Hmm... Palm has released this bad boy for about 2 weeks now, about 9-10 months from the release of the original Tungsten T model. The T2 is a bit more polished than the the first model and add or upgrades a couple of features from the original.

Palm is usually rather tight lipped about future releases (unlike Sony) and you tend to hear about a new product just before it is released to market (where Sony tends to release news 3 months or more before actual production models are available to the public). However, news of the T2 has been circulating in the various Palm PDA forums like www.palminfocenter.com for a few months. Much of the information "leaks" coming from China (where most of the Palm PDAs are made). Heck, there is information being leaked on a T3 and even a T4 model from "sources" in China with predicted release dates of Christmas season or early Spring for the T3. Again, the problem is that most of this information can't be verified.

Then again, how does this help you with the T2. Well, time to get to that...

Second Coming

Okay, in reality, this is the 4th model Palm branded PDA running Palm OS5... the third running Palm OS 5.2.1. The Tungsten T2 or T|T2 (I'll refer to it as the T2 in this review) shows the polish that has gone into the Palm OS 5 system and the polish to the feature set and applications on the T2. Although the T2 is not the top of the line Palm model, it still has a hefty price tag overall at $399 MRSP (although this is $100 lower than the original MRSP of the original Tungsten when it was released a year ago). Unlike a year ago, the question is whether you should pony up $400 for this PDA since there are a number of Palm OS 5 device in the market and several for under $300!

Run-and-Gun Short Take

The T2 is by no means a revolutionary device... just an evolutionary one. The Terminator 2 movie was a revolutionary movie for its time and a gigantic improvement over Terminator 1 in so many respects. Don't expect that from the Palm T2 though. The T2 offers 32MB of RAM (29.5MB is user accessible), a 320x320 transreflective color LCD screen (capable of 65,000 colors), retention of the universal connector, a 3.5mm headphone jack (the standard headphone jack used in walkmans, CD players, and the such!), the same slider mechanism from the original Tungsten, and more. However, with all the minor and major changes, so much of the unit stayed the same. The same processor (TI OMAP 1510 unit running at 144MHz), the same case (with a lighter grey color), blah, blah, blah...

For $399, the unit is quite decent but it really isn't for everybody. The target audience seems to be medium and hard core Palm PDA users since the basic and low and medium core can be served by the Zire 71 unit. Battery life is slightly worse than the original Tungsten unit. I also wished for either a faster processor or a more energy efficient one than the older OMAP 1510.

Overall, the T2 is a nice PDA and a good refresh of the Tungsten T lineup. However, I really feel that the T2 falls into a grey area of consumer market. It is by no means for the basic PDA market and even the low end PDA market consumers while on the high end market, it doesn't offer enough to beat models that are slightly pricier. While the T2 is a solid PDA, it seems somewhat undistinguished because of excellent models above and below it.

Pros:

1) Palm OS 5.2.1
2) Graffiti 2
3) 32 MB of RAM (29.5 MB user accessible)
4) Bluetooth built-in
5) Decent form factor (collapsable)
6) Voice Memo
7) Hi-Res screen
8) Professional look to device and stylus
9) Universal Connector
10) Additional software included in package

Cons:

1) Price of $399
2) Limited multimedia capabilities
3) Poor battery life
4) Graffiti 2

Pricing

The T2 being reviewed was purchased by one of the other doctors in a clinic I work at. He asked me for the best price for a T2 and I told him to check out Dell who had a 10% plus $30 off $350 coupon running at the time with no sales tax and free shipping and handling. Unfortunately, he couldn't wait for it and bought it at the local Staples instead. Oh well.

You can read on how ways to get a better deals on electronics in my epinions review The Art of Buying... Getting your money's worth!.

Foraging deeper into the T2

Maintaining the same case design as the original Tungsten T (TT), the T2 still has dimensions of 4.0 x 3.0 x 0.6 inches with a weight of 5.6 oz. The unit still extends to 4.8 inches in height when you reveal the dedicated Graffiti writing area. As with the original TT, the unit is a bit thick but that makes it more comfortable to hold in my opinion. The overall unit feels solid and still makes a loud satisfying click sound when you extend the lower section of the T2. If the TT is a good indicator, the slider mechanism should hold up well under normal use for the life of the product.

The actual look of the unit is almost the same as the TT. The case color is a lighter grey on the T2 than on the TT. The collapsible section of the T2 covers the dedicated Graffiti area and the 4 silk screened buttons. Outwardly, you have the standard 4 application buttons with a 4 way pad with the central OK/accept button. These buttons and the the 4-way pad are very easy to press and feel solid. No fumbling around with tiny application buttons. The right top front corner of the T2 has the holes for the speaker. You'll note a small slit for the green LED that indicates if your device is charging when placed on a cradle (or other optional battery charging device available from Palm or third parties).

You'll note that the top of the T2 holds the power button, the SD/MMC slot, IR port, and the Stylus silo. The stylus is the same as the original Tungsten T model. A good, thick stylus that is easy to hold, has some weight to it, has a solid feel, and is also collapsible to fit within the T2 silo. There is a spring loaded section to collapse the stylus while it is in the silo. The reset button hidden on the back of the handheld (revealed when you extend the handheld) can be easily pressed with the tip of the stylus... so no more unscrewing the stylus to reveal thin pins and the such to reset/repair your Palm PDA.

The left side of the unit holds the microphone hole, the headphone jack, and the record button. Unfortunately, like the original Tungsten T, all three are clustered very close together so you should be careful to check whether the headphone jack covers up the microphone hole. You should also be mindful of the placement of your thumb on the record button... it is very easy to cover the microphone hole with your thumb. I should know that the record button is rather sensitive to even light pressure so it is very easy to set off the voice recorder and cut short a recording before you wanted to stop it. I'll talk more about the voice recorder function later.

Inside Scoop... Tweaking the Flavor?

Palm stuck with the older but very effective Texas Instruments OMAP 1510 ARM processor. Yes, the same one in the original Tungsten T model. Note that this chip is actually composed of several components that control various functions like the LCD drivers, USB interface, SD/MMC interface, and Bluetooth to name a few. For the techheads, the processor is running at 175MHz... which is an average of the two main processors that compose the OMAP 1510 processor. To be a bit clearer with that, the OMAP 1510 is composed of two processors, a 144MHz ARM925 processor that performs most of the duties and a 200MHz C55x Digital Signal Processor (DSP). I should note that a year ago, this was one of the most powerful processors available for a PalmOS PDA... now the processor is still very powerful for a PalmOS PDA but it is by no means the most powerful. That honor currently belongs to the Tungsten C which really does whup every other PDAs butt when it comes to speed! That doesn't just mean the raw processor speeds but also the speed and efficiency of the OS too!

The T2 does come with 32MB of RAM but only 29.5MB of that can be accessed by the user. In reality, you want to keep 2-4 MB of that always free for the processor's use so you really only have 24.5 to 26.5 MB of RAM you can really fill with programs and data.

The unit also has an internal vibrator for alarms and alerts.

Screen and Colours?

Well, the T2 uses the same screen as the Tungsten C and the Zire 71. Compare this to the older Palm PDAs and even many of the Sony branded PalmOS PDAs... I felt that the T2/Tungsten C/Zire 71 screen were the best of the bunch. They are 16-bit color screens capable of 320x230 resolution and displaying 65,000 colors. These screens are also transreflective and are decently easy to read in sunlight although when bright lights/direct sunlight hits the screen at very specific angles, the screen may be unreadable due to a washout effect. Again, overall, the screen is fairly easy to read with the worst case scenario of mild/mod washout of the colors in bright lights and direct sunlight. There are a few odd angles where you get complete washout of the screen.

Colour reproduction is very good overall. Blue might be a tad darker but I'm overall very happy with the colour reproduction of the T2. Reds, yellows, and flesh colors were especially pleasing to the eye.

Same issue with the digitizer, I wouldn't set the writing area (accessible via the preferences screen) to include the whole screen. It you want to use Graffiti2, stick to the dedicated Graffiti area. Setting the writing area outside of the dedicated Graffiti area only plays havok with other programs on your Palm... especially in delaying taps and strokes on your screen because the Palm is trying to figure out if you wanted to write a letter or select something on the screen. The delays are more pronounced than on the Tungsten C because of the slower processor on the T2.

On Graffiti2

Personally, I like it and got adjusted to it fairly quickly. The major difference in Graffiti2 from Graffiti 1 is the use of two stylus strokes to write certain letters. An "i" was written as a straight line down in Graffiti 1, but it is now a straight line down then you dot it (remember to dot your i's) in Graffiti2. A straight line down in Graffiti2 is an l but if you dot it, it becomes an i and if you cross it, it becomes a t. However, I know many long time Graffiti users will have more difficulty switching to it since they are so used to the original Graffiti. Unfortunately, you cannot switch back to the original Graffiti system. I am unsure if this was due to the lawsuits with Xerox in the past or if this was part of some settlement... even an effort by Palm to avoid future legal problems... but even the newest Sony PalmOS PDAs still use the original Graffiti system. What gives?!

I will say that regardless of which Graffiti system you prefer, the dedicated Graffiti area does provide some benefit and that I wished it existed on the Tungsten C these days.

On SD slots

Well, the Secure Digital (SD) slot accepts thumb sized flash card media called Secure Digital Cards. These cards come up to 512MB of memory and can be used to "extend" the memory of your Palm... note that this is NOT the same as having more RAM! Not all Palm programs can be stored on the memory card and be used from there. You must have a certain amount of free RAM available to run programs stored on your memory card... which is why I made the 2-4 MB free RAM comment earlier. There are a few other SD card peripherals out there which include a SD Bluetooth card which isn't needed is this unit due to the built-in Bluetooth transmitter and receiver in the T2. There is also a SD VGA camera available as well. You can also use MultiMedia Cards (MMC) in the slot as well. These are flash memory sticks that are the same size as SD cards but are slower and have a limit of up to 128MB of memory.

The price of a 256MB SD card usually falls about $60-70 before mail-in rebates.

On Palm OS 5

Palm OS 5 is extremely efficient and fast OS especially on the hardware it is on which is still weaker than most PocketPC hardware or at best equal to PocketPCs. If you compared the Tungsten C which hardware profile matches many high end PocketPC models, the Tungsten C speeds through most applications with the slightest of ease. This only shows how impressive the T2 is able to handle applications with a good amount of speed and a lack of wait times for things to get done by the processor.

Overall, the T2 uses the latest Palm OS 5 incarnation... Palm OS 5.2.1. This incorporates a few tweaks from the original Palm OS 5 and introduces colored screen schemes to the Palm PDAs and the replacement of Graffiti with Graffiti2(or should I call it Jot instead). Running programs specifically designed for Palm OS5 has never gotten me a crash or fatal exception error. However, a handful of Palm OS 3 and 4 programs have crashed Palm OS5 to the point I had to press in the reset button. Note that you should not use hack programs from Palm OS 3 and 4 on a Palm OS 5 handheld, you frequently will get the fatal exception error and reset your handheld. Any program written specifically for the Sony's Hi-Res standard is not compatible with Palm OS 5! My understanding was that the Hi-Res mode used in Palm OS 5 came from HandEra (if they still exist) and not from Sony.

On the 4-way/D Pad

Note that the built-in applications support the D-pad pretty well. The problem is that most programs not built with the Tungsten lineup and Zire 71 in mind don't utilize the left and right directions of the pad/joystick. None of the compatible Palm OS 3 and 4 programs recognize left and right presses on the pad/joystick. Just make a note of it so it doesn't surprise you.

MP3s, Movies, and Muzac!

I must say that the T2 performs admirably... especially since the RealOne player is now included with the T2 unlike the original Tungsten T model. I though the MP3 playback was of the same quality on the original T model (after you installed RealOne) versus the T2. The stereo standard headphone jack (a regular 3.5mm jack!) lets you get quality sound on MP3 and movie playback unlike the Tungsten C (although some friends told me that the Tungsten C's jack is capable of true stereo sound, I personally have not found headphones with a 2.5mm jack capable of this!). Sounds are clear and crisp although sound output may not have the maximum volume found on high quality dedicated MP3 flash players.

As far as movies go, the Kinoma player does an admirable job for any PDA platform. Its just that the PDA market isn't ready for a movie player yet. Running a few of the Sony Pictures movie trailers... the picture quality was quite good (considering your max resolution is 320x320! This is a PDA guys!) and movie was somewhat smooth. There was some stuttering in playback. I played trailers of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Spider-Man, and XXX. The T2 did perform as well as the Tungsten C but overall was acceptable. the major problem is still that the the current PDA hardware doesn't provide movie quality playback although it has improved tremendously in the past year! Comparisons were made again the Tungsten C... as of this point the gold standard for Palm PDA playback at least video wise if not audio wise.

What else is in the box? How about software?

In addition to the T2, a stylus, a somewhat thick getting started guide, you also get in the box:

You get the standard USB Palm hotsync/recharge cradle that fits any Palm handheld with a universal connector. Palm PDAs that include the universal connector include m125, m130, m500, m505, m515, m705, Tungsten T/T2/C/W, and Zire 71. So multiple Palm PDAs in the family of the above models? Only need the one cradle for hotsyncing to a single computer. You get an AC adapter that attaches to the cradle (I'm not sure if this is specific to the cradle in the T2 or the design for all Palm PDA cradles from now on).

You also get a free trial to BoomerangIt which I haven't had to use. It is a serial number you affix to your Palm handheld and if you were to lose your handheld, in theory, the finder would contact BoomerangIt and you would get your handheld back. If you don't see where the holes are... well, in theory, BoomerangIt is a method of recovery for lost PDAs although it is based off a trust system.

You get a clear polycarbonate plastic cover that covers the front of the T2 and fits only when the T2 is in compact mode. There are holes to access the 4-way pad and the 4 application buttons (which are pretty sensitive to light touches mind you!). You have access to the record button as well since the cover doesn't go over the headphone jack, microphone hole, and record button. Note that the record button is very sensitive to light touches and easily "turns on" the T2. Overall, the "premium" cover as Palm calls it is an absolution joke and you should look to buy a thin case for the T2.

You get CDs with the Palm Desktop software, Palm Quick Install, Palm Photos, DataViz's Documents to Go 5 Professional Edition, powerOne personal calculator, Adobe Acrobat Reader, BlueBoard, BlueChat, RealOne Mobile Player, Kinoma Player and Producer, and Solitaire.

There are several programs built-in the handheld via the ROM. This includes VersaMail 2.5, Palm Web Browser, and the PIM functions.

BlueTooth

The only testing of this was through web access through a cell phone. Not particularly speedy but adequate for casual web browsing. I was able to print on a DeskJet 995 printer although not reliably.

The Palm Phone Link wizard handles the linking to a BlueTooth enabled phone quite seamlessly.

Battery Life or Loss?

Maybe I've gotten too use to my Tungsten C but the battery life of the T2 is horrendous in comparison. The battery is a Lithium Ion battery rated at 3.7V 900mAh. The battery didn't even last 4 hours for me on MP3 playback before requiring a recharge. Note however that is with the screen on. With the backlight off, the T2 lasted a little more than 6 hours. With Kinoma Player at the lowest backlight setting, the unit lasted approximately 4 hours.

Anything else I should consider buying with the T2?

Consider buying a 128MB SD card for storage space, a real protective case, and earphones/headphones.

A 128MB SD card should run anywhere from $30-$50 and will allow you to store 2 hours worth of MP3s. Heck, a 256MB isn't much more and may be worth the investment.

A quality case is worth $35+ and will be more function that the clear plastic cover that Palm includes.

Palm doesn't include earphones/headphones with the T2. You have to get your own.

Final Words

Now that I have the Terminator 2 theme music pounding through my head, the Tungsten T2 is a good overall unit that will be appealing to a wide range of buyers. However, I think that the majority of buyers who want to upgrade from a lower end PDA may jump to the Zire 71 instead of the Tungsten 2. The 32MB of memory on the T2 is certainly something to consider when buying a handheld but only if you need that much memory. If you want basic PIM functions with the abilities to play MP3 and even limited movie playback, the Zire 71 will fulfill that function just as well as the Tungsten T2. If the memory, voice memo, and bluetooth capabilites are what you're looking for, it will be very hard to beat the Tungsten T2... even the upcoming Sony CLIE UX-40 and UX-50 units will be hard pressed.

Will I be looking at the Sony CLIE UX-40 and UX-50 units? Actually, I wanted to because of the odd numbers Sony has been posting in regards to memory... the numbers don't make alot of sense and I wanted to see how they were put into action on those models.

Comparision Palm OS PDA models

The Palm I currently use? Well, that's the Palm Tungsten C with 64MB or RAM and integrated Wi-Fi support

The Palm that I most recommend at this time is the Palm Zire 71 with 16MB of RAM and integrated VGA still camera

This Palm OS PDA is another unit that should be considered Sony's CLIE TG-50 PDA with Bluetooth and thumb keyboard

A low cost PDA is the Sony's CLIE SJ-22 PDA

You can look under my profile page in the PDA section for additional PDA reviews that include excellent models like the Sony CLIE SJ-33, Palm Tungsten T, and other models as well.

Thanks for reading!

Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 330