A bluetooth connection is sufficient to retrieve email.

Ultimately, the decision is yours on what device you want or need. This is just my 2 cents.

Good luck.


:)
 
That's one of the best synopses I've ever read. I'm gettin' another one!!

Not to mention the incredible AMOUNT of software available, a lot of it FREE, that "makes it your own Palm." I think 20% of those "10,000 developers for Palm OS worldwide" dropped out after OS5 did away with hacks; I personally would guess HALF of the remaining 80% would scuttle off after OS6. But that leaves a HUGE amount available NOW, and still more available later on than is available for PPC.

I was not impressed with the bloatware for PPC and although I whine on and on about Agendus at 700-900k (depending on your version), it's still better than having to hit the little "home" button every 2 seconds and dealing with "CE ware only."

I criticize Palm and will continue to do so . . . but they're still the ABSOLUTE TOPS in my opinion, and with a little luck they'll "get their spirit back" and continue to dominate in "forward thinking." I wouldn't use anything else for a handheld. I'd to the Vaio or PowerBook thing before I got a PPC!

I'm like a Dad that gets a phone call from the police one night saying "Your son's okay, but he's been a naughty, naughty lad." I'm a little P.O.'d at PalmOne, but still love them to death. I think you will too (if you get a newer one). Nothing is ever the "old favorite," but you sure get to know and trust the "new one" too, and they're still head and shoulders above PPC if only in terms of "intuitive usage."
 
Here are my thoughts. I own two current models and they happen to be an hp4150 and a Tungsten T3 (and a Palm IIIc :)) So I should hopefully be able to give some kind of unbiased opinion.
First of all, IMHO, there is no clear cut winner. I used to be Palm all the way, but since owning an hp4150 I have discovered certain PPC benefits, so now I find it hard to recommend outright one way or another.

1) Screen. 4150 vs T3= T3 wins hands down. 4150's screen is fine, until you compare it to the T3's. T3 has more pixels and MUCH better colour (although I dare say the 4150s screen is better in the sun.)
The extra pixels are awesome on the T3 when it comes to pictures, but not quite so relevant with text, as 4150 has 'clear type' which hugely enhances text appearance. Only real benefit I can think of with the 4150's screen is when watching movies. On a 4150, you can run a full screen movie easily. The T3 has so many pixels, it's hard to encode a full screen movie that will play great on it. Then you're down to using zoom which ruins quality.

2) Battery. 4150 wins hands down. It lasts nearly twice the time of my T3 on average use (sorry Palm guys, it's true). This is party down to the T3 shutting of at around 20% power, the 4150 continues till flat (then a backup battery preserves data for a short while). I'd say 3.5 hours on average Palm use and around 6 hours PPC use, both on lowest brightness and no wireless on.

3) Wireless. I have found WiFi useful since I had it, although I didn't think I would before I had it. It does drain more power, but with WiFi on (and in powersave mode) I'd compare battery life to that of the T3 (with bluetooth off on T3). I can't say I notice any effect on battery life while using bluetooth on the 4150 (though I rarely use it).

4) Software. There is lots of good freeware for Palm and Pocket PC. It's fairly straightforward to port PC programs to PPC (I have heard) and therefore there is lots of good pocket pc freeware out there. The best audio player and the best movie player (in my opinion) for PPC are both free, which is a plus. As are fully customisable book readers, picture viewers, zip/unzip programs, emulators etc. You will find these too on Palm, but I'm afraid to say I think the array of free software is not as good as pocket pc.
But, as has already been said, PPC software is much much bigger, so you'll fit a lot less programs on. (Using a large SD card solves this though.)

5) Speed is a plus for the Palm, in general use. Although when it comes to movie playing and background music, the speed seems to be used more effectively in the PPC world, although I'm sure this is down to how the OS and Program software is written.

6) Documents. I'm happy to say here, Palm wins hands down.!Documents to go is WAAAAY better than the Pocket Word/excel on the PPC. I think this is a big Palm plus. As is PIM syncro (much better on Palm).

7) Size/Quality. The 4150 is slightly smaller and lighter, although it's much bigger in it's case, and the T3 has a nice flip cover.
Despite the T3 being bigger, it feels nicer and more sturdy. The T3 body is made from some kind of metal alloy (it is NOT made of Tungsten!) as opposed to the plastic body on the 4150. Furthermore, the T3's stylus is vastly better to the 4150's, although hp kindly supply you with two in the box which is useful!

I have to mention my issue with Palm digitisers too. All three Palm's I have owned have had this issue with 'digitiser drift' which only seems to worsen over time. Partly for this reason, I currently use my 4150 more than the T3. I don't think I've ever had to redigitise my 4150 since the day it arrived.
iiicRuled
 
It sounds like the batteries have improved a bit. My Pocket PC was an iPAQ 2210. I also had a Tungsten T at the time, which I found myself using more frequently.

I once fully charged the battery on the iPAQ and left the device unattended for one week, without turning the power on and leaving it out of the cradle. Needless to say, when I pressed the power button to turn it on, I found that the battery was totally drained and my data was gone. Luckily, I had a backup of my data on the Tungsten. I am happy to say that I have never experienced this problem with any of my Palm devices.

:D
 
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