TRGPro still not sold - How much do they normally sell for?

I said if I couldn't sell the TRGPro for $100 I'd keep it, but the Palm IIIxe is just as good for me. I can almost as easily back up the IIIxe to my desktop PC (it even works with the Palm Pilot Pro cradle) and I don't need the sound loud enough that my neighbors can hear it. I also loaded all the apps I wanted so far on the IIIxe and it still has less than 50% the memory used, so the IIIxe has all the RAM I'll ever need on a Palm OS device.

The TRGPro would really have to be worth under $40 for me to consider keeping it, and I'm sure someone would have a use for its CF slot. So far I put the TRGPro as low as $88 with free shipping. I did see one on auction that remained at $0.99 until the last few minutes and skyrocketed to $54, I'd be happy to get that, after all I ended up paying it about $4.

Those of you that have seen TRGPros sell, how much do they normally sell for? I've only seen one sell for $54 (other than the one I got at $4 which wasn't properly advertised). Are there better places than eBay to sell this on?

One final question: Aren't there more recent Palm OS devices that both run on AAAs and use SD cards with system wide SD support? If so, wouldn't those kick the TRGPro's behind?

Thanks


Edited by aab 2012-08-31 10:33 PM

My guess is that the value is due to the rarity...perhaps a collectable item. I mean I could buy a Handspring Visor for $10 which is essentially the same thing...though I would need a Innopocket CF adapter to use CF cards with the Visor, or one of the many other adapters that would do the same thing...

Personally for me...I would value a TRGPro around $10-$20 max...

I'd say more than that, Rich. I'd probably pay $50 if I didn't already have one.

My current 56% off sale ends tonight, I'll try 61% off for a few days which will put it at $78, I'd still end up making over $50 profit at this price even with free shipping.

I've also just recently added the "Or Best Offer" option on that listing so buyers can send me offers.

I'm starting to be anxious to get rid of this, I just recently had to pay my yearly car insurance bill and selling it will help.

Then I have those 4 brand new sealed in box Palm Pilot Pros I paid $25 each, so far the lowest I put one of those is $149.25 (it would actually repay all 4 if I sell just one at this price). I hope this gamble ends well, at $25 they sell like hot cakes, at least one recently sold for $237, and even if I had to sell them under $50 each I still end up winning.

As I’ve previously stated I bought a few TRGpros a number of years ago and have always watched the prices. The main fellow I bought from was in the U.S. and had listed them on eBay (both .ca and .com) starting at around $100. At the time, they were very rare and there was no one else selling them. Over the next year or so the price kept falling to about $50 – 60 dollars, and I kept buying when I needed one. He then started to raise his prices to about $80 or so. I stopped buying and so did everyone else. The only one I’ve seen in the last year or so that’s sold on eBay was one which included the original box. If I remember right, it went for well under $100.

The ones that I’ve passed on to others were sold at the price for which I bought them (two were given away). I’ve got about four or five left and will probably never get rid of them (I really like them, second only to my MobilePro 700). One died from drowning a couple of years ago while camping.

How much do they sell for these days? No one really knows as too few are offered anymore. Will yours sell? I had hoped it would, but I don’t think it will. Why? It’s been modified and I don’t think people want to buy a mod they’re unsure about. Your mod may make it better, but the people buying them (if there are any left) know what a TRGpro is and that’s what they want, not something a little bit different. Secondly, I think your price is too high. I would think a more realistic price would be in the $35-50 range, and probably the lower end of that.

As for more recent Palm OS devices that run on AAA batteries and use cards, I’m familiar with two – the Palm m125 and the Sony PEG-SL10. I wouldn’t consider either to be as useable with cards as the TRGpro. I own both of the latter and they both sit in the basement in their boxes. They haven’t seen the light of day for about two years. I currently have two TRGpros sitting on my desk.

I checked the eBay completed listings for both the m125 and SL10. It didn’t look good. They generally went for prices between $10-25.

Why so low? It’s a different world now than when these things were made. Tablets, smartphones and netbooks dominate in an always connected world. You can do a lot more with modern equipment than you can with a TRGpro.

The TRGpro, or indeed most any of the other devices I own (Windows CE, Psion, Newton, Tandy) are niche products. The only people who would want them would be collectors (but only in their original boxes) or the people I know – writers and photographers going on a longer trip (one fellow I know took six Canon EOS batteries and a MobilePro with a few spare Lithium AA batteries on a winter camping trip a couple of years ago. He kept the spare batteries under his clothes and everything worked great).

Where you can sell it now, other than eBay? Have you tried Craigslist or Kijiji?

Rick

As I said one did sell in the last month on auction started at $0.99 and ended over $54, so I'd be happy even to get $54 since I paid less than $4 for it.

When you said you don't think it will sell, I assume you meant you don't think it will sell at the then current price of $88 (it is now $78)? In any case I will keep lowering the price until it does sell, so I don't agree that it won't sell, unless you hadn't completed the sentence and meant "It won't sell at $88".

For anyone that wants to actually use it, the replaced LCD is a MAJOR upgrade, it turns it from a device that can only be used in either full brightness or total darkness to a device that's perfectly usable in absolutely any lighting conditions. Honestly I used your IIIxe more in the days after replacing its LCD than I had in the entire previous year, the horrible reversed backlight made most games completely unplayable as you couldn't tell what in the world was displayed on the screen so it got very little use until the LCD upgrade.

I'm only half surprised that you say a Palm with built in card slot designed by Palm isn't as good as the TRGPro, after all for years the "color" palms still had an OS that was 99% in black and white, so I'm not surprised that they'd add a card slot that can't be used much or at all, many of Palm's features were fraudulent like that (say it has a color screen, but don't say the OS is in black and white, say it has a card reader, but don't say the OS doesn't support it).

Already the CF slot support seems extremely limited on the TRGPro with only 2 programs or so that can use it, how in the world did Palm manage to make it even more limited? Can it even be used or is it totally a marketing scam just so they can say they put a card slot? I didn't check much, but it seems the CF slot on the TRGPro can only be used for backup, you can't even seem to run programs from the card which is really silly but not surprising for Palm OS. So what can the card slot do on the m125 other than collect dust?

I'll keep it on eBay until/if I get down to $50 and then may try other websites but I think it will sell on eBay once the price gets low enough.

BTW did you finally notice one of my messages where I said the Palm Pilot Pro runs 200% faster than the Palm Pilot Personal, proving our theory that it's either the CPU or OS to be wrong, as both of these have exactly the same CPU and OS.

Thanks


Edited by aab 2012-09-01 10:22 PM

Wow, that's a lot of money...obviously I have no idea what they are worth! I hope you get what you want for them.

I said that I hoped it would sell. The reason behind that is because I hope there is a market out there. I’m looking at selling about 20-30 machines this fall that I no longer use. I’d like to recoup some of the money I've spent on them. If the machines you have up for sale don’t sell, then I will be rethinking my strategy. When I said it woudn't sell I gave the reason: “Secondly, I think your price is too high. I would think a more realistic price would be in the $35-50 range, and probably the lower end of that.” I figure that’s a complete sentence.



It’s a major upgrade for YOU. It may not be a major upgrade for everyone. It certainly isn’t for me.



Actually you can run programs from the CF card. Word processors and databases come to mind. I run both from the CF card. I also have the word processor’s spell checker on it. Works great. As for the SD card slot in the m125, it’s limited. I’ve found that a 1 GB card is the limit, not 2 GB like the TRGpro. Additionally, support to do anything with files on the SD card is not built into the m125. You need to add 3rd party programs to accomplish the same thing that’s built in on the TRGpro. And I've found they're not as good as the TRGpro programs. And lastly, there’s a memory leak on the m125 that’s never been fixed. Take the SD card from the m125 and put it in a desktop and copy the files. Put the SD card back into the m125 and take a look at the number of bytes. It will have increased.

As for the Sony PEG-SL10, the maximum Sony memory stick that can be used is 128 MB. That’s MB, not GB. Sony has changed it’s memory stick specs so many times since the original it’s not funny anymore. 128MB is as far as it will go. No massive word processor files or databases…



Like I said, I hope it sells for a higher price. I need a market out there to sell some of my stuff this fall… BTW, I just bought a Handera 330 on eBay for $125. It was complete in the box with the addition of the Lithium battery pack and charger. I’m anxious to compare it to the TRGpro.



Yes, got your email. I agree – it’s totally perplexing. Unfortunately I don’t have the Personal to test it. Wish I did, then we'd know for certain.

Rick


Edited by Richard Plume 2012-09-02 12:34 AM

Are you really saying you prefer that reversed backlight that is only visible either in total brightness or total darkness? In any "in-between" lighting conditions it becomes impossible to see with the backlight on, especially in 2 or 4 bit grayscale modes like in games.

In any case, the TRGpro did sell for $58 + $9 shipping for $67 total, not bad considering what I paid for it.

Actually a backlight doesn’t matter to me. I can count the number of times I’ve used one on one hand, and still have a finger or two left over.



I’m glad it sold and for a good price. I’ve just listed a few PDAs, computers and cameras on Craiglist and Kijiji and have only sold one item so far. Although, lots of low ball offers. Think I’ll be listing on eBay in a couple of weeks.

Also, received the Handera 330 yesterday. Very nice machine. It would suit me well. Unfortunately the AAA battery cover was broken which makes it useless for me. Seller has agreed to refund me my money. You’d love the backlight – blue/green and very bright. I’ll be watching for another...

Rick

Do you only use grayscale devices in very bright rooms? I've never, ever used a grayscale device without the backlight even in a lit room (other than just a few seconds to see), other than the MobilePro 400 and that's because it doesn't have one, the only reason I'm not getting a 450 is that I find CE 1.0 rather useless to begin with.

Does Craigslist/Kijiji have a "This seller's items for sale" page like eBay where I can see what you listed?

Thanks


Edited by aab 2012-09-11 10:06 PM

LOL. No, not really. I’ve been using black-and-white/greyscale LCD screens since the early ‘80s. I guess I’m just used to them and have never needed a backlight.




I don’t think so.

Rick

Edited by Richard Plume 2012-09-12 12:40 AM

What devices are you selling? I might be interested in some.

Thanks