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| Home >> Handheld & PDA Reviews: PalmOne Tungsten C Handheld | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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User Submitted PalmOne Tungsten C Handheld Reviews (cont...)Date: 2005-01-28 Don't buy this for the WiFi! There's a lot to like about this device, but it falls way short on one of its most advertised features, WiFi, and PalmOne is pretty poor on tech and warranty support. In short: Pros -- Nice design & features (when they work!) -- Fast processor/fast performance -- Integrated keyboard has great tactile feel and response -- Well built, sturdy feel Cons -- WiFi is very unreliable (I'm only infrequently successful in getting it to connect to my home wireless network, and I've tried every fix in the book) -- Screen is unevenly backlit, so it appears blotchy, especially at the bottom (my T2 had a much better screen) -- PalmOne product support is all but non-existent. -- If you have a problem with a Palm, even within days of purchasing it, expect Palm to handle the problem by sending you a "refurb", in other words a used machine that may cosmetically fall anywhere between new and beat-up. Date: 2005-01-10 Let down over time I wrote the following before having a heart-to-heart with the customer service folks at corporate, and I must say they did listen and were quite understanding. In addition, the online support has improved since the incident described below. My rating would increase, but I am looking forward to moving away from the C. And despite the final words below, I will likely try out a Treo for my next unit... I have two of these (Cs)-- and both have great features but over time they are problem plagued. One has been replaced/repaired three times, and the other just froze -- it does not recognize stylus tap. None of this would be too bad if Palmone provided basic support for these premium ($499!) units. Instead, they make support and access very difficult. No one to talk to for less than $25 a shot, and promise of $125+ for any repair makes this biggest high risk venture of all. What is more, the most that online folks can tell you (for the $25) is to hard reset -- which we all know by now... I will replace these, but not with Palm product. I wish they would have a support process as good as the features on their product.... Date: 2005-01-06 Best one out there I bought the Tungsten C about a year ago, and it has been a great machine. There have been some quirks, but overall its been a great device. For those who gave it a lower rating because of the lack of a standard headphone jack, they should note that you can get headphones (mono) that will fit this unit on ebay, also some nokia cell phone buds will work too. The unit has a built in speaker. The reason for the special jack by the way was for wireless VOIP (voice over internet) so you could make phone calls through your palm over the wifi. The wifi feature is what sets this apart from other palms. I strongly recommend the Web Pro 3.0 browser or better, as the one that comes with the unit is not nearly as good. Also, there is a fantastic program that will run on this palm, called plucker that will take an entire website, and crunch it down to a single file that you synch to the palm, so you can read it later at your leasure. The plucker reader has a great scrolling feature for hands free reading. The power of the Tungsten C is high. I have been able to watch video clips with Mplayer software. Also get software called McPhling. It allows you to get to your favorite programs with a swipe. (No more need to hit any keys!). So with the proper software additions this is a killer machine. I can't wait to see the next version of this palm. You can also get palm versions of Aol instant messenger, and AOL mail. Another great program that can find lots of WIFI hotspots is called NETCHASER. It sniffs out and lists the names and power strenghth of networks it finds, as well as tells you whether they are encrypted. Get one and you won't be dissappointed if you get some of the excellent software out there to enhance its capabilities. Date: 2004-12-16 Good functionality, debatable value We bought a batch of Tungsten C's for our office, and intiially, at least, they were a big hit. I use mine for preparing meeting notes, and I'd have them distributed to my team before they were even back in their offices. My favorite morning coffee-and-muffin stop has an open 802.11b network, and I used my Tungsten C there to review the morning's e-mail and prepare a to-do list. But after a time we noticed an increasing number of softwware and hardware bugs, along with a number of sporadic, unreproduceable networking errors. At the same time, laptops continued to get smaller, lighter and cheaper, and cell phones started to add calendaring and address book features. I still carry my Tungsten C when I have to travel as light as possible, but for taking notes at meetings I now prefer my iBook, and for most scheduling, my cell phone. Having an ultralight wireless client is still useful at times, but with laptops available for not much more than a Tungsten C, it's of questionable value. Date: 2004-12-14 8 months later and happy with the T/C I purchased my T/C as an upgrade from a M505, and a Palm V prior to that. I was very unhappy with the M505s display and limited built in memory vs. various competitors models at the time, but I decided to give palm another try since I had fallen in love with my original palm V. The T/Cs display is excellent, and the 400 mhz processor is really fast. I hated trying to learn graffiti, so the built in keyboard of the T/C is great for me. I am very happy with the built in Wi-Fi, but I like many other users was not happy with the limited abilities of the browser that ships with the T/C. Reluctantly I purchased webpro 3 from palm. It works much better, but cost 39 bucks. For the price of the T/C Palm should include Webpro 3.0 with the T/C as a standard browser. It almost makes you feel like palm is trying to squeeze an extra few bucks out of their customers that use the Wi-Fi feature on a regular basis. I purchased a large SD card which I use for pictures, video clips from vacations, and music. I think the T/C has one true short fall and thats the mono only audio jack. Most people that purchase the T/C at a premium price will "assume" the speaker jack will be for stereo sound. SURPRISE-its not..If you purchase a 2.5 mono spliter for your standard headphones you can have mono sound in both ears. The sound is fair enough for a PDA, but nearly as good as a true mp3 player. You'll also have to download a PDA player to listen to the music. I downloaded realplayer for palm OS. It works great and its free. "All in All" I think palm has done a good job, but with most of Palms products, "theres room for improvement", which usually means a 2nd generation T/C somewhere in the future...If you purchase the T/C Im sure you'll be satisfied..good luck..
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