What are the best Palms?

I was looking at a list of Palm models and realized Palm went bankrupt long enough ago that even the latest models they made now often sell for $10.

This means I could buy one of the best ones they made which was long after I abandoned Palm and see how much they actually evolved during the time I was using PSPCs and PPCs.

It seems like the Tungsten line is the last series they made, is that right? If so which would be good to get to play around with? The Tungsten T3 and T5 seem like the most interesting ones, the T3 has the slider design where the screen "stretches" to show the graffiti area. Anyone here had either of these? Which would you recommend?

Thanks

I always prefered the Sony line of Palm handhelds, like the NX60/U or the PEG-TG50, or even the PEG-NZ90.

I liked the built in keyboards and hi-res screens...but I guess the Tungsten line was the newest in the Palm brand...

I've had a lot of experience with T3 (three in the house), and I think this is the best model (T and T2 both had fixed graffiti areas). The slider may become shaky, but AFAIK this is curable. T5 is also good, if you don't mind plastic (T3 is aluminum). Both have only Bluetooth, however. Tungsten C has WiFi (and a keyboard) and TX has both BT and WiFi. I've never used these models, though.

Just in case: the batteries may be not easily available. Even worse, they were not designed as easily replaceable. I never changed them myself, but I'm lucky to have a repair shop nearby with some batteries in store. And don't expect more than 3 hours of battery life.

By the way, Palms are still manufactured in New Zealand (http://aceeca.com/handhelds/compare). These are not cheap, however.

I personally always wanted to try a Sony clie ux50 out, they still go for a good bit though.

Had one...almost went blind trying to use it...

Of the later Palms I have a Tungsten C and would recommend it. Well designed unit, the keyboard is great, lots of storage, bright screen, built in SD card slot and built in Wi-Fi. Battery life is great and the battery is also easy to change if you happen to get one with an old battery. Batteries are also readily available online.

Rick

A what? Why did you almost go blind?

I'm leaning towards the T3, batteries are available for it online, is it hard to replace it with that sliding mechanism?

I'm trying to decide between keeping the Palm III or switching my Palm IIIxe's LCD with the Palm III's far better LCD, the reason is I'd like a palm with more than 1 MB RAM for games but if it has that reversed backligth LCD it makes it mostly useless as the screen is unwatchable most of the time.

Do old games for the Palm Pilot with POS 2.0 work on the T3? If so then I can keep my Palm IIIxe as is, sell the Palm III, and I'd have the T3 to play those old games, but does the T3 have permanent storage? Do I have to keep it constantly charged to keep its memory contents like the old ones? If so I might want to keep a grayscale model for that, plus will the old games still work despite the completely different hardware buttons on the T3 compared to the Palm Pilot Pro?

Thanks


Edited by aab 2012-08-04 5:18 AM

I had a ux50. It was very cool, but everything was so tiny on the hi-res screen, it was really hard for me to use because of that. Still it was a very cool little toy.

Do you know if apps for Palm OS 2.0 work on the Tungsten T3 or T5? And do the T3/T5 have permanent memory or do they still require a constant charge to maintain memory content? These would affect my decision of which I'd buy and which I'd resell.

Thanks

I don't know about the nonvolatile memory, but I do know a lot of apps died under OS5. There were a lot of updates coming out the time OS5 made its appearance. Your games may, or may not have been updated to run under OS5.

Rick

Edited by Richard Plume 2012-08-05 1:00 AM

Thanks, in that case I think I prefer to keep an old grayscale device, more and more people tell me the best thing is to put the Palm III's LCD in your Palm IIIxe so I have the 8MB ram and better LCD on the Palm IIIxe and sell all the others, I kind of wanted to keep the Palm IIIxe original but I agree it's the best option if I want to keep as little Palm models as possible, otherwise I'd want to keep the Palm III for the 2 MB ram and better LCD.

I haven't decided yet though, I might keep the IIIxe and the III as is along with the Palm Pilot Pro I'm waiting for which I originally had.

Well I've gone and done it, I've swapped the LCDs between my Palm III and IIIxe. This way my Palm IIIxe has the best of both worlds (8 MB RAM and a good LCD) and I can sell the Palm III with the "upgraded" screen along with the TRGpro, leaving me with only the moded Palm IIIxe and Palm Pilot Pro which I should get next week. It was really easy, only 4 screws and one cable to disconnect, so the video signal, digitizer signal and backlight power all go through the same cable.

This is the best thing I could have done otherwise I would have wanted to keep both the Palm III for its better LCD and the IIIxe for the extra RAM, now I have both those benefits in the IIIxe. I bet it will still support 4 bit grayscale too.

Richard: I hope you don't mind me replacing your IIIxe's LCD, but it's so much better now.


Edited by aab 2012-08-05 8:15 AM

I'm really glad I did the switch, I kind of wanted to keep the Palm IIIxe in its original condition but it was a waste of a good Palm because its screen did that it was unusable in many light conditions and many grayscale games were simply unplayable because you couldn't see properly. Some game levels I never managed to complete on the original IIIxe I finished in the first try with the new LCD, the difference is that dramatic.

Now I can simply keep the Palm IIIxe for loading tons of games and the Palm Pilot Pro so I can have the original one I had again, and with games now playable on the IIIxe I don't have to worry about them working on the T series.

Should I get a T3 or T5, how come I sometimes see photos of the T5 with a different launcher with Palm trees in the back (see photo)? Can you have that same launcher on the T3?



Edited by aab 2012-08-05 11:56 AM

Of course not. That’s why I gave it to you. There were never any provisos attached. You’re using it and having fun. On top of that we all learned the screens are interchangeable. I’d say that makes it all worthwhile.

I’m also going to be watching your TRGpro auction. I’m very curious what it will go for.

Rick

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