PalmOne Tungsten E2 Review

Posted on 2005-09-06 18:00:04 by LSDsmurf

The Tungsten E2 handheld from Palm features a 320 x 320 pixels display that can display more than 65,000 colours. The device measures 4.5 x 3.1 x 0.59 inches and weights 4.7 z. It has 32MB memory (of which you can actually use 26MB for storage) and it features a rechargeable Li-Ion battery to give users a long battery life. Here's a detailed review from an actual user of this PDA:

This is actually my first handheld, though I am quite familiar with a number of competitive products through my job.

I have been extremely happy with this device for the two months I have owned it. The performance of the device is very snappy, the display crisp, clear and bright, though it is easily washed out in bright light or outdoors. (Pretty much all commercial units have this problem, when you start getting to high cost industrial units with transflective displays, this becomes less of an issue.)

Battery life has been superb, but I should caveat that with my usage level. I doubt I would be considered a hardcore user. My device is probably active (display on) for approx 2hours per day. At this level of usage, I typically go 3 days before I feel the need to recharge (not that the unit is dead.) During a recent 12 day vacation where my usage dropped to perhaps 1 hour or less per day, I never placed the unit on charge.

The supplied applications are great, better than their counterparts in Outlook and synchronization between the two is superb. I initially used the supplied USB synch cable to keep the unit trickle charging, but I was not impressed with the connection this cable makes to the handheld. Removing the cable takes some effort, as the connector is overly secure and does not have a mechanical release mechanism. I grew concerned that over time the connector would begin to wear and become less positive.

Since I use a bluetooth keyboard/mouse, going to bluetooth synchronization was a no brainer. The setup was simple and it works flawlessly. Since I do not leave my Palm in a discoverable mode, and it cannot be woken by my PC, I have not noticed any impact in battery life with BT enabled. My only wish is that PALM had made BT synchronization schedulable, allowing it to automatically attempt a synch at preset times during the day. There is 3rd party software to do this, but it seems a minor issue that PALM could address easily.

I truly appreciate the physical qualities of the unit. Though looking at the dimensions in comparison to an IPAQ or AXIM does not lead to any great expectations, the unit is far easier to stash in a pocket without weighing you down or being two bulky. This leads to a love hate relationship with the cover. I keep my E2 in the thigh pocket of my trousers. The small supplied cover does a fair job of protecting the screen and adds no bulk to the unit. But it does not prevent items (coins, and LINT) from getting to the screen. The coins I can prevent, but the lint is another issue. I find myself cleaning the screen every two hours. If the cover was magnetic or in someother way provided a better seal, it would be ideal. All of the aftermarket wallets I have looked at, while attractive, will add considerable bulk to the device.

I appreciate that the stylus has a nice heft to it, and does not have a push button ejector (these have always appeared to me as a weak link.)

The battery charger connector works better than the synch cable in that I don't feel it is going to wear out any time soon, but the charger itself is massive. I think Palm could have sourced a more compact, folding unit.

I wish there was a vibrate mode, but I am not too torn up about it.

The handwriting recognition (graffiti 2) works far better than I expected, though this is an area I never test on devices I look at, so it may be par for the course.

The non-volatile flash is great. I have made use of the feature only once (on purpose to see how it works) and it is truly wonderful. I needed to reenter the current date and time, but other than that the unit picked up right where I left it.

I have no real complaints about the lack of Wi-Fi or camera (in my opinion the cameras are a ridiculous add on) since I knew these were not standard when I purchased the unit, and not something I was really interested in having.

Based on my purchase cost, (...), the ease of use and physical design, I am very happy with this device.



Link: Amazon

PalmOne Tungsten E2




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